St. Theresa Parish

Reflections on the Weekday Gospels

Provided by the LaSalette Ministries

THURSDAY OF THE SIXTH WEEK OF EASTER John 16:16-20

"What does he mean?" 

Earlier in the Gospel of John it was the Pharisees who failed to understand. Maybe they didn't even want to understand. Now, however, it is Jesus' own disciples, those who welcomed the Kingdom, who fail to understand. Indeed, a few hours after these words are spoken, John tells us these same disciples, who shared in that last dinner conversation, will scatter to the four winds for fear of their lives. They will abandon their master. But they will see him again, and the very sight of him will be enough to overcome their fear of the same fate, and the shame of their abandonment. For now, however, they fail to understand this "short time" remaining until he goes away. The Resurrection surprised even those like Peter and John, who had been closest to him. However close to or distant from the Lord we may be, there are parts of our walk as disciples that we do not understand. 

People were not quite as puzzled by Mary's words at La Salette. To speak of spoiled wheat and rotting potatoes in a time of famine brings immediate recogni­tion of the truth of the message. The famine before their eyes was quite obvious to everyone in 1846. The famine in their hearts was not as obvious to them. We do not see our own sins. Something needs to happen for th^e scales to fall from our eyes. The supernatural character of the apparition at La Salette is not attested to so much by crutches left behind as at Lourdes, but by hearts renewed and turned back to God. "Our Lady of La Salette, Reconciler of sinners, pray without ceas­ing for us who have recourse to you." 

What in Jesus' message do I find difficult to understand and live? Praying that God will remove the scales that blind you to your own sinful ways, and after asking that Mary intercede for your conversion, make a good examination of conscience.

FRIDAY OF THE SIXTH WEEK OF EASTER     John 16:20-23

"A woman in childbirth suffers because her time has come, but when she gives birth to the child, she forgets the suffering in her joy that a human being has been born into the world." 

In light of his own reference to himself as a mother hen who longs to gather her chicks under her wings, sheltering them from danger, the 14th-century English mystic Julian of Norwich speaks of Christ as our Mother. Christ and the suffer­ings of his Passion which gave us life readily come to mind. But John seems to have the labor pains of the disciples in mind here. This seems odd since, in their confusion over what was happening to the master and what might happen to them as well, they fled from the pain and suffering. It remains true that the child, too, must endure the trauma of birth. And as the mother "rejoices that a human being has been born into the world," the child finds contentment and reassurance in its mother's arms. What joy the first disciples found, what joy will we not find in the arms of our Risen Lord!

Mary's present sharing in Christ's glory does not insulate her from the trials her children bear on earth. Her tears at La Salette remind us of her constant care and concern for us, and reflect our God's even greater care and concern for our well-being. Her tears and her recollection of the incident on the road to Corps when, out of loving concern for him, Maximin's father gave him a piece of bread, re-mind us of Mary's unblinking watchfulness over our lives - itself a reflection of the divine concern her Son has for us every moment of our lives. 

Look at a crucifix, or call to mind the image of our crucified Lord. Fix in your heart the immeasurable love with which Christ died for you. Carry this apprecia­tion with you throughout the day and reach out to others from that same immea­surable love with which Christ has loved you.

SATURDAY OF THE SIXTH WEEK OF EASTER         John 16:23-28 

"Whatever you ask the Father, he will give you in my name." 

To ask or pray in the name of Jesus requires more than simply tacking on "We ask this through Christ our Lord," or "In Jesus' name we pray" at the end of our prayers. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of Vatican Council II teaches us that in the liturgy all who are gathered are called to fulfill the priestly office of Jesus Christ (#7). This high calling to pray in Jesus' name and fulfill his priestly office by our own prayer means more than just "name-dropping^" at the close of our intercessions. To be a Christian at prayer is to make Jesus' longing for the Father and the coming of the Reign of God one's very own longing ("Thy king­dom come. Thy will be done."). It requires that at Mass, in union with the Risen Lord, we put on the altar alongside the gifts of bread and wine, our own lives, our self-offering to be sustained throughout the rest of the day and week. Yes, pray­ing in Jesus' name is no magic formula; it is a way of life, a responsibility all Christians are invited, even commanded, to carry out. 

Mary's command to pray the Our Father and Hail Mary (and to pray more when we can) at evening and morning is more than just a good way to start the day off right and end it appropriately. We begin and end by praying as Jesus prayed so that all through the day we will live as he lived (with the aid of his Mother's intercession, of course). 

What are the best times for me to pray? What does it mean to me to pray well? What keeps me from praying regularly, attentively? Does my prayer help me to walk more faithfully in the ways of the Lord?

MONDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTER John 16:29-33

"Do you believe at last?" 

Just when we think we have figured it out, something always seems to come along and cloud our crystal clear understanding. We find ourselves back at square one, trying to make sense of life, faith, loss. We who follow Christ in the third millennium can take comfort in the fact that the gospels all tell us of the confusion the disciples often experienced on hearing him speak or seeing him act. No one has ever been so misunderstood in all of history as Jesus of Nazareth. No one is more misunderstood today as he. I sometimes pretend to know more about Jesus and his ways than I actually do know. It is an occupational hazard. As one who is called upon to preach several times a week, I am "supposed" to know who Christ is, what Christ means. The best response I can offer is the one I some-times gave my father when I was younger: shoulders that shrug, a head and heart that hope to understand more and know better the next time. 

"You do not understand, my children?" Mary asked, then went from flawless French to a more approachable patois, Maximin's and Melanie's local dialect. Communication can be difficult when we aren't speaking the same language, or when we are not interpreting words the same way. Perhaps Our Lady was exer­cising the gift of tongues she received. at Pentecost, showing us how language, so divisive at times, can also unite. Whatever her reason for speaking both French and patois, she wanted the children to understand her Good News about Jesus as much as he wanted the disciples to understand his about the Kingdom. Neither did the first disciples nor these humble La Salette visionaries comprehend the fullness of what was entrusted to them. As we hear the Gospel in the twenty-first century, we are sure to miss the total picture too - but not entirely. 

What puzzles me about Jesus and the call to be his disciple? Am I waiting until I understand more before I make a deeper commitment to Christ, or am I willing to trust and to learn as I follow?

TUESDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTER John 17:1-11

"Now, Father, glorify me with the glory I had before the world began." 

This is not good ol' boy talk about the good ol' days, a lament over things gone downhill since they did that "Eden thing" and everything went sour. This is no lament Father and Son are sharing. This is the Son's disclosure of his deepest desire for the completion of the work he had begun: not just what we saw at Bethlehem, but what had been prepared from the foundation of the world. While Thomas Aquinas, the Dominican theologian, believed that Christ came among us, because we needed to be redeemed from sin, his contemporary, the Franciscan theologian Duns Scotus, believed that God intended that the eternal Word should become incarnate even if human beings had never sinned. We would have been incomplete, he argued, as long as God had not become one with his creation. In this perspective, the dialogue about glory between Jesus and his Father is not about good ol' days, but about the days they had always longed and planned for, days when not only Father, Son and Spirit would be one, but all creation would be one with them. 

"Only a few somewhat aged women go to Mass!" Between the famine and low church attendance, good ol' days 1846 certainly was not. Neither would our day qualify. Pope John Paul II's apostolic letter about the centrality of Sunday, a day meant to be the Day of the Lord from start to finish, seems to have fallen on deaf ears, as did Mary's cry. What is this Sunday observance about anyway? Sunday is about celebrating the manifestation of God's glory in human flesh, that of the Risen Jesus, the pledge that we share in unending life and will rest one day from our labors. On Sunday, the day above all other days, we celebrate the promise that God's glory will be ours too. 

When you realize that God is prepared (indeed desperately desires) to share his very life, his glory, with you, how does that make you feel? What do you do on Sunday that distracts you from the revelation of God's glory, even in the partial way we experience it in this life?

WEDNESDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTER John 17:11-19

"They are not of the world any more than I belong to the world." 

I once caught myself saying in a homily, "... the Mother Teresas of this world." I don't recall exactly what I was speaking about, but I'm sure it had something to do with her exceptional holiness as an example for us to imitate. Months later this phrase came to mind out of the blue, and I realized the irony of it: Mother Teresa was not "of this world." She was simply in it. It was not the benevolence of the human heart that made her what she was for the creatures of this planet, but the greatness of God's grace that made her so. Like the Christ she so humbly followed, Mother Teresa had set her heart on the will of her heavenly Father. She sought no compensation in this world, but to know she was a beloved daughter of God. She excelled in giving Christian witness, because she belonged first to Christ and only in him did she belong to the world to which he gave her. We may not be so great as she in giving our witness to Christ, but we too are called "out of this world" to live in Christ. But he will likely give us back to the world as witnesses to his love. 

"Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). Mary's fiat continued in the apparition and message of La Salette. As she encountered the no of the children of God, her yes resounded all the louder. Once again, she came to earth to draw us closer to her Son, she brought us the opportunity to be filled with the blessing of the "fruit of her womb." No doubt Mary's yes to Christ echoed in Mother Teresa's life. May it echo in yours and mine as well! 

Do I see myself as one who is "of this world" or "of Christ"? Can I see myself as given back to the world by Christ to make it holy by my life of faith, like Mary, Mother Teresa and all the saints?

THURSDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTER John 17:20-26

"May the world know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me." 

Jesus clearly turns his attention to the future. He anticipates the success in time of the disciples' mission, praying "for those who will believe in him through their words" and foresees their presence in eternity "with him where he is." He expresses his Last Will: "that they may all be one" and goes on to sketch the essential traits of this ardently desired unity. Its model is the unity of Father and Son. It is a unity in diversity (despite their perfect oneness Father and Son remain distinct persons). This unity must be visible enough to challenge the world, just as he did, to recognize God present and at work in him. The fact that Jesus prays to the Father for this gift tells us that it lies within the sole power of God. It is fitting that this majestic and stirring prayer which concludes the Farewell Dis­course itself closes on the note of the unity of all believers, "the fruit that will remain." 

At La Salette the Mother of Jesus expresses concern about various harvests: grapes, potatoes, walnuts, wheat. She is solicitous of earth's produce in field, garden, orchard and vineyard. In biblical language, such productivity mirrors the fruitful­ness of the human spirit as it obediently carries out the Creator's purpose. Mind­ful of the solemn words her Son spoke at the Last Supper, "It was not you who chose me but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain" (John 15:16), she cares deeply about the spiritual fruit human hands and hearts are to bring forth for the life and unity of the world. 

Science and technology in the new millennium will be much improved. Their human manipulators, however, won't be. Am I nonetheless hopeful? In light of Jesus' prayer can I imagine a day when human life will have been completely transformed?

FRIDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTER John 21:15-19

"Do you love me?" 

Sometimes one spouse has trouble saying, "I love you." When the question is raised (usually because "I love you" never gets spoken!) the response is de­fensive: "Yes, you know I love you. ... Of course I love you. ... I'm hurt. How could you even ask; you know I love you.^" People cite the many things they do, the hardships they endure, the many things they have sacrificed, the lengths to which they have gone. There is something about hearing it, however, that seems to make a difference. Showing it is walking the talk, but saying it is still impor­tant because mere routine, or who knows what, could be what keeps the relation-ship going. Sometimes the question is asked even when the answer is known for certain. Jesus, who knows what's on our mind before we say it, still seems to want to hear us say it. Maybe he realizes that it will make a difference to us if we say it, and realize we mean it. 

Not hearing that you're loved can lead to tears and much sadness. Maybe that's what Mary's tears were about? "How could someone who had experienced the glory of God in heaven be sad and cry?" some wondered when the children re-ported that the Beautiful Lady wept for the entire duration of the apparition. Maybe she realized how much her children, the children of the Church, the children of God, were missing out on when they failed to practice what they professed, and failed to appreciate what they practiced. 

Whom do you love that you have taken for granted lately? How can you show them that you love them today - for your own awareness as well as theirs?

SATURDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTER      John 21:20-25

"The rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die." 

At a recent gathering of La Salette Missionaries that focused on our Marian roots, we were reminded that apparitions, including that of Our Lady at La Salette, always address "the last things." This doesn't mean that La Salette Mis­sionaries go around predicting a precise day, time or even the extreme nearness of these "last things." Nor does it mean that they are to be dismissed altogether. Talk about the end times in Catholic circles has always intended to bring about repentance here and now and not to cause hysteria or panic. In the midst of a millennial madness in which many will vaguely hint or specifically point to Christ's Second Coming, we are to look closely at the signs of the times and recognize that, whether or not his return is imminent, now is always the moment for repen­tance. Whether they live until he comes or whether generation upon generation will yet follow, Christians know it's never too early to return to their Lord with all their hearts. 

The authorities were worried that if Mary's dire predictions about the crops were to get out, no one would risk planting anything. Reasons for opposing the La Salette message were not just anti-religious, but very practical. Mary's words expressed concern about the kind of daily bread that would feed spirits, not just stomachs, however important the latter may be. The authorities may have been aware that "people don't live on bread alone," but they also knew that at least a little bread was needed. In the story of Maximin's father offering him a piece of bread on the way home to Corps, we have evidence that Mary is aware of both the bread of this world and the bread of the Kingdom to come. She knows the role each of these must play, and is willing to intercede that body and soul be kept together and ordered rightly to our ultimate good. 

What am I feeding my body? What am I feeding myself mentally, emotionally, morally, and spiritually? Is it all healthy? Is it what I should be feeding myself? Is it what I need?

MONDAY OF THE SIXTH WEEK OF THE YEAR Mark 8:11-13

"Sighing_, from the depths of his spirit, Jesus said, 'Why does this age
seek a sign? " 

This Markan passage strikes a sharp note of taunting and testing. The Phari­sees argue with Jesus, hoping to discredit or entrap him. They insist that he guarantee through "some heavenly sign" the authority he claims. Such profound misunderstanding on their part disturbs Jesus deeply. He himself is the "heavenly sign," a powerful sign. A sign that stands every human notion of power on its head, however. He bans anger and name-calling (Matthew 5:22), he teaches non-resistance to evil (Matthew 5:39), he preaches love of enemies (Matthew 5:44), he will wash the disciples' feet (John 13:3-11), and the humiliation of the cross will be his exaltation (John 19:32). Seeking a sign is natural enough. Have we not at times thought, "If only I were given a sign, my faith would grow stronger"? "Open your eyes, remove your blinders," the Lord says. "Signs of my loving presence surround you." How much smaller, how much more hidden could he have made himself than a bit of bread? Who but God almighty would come to us in such self-emptying? 

"If the harvest is ruined, it is only on account of yourselves," Our Lady admon­ishes in her apparition at La Salette. "I warned you last year with the potatoes. You paid no heed." She rests her reasoning on a cause-and-effect inevitability. To do the same things over and over again, expecting better, different and new re­sults is tantamount to folly. "I gave you a warning sign last year. You paid it no mind." 

TUESDAY OF THE SIXTH WEEK OF THE YEAR Mark 8:14-21

"Are your hearts hardened? Do you not understand? " 

His disciples were very close to Jesus. They ate, shared shelter and traveled with the Master. They saw him interact with the blind, the deaf, the lame and had a hand in two amazing multiplications. His patience sorely tried, he plies them with rapid-fire questions: "Do you have eyes and not see? Do you remem­ber when I broke the five loaves for the 5000? The seven loaves for the 4000? How many baskets of leftovers did you collect? Do you still not understand?" What is it they failed to grasp? They should not have seen Jesus as the wonder worker walking across the water but as the unifier who calmed the storm in order to secure passage to the Gentile side of the lake. They had missed the point of the lesson. Two feedings had taken place, one on each side of the lake. A first ben­efited a Jewish population; a second, Gentiles. In showing them how to feed God's flock, Jesus had taught them to be bridge-builders. 12 baskets left over, Israel's 12 tribes, Jewish Christians; 7 baskets left over, seven deacons, Greek Christians. So much to learn, so much to let go of? 

In contrast to Lourdes and Fatima, for example, Mary at La Salette did not di­rectly indicate who she was. Her opening statement, however, made her identity quite clear: "If my people will not submit, I shall be forced to let fall the arm of my Son." Sharing deeply in the mediating ministry of Christ, "the one loaf," she reminds us that she stands between the Bread of Life and those He wishes to feed. Our Lady further challenges us to claim our role as bridge-builders between peoples and races. 

Am I convinced that the same loving hand that created me created all those who are outwardly so different from me? Have I drawn the logical conclusion that we are all God's children, brothers and sisters one and all?

WEDNESDAY OF THE SIXTH WEEK OF THE YEAR    Mark 8:22-26

"Some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and begged him to touch him." 

Jesus healed many people by touching them. I, like most, like to touch things, to feel their texture. The familiar advertising slogan "Reach out and touch someone" strikes a responsive chord within us. We are surrounded by compas­sionate people who have touched us and others deeply, people whose caring has impacted the lives of many. The miracles of Jesus recorded in Mark's Gospel do more than cure symptoms; they are signs of God's ultimate victory over the power of evil. In Christ's humanity God touches our humanity and makes it whole. In this particular encounter at Bethsaida, Jesus gave the blind man very personal attention, made use of spittle and touched it to his eyes. God's grace, he taught us, is mediated through physical signs, through the five senses, and through ritual actions. Given our condition as creatures of both faith and imagination, otherworldly realities are more accessible and touch us more deeply when they take flesh in images and symbols. 

The symbols associated with the La Salette apparition are a network of signs devised by Our Lady herself to set us on the path to understanding the entire message she delivered there with such loving attention to detail. Natural symbol-ism and biblical imagery offer us a key to the interpretation of apron, chain, cross, crown, hammer, pincers, roses and tears - among several distinctive visuals linked to Mary's visit. Venturing with fresh openness beyond their more obvious mean­ings, let us take a new look at them.

What struck you most when you first encountered the La Salette apparition? Over the years, what aspect of the La Salette mystery has become most meaningful to you?

THURSDAY OF THE SIXTH WEEK OF THE YEAR Mark 8:27-33

"Who do people say that I am? " 

Jesus was a human being. As such he must have been curious about What was being said about him. We spare no effort in putting our best foot forward so as to impress others favorably. In the defining moment this classic scene at Caesarea Philippi recalls, Jesus puts the crucial question to his disciples: "And you, who do you say that I am?" In the depths of his frustration with their slowness to understand, Jesus thrills to hear the long-awaited word: "You are the Messiah!" We have here a first confession of Christian faith, of faith in Jesus as our loving God's Only-begotten, come to save us. Amid the many questions our life, its changing circumstances and our relationships constantly raise, we must ask life's ultimate questions: Where do I come from? What is my final destination? A kind of vague understanding and ambivalent commitment simply will not do here. 

"Mary's maternity in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the con-sent she gave at the Annunciation and sustained without wavering beneath the cross until the final fulfillment of all the elect. By her maternal charity she cares for the brothers and sisters of her Son, who journey still amid dangers and diffi­culties until they reach their blessed homeland" (Vatican Council II, Constitution on the Church, no. 62). As her appearance at La Salette reminds us, Mary's solici­tous love for us has, in God's providence, added to that of intercession the role of prophetic intervention: "I am here to tell you great news." 

FRIDAY OF THE SIXTH WEEK OF THE YEAR Mark 8:34 - 9: I

"If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it." 

Losing and saving. In this passing world people expend huge amounts of en­ergy on attempts to increase their holdings and to insure that they neither lose nor misplace what they have already acquired. Many go to gambling casinos in the hope they might supplement their earnings and add to their savings. In this very gain-and-loss perspective, Jesus calls us, his disciples, to follow in his own footsteps. He cautions that doing so will be anything but easy, will, in fact, mean taking up one's cross and losing one's life. His word here, as always, "cuts like any double-edged sword but more finely" (Hebrews 4:12). The Apostle Paul ex-presses the fundamental law of Christian living in these terms: "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully (2 Corinthians 9:6); "Where you sow, there you reap. If you sow in the field of self-indulgence you will harvest corruption; if you sow for the spirit you will reap eternal life" (Galatians 6:7-8). 

The Mother of Jesus appeared in tears at La Salette on the eve of the feast of her Sorrows: "A sword will pierce your soul too that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare" (Luke 2:35). "Well, my children," she said to Maximin and Melanie and says now to us, "you will make this known to all my people." Her words challenge us to forego passivity, forfeit our comfort and forsake our untroubled routine in the cause of Christ and his Gospel of Life. 

If Christ asks me on the Day of Judgment What I was truly passionate about in my lifetime, What shall I answer? What point can there honestly be in "gaining the whole world and destroying myself in the process"?

SATURDAY OF THE SIXTH WEEK OF THE YEAR  Mark 9:2-13

"His face began to shine with glory and his clothes became dazzlingly white." 

Coming right after his teaching about the cross, Jesus' Transfiguration put into perspective what must have been a devastating blow to the disciples' understanding of the Messiah. Their exhilarating mountaintop experience, not surprisingly, was not destined to last. We ourselves know how disheartening our own descent from the summit, whether of delight or success, or from a peak spiritual experience can be. As St. Paul understood it, though, our entire Christian life is an ongoing painful joyful growth process, a gradual transformation: "Re­flecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord, we all grow from glory to glory as we are turned into the image that we reflect, God's glory on the face of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18; 4:6). Jesus went from the mount of Transfiguration to Mount Calvary, and from the ordeal of the cross to the glory of the Resurrection. Should we not expect to follow in his footsteps? 

A stained glass window of the Transfiguration in the facade of the shrine church built on the mountain of La Salette faces the site of the apparition. It appropri­ately portrays the Transfiguration. The young herders who conversed with her there related that they "could not look at the Beautiful Lady for any length of time without rubbing their eyes, so dazzling was her brightness, and that all the radi­ance of the vision came from her cross." In tears, yet clothed with the glory of the Risen One, his Mother tells us that though endless struggles await us, Love cruci­fied will triumph. 

What transforming events have occurred in my life? Have I yet managed to carry a cross and remain inwardly joyful?

MONDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR  Mark 9:14-29

"The boy^'s father immediately exclaimed, 'I do believe, help my lack of trust."' 

The response of the sick boy's father is one we can all identify with, "I do believe, help my lack of trust." Trusting is about finding light in the darkest moments. It is believing that we are joined to a powerful God who works miracles even with lukewarm faith like ours and who can dissolve the sinfulness that oftentimes envelops us. It is seeing possibilities where we could see none before. It is apparent defeat becoming victory when we could see nothing but discour­agement and loss before. Reaching that kind of trust, Jesus says in his final words of instruction to his apostles, can only happen through prayer. Apart from him, we can do nothing (see John 15:5). But in him, as he himself assures us, every-thing is possible to the one who trusts (see Matthew 19:26). 

When Mother Mary tells the children of La Salette to "make her message known to all her people," he is not merely asking for a reporter's objectivity. There exists between her and her confidants a mutual trust. Mary trusts that these chil­dren will tell the story honestly, just as they heard it, and the children trust in the truth of their encounter with the Beautiful Lady. The father in today's gospel trusted in his love for his son as well as in Jesus' power to heal the boy. Mary, in this same spirit, trusts in the love she bears us and in the abiding love of the God who alone can heal us. 

Can I feel any of the intensity Jesus obviously felt in this gospel scene? Do I believe that faith makes all things possible?

TUESDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR   Mark 9:30-37

"Jesus stood a little child in their midst, put his around around the child,
and said, "Whoever welcomes a child such as this for my sake welcomes me." 

Children remind us of our helplessness, of our need to be protected and cared for. But they also teach us how to receive, how to demand gifts from one another, how to need others. They teach us how to be surprised, how to be filled with fascination and wonder. They show us how to take the risks openness to others involves, how to let go of our need to control, to put aside our defenses and suspicions. They invite us to reclaim the precious gifts we lost in the process of growing up. They challenge our self-sufficiency. They remind us of our depen­dence on one another for the really important things in life, like love, acceptance and forgiveness. They teach us how to be vulnerable. In this touching gospel passage Jesus instructs his followers to embrace and look after the defenseless of the world. 

La Salette is about a Mother's love for her children. She calls out to Melanie and Maximin, both especially vulnerable by reason of their poverty and affective dep­rivation: "Come near, my children; don't be afraid." Like them we can only trust in her reassuring presence. She cannot forget us, she cannot abandon us, she will not dismiss us. We are her children. We live in the love of her heart, a love which brings her to our world in a moving expression of motherly concern. 

WEDNESDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR  Mark 9:38-40

`Anyone who is not against us is with us.^" 

Who decides who's in and who's not? Who sets the arbitrary standards that determine acceptance or rejection? The teaching of Jesus offers absolutely no basis for this kind of thinking, for exclusivity. When his own followers at-tempt to use his teachings against others he will have none of it. They object to others invoking his name and casting out demons. That these others might be succeeding better than they themselves annoys them: One can almost see an exasperated frown cross Jesus' features. Why he should extend himself to the most unlikely people, to people who are different, who are anything they them-selves are not the disciples cannot understand. We should not be busy building fences that divide and keep people apart, Jesus insists, but bridges that unite and bring people together. Very simply, isn't that what he meant when he said, "Any-one who is not against us is with us"? 

Essential to the definition of reconciliation is the need to come face to face with the sources of conflict in our lives. It requires that we face the people and the issues involved, that we open ourselves to whomever or whatever divides us and keeps us apart. Mother Mary teaches us at La Salette to put aside whatever makes us look upon others as objects of diffidence, distrust, ridicule or suspicion. The opening words she spoke there challenge us in our defensive tendency to distance ourselves from others: "Come near, my children; don't be afraid." 

Do you pray for those "different" people you encounter in church, at school, at work, in another part of town? Isn't it difficult to hate someone for whom you are praying?

THURSDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR  Mark 9:41-50

"If your hand is your difficulty, cut it off" 

In rather graphic and startling language Jesus makes clear the need to root out of our lives anything that threatens the advancement of God's reign. The reign of God is worth any sacrifice. "Cut it off" and "tear it out" seem to mean that we must amputate our dependence on those things we grasp at, our possessiveness, our need to have it all. We must excise from our lives, he insists, our struggle for power, our reliance on our own devices. He says we need to tear out of our lives all justification of our anger and arrogance. Franciscan Father Richard Rohr em­phasizes that authentic spirituality always demands that we let go. Let go of the need to be right, to be effective, to be successful, to control. Jesus asks that we honestly recognize his own self-emptying, his willingness to be powerless, to depend on his Father's will in all things, and to share in the world's pain. 

Throughout human history, a history of falsity and sin, God's love must reveal itself as mercy. And so it is that "his mercy is from age to age" (Luke 1:50). In the parables of the lost coin, the lost sheep, the lost son, Jesus invites us to claim this ever-present mercy of God. But as Pope John Paul II wrote in his 1980 Encyclical Rich in Mercy: "The present-day mentality seems opposed to a God of mercy and tends to remove from the human heart the very idea of mercy. It causes uneasi­ness. Human dominion over the earth seems to leave no room for mercy" (no. 2). Through her tears at La Salette Mother Mary appeals to us in Christ's name to let go, claim God's mercy and allow ourselves "to be reconciled to God" (see 2 Corinthians 5:20).

What was your honest reaction to this gospel's glimpse of Jesus' strong personal­ity? What is it you must "cut off" or "tear out" from your own life?

FRIDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR   Mark 10:1-12 

"Let no one separate what God has joined.^" 

It would be wonderful if all whom God has joined remained together in blissful union. As we all know such is not universally true of marriage or of other major commitments. Those who experience divorce not only know the pain of seeing a solemn promise, made in love and hope, broken but also experience a distancing from the church. Divorce, of course, is about more than rules. It means a radical transition: To be a husband or a wife one day and no longer to be such the next. It must bring a wrenching loneliness to the hearts of those whose mar­riages have ended. The anguish of replaying all those arguments, of asking "What if?" over and over again, of no longer hearing oneself saying, "I love you," of no longer being assured, "I love you." While he plainly makes a plea for the ideal, Jesus seems to be asking that reflection on marriage and divorce take into ac-count the real people involved, the real hopes they had cherished, the real lives they must go on living. 

Beautiful Lady of La Salette, what is it that you see in your children that moves you to come and plead for their conversion? What hope do you cherish and cling to for your wayward children? What is it that you see in us that we either cannot or refuse to see in ourselves? What lies beyond our indifference and lack of sub-mission that you believe we have lost and beg us to reclaim as a God-given heri­tage? What is it about us that keeps you from abandoning us despite our constant breaking of covenant promises? 

Am I a person of my word? When is the last time I renewed my promises to God? To others?

SATURDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR   Mark 10:13-16

"'Let the children come to me and do not stop them.' Jesus then took then? in his arms and blessed them." 

Jesus calls the children to himself despite the objections of his disciples in yet another manifestation of misunderstanding on their part. Children in Jesus' day enjoyed neither legal nor social standing. They were defenseless. In his mind, though, they exemplified the indispensable inner qualities membership in the kingdom demanded. They were loving, trusting and eager to explore and learn. Jesus asks us to get in touch with the childlike spirit which alone can free us to grow. Because he wishes to instruct us, Jesus embraces and blesses the children who are able to accept and respond to his kingdom invitation. In fact, it is we who are blessed, blessed by these very children. It is we who hunger for attention, we who ask a thousand questions in our ongoing life's search for meaning, we who need to be held, comforted and reassured. 

Mother Mary comes to two children at La Salette, because she wants a guileless hearing of her message. She does not come to argue her case but to tell of her immense love. She doesn't need sophisticated interpretation, she needs transpar­ent simplicity. Through Melanie and Maximin she asks only that we hear and heed her admonition that we grow in the giving and forgiving love of our elder brother Jesus (see Romans 8:29). That is what any mother would do. 

What are the children teaching me about the reign of God? In what specific way might I become more childlike in my approach to life? To the Gospel?

MONDAY OF THE EIGHTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Mark 10:17-27 

"Good Teacher, what must I do to share in everlasting life?" 

“God alone is good," Jesus says and dismisses the title Good Teacher. He is saying that we should put an end to our obsessive concern for looking good. What Jesus wants is humility and honesty, because those who are humble and honest will hear and accept his teachings. Those who are concerned with their own goodness are too self-absorbed to hear him. They are too busy protect­ing their own positive self-image to take the drastic step of letting everything go and follow him. In response to the man who asks what he must do "to share in everlasting life," Jesus offers a radical change of perspective. He invites the in­quirer to turn things around. The Teacher bids him set his acquisitive desire aside: "Rather than view it as one more possession you wish to acquire, why not give yourself over to this unending life? Life eternal is not for sale!" 

Mother Mary's message to us at La Salette focuses sharply on our grudging re­fusal to grant God the time he asks us to spend in Lord's Day rest and worship, our lack of respect for Christ's holy and saving name, our ready dismissal of the sacred, in a word, our violations of those commandments that set forth our duties toward our life's Creator and Redeemer. Her words cut deepest when they call for the submission of spirits immersed in a world of their own making, attuned only to the call of their own wants. 

In what ways is Jesus now offering you a deeper share in everlasting life? What does this meditation motivate you to do?

TUESDAY OF THE EIGHTH WEEK OF THE YEAR - Mark 10:28-31

"We have put aside everything to follow you." 

In reaction to the man in yesterday's gospel who felt Jesus had asked for too much, Peter takes credit for having "put everything aside to follow Jesus," for having given up family and possessions. He now wonders aloud what's in it for him. He has stayed on, he points out, and in doing so has lost everything he was formerly familiar with. He implicitly asks, "What's my reward?" Comparing him-self to the man "who went away sad," Peter too claims to know how costly fol­lowing Jesus can be. So now what can he expect to get in return? Everything! Jesus gives his word. Everything that has been put aside for the sake of the king­dom will be returned a hundredfold. He gives Peter this solid assurance and asks him not to worry because God is generous and never to be outdone in generosity. Why think in terms of personal reward? Why not think in terms of the divine reversal where "the first shall come last and the last shall come first"? 

At La Salette the Mother of Jesus asks that we measure all that we are, all that we could hope to be against all that her Son offers for the building of God's reign and the fulfillment of those chosen. Beyond the undeniable alienation and pain our sinfulness brings, there is the healing and wholeness, pardon and peace God gives. The Gospel promise, dramatically echoed in her apparition, is a pledge of unfail­ing divine generosity: "If they are converted, rocks and stones will turn into heaps of wheat and potatoes will be self-sown in the fields." 

What have I put aside to follow Jesus? What more must I put aside in order to serve him more faithfully?

WEDNESDAY OF THE EIGHTH WEEK OF THE YEAR  Mark 10:32-45

"Can you drink the cup I shall drink?" 

As in all those statements of reversal that keep asking us to see the world as he sees it, Jesus tells us today that real greatness comes at a high cost. He challenges us to turn our keen self-interest into concerned compassion for others. He asks us to pay the price he himself paid. Having come "not to be served but to serve," the Master drinks from the cup of suffering and first serves us - just as "he first loved us" (1 John 4:9, 19). This calls to mind the very first lesson many learned from the Baltimore Catechism: "we were created to know, to love and to serve God." It is we, however, who are the first to be known, loved and served by our Maker and Savior. So we are not to lord it over others but are rather to be Lorded over by the knowing, loving and serving Son of God "who came to give his life in ransom for the many." His example teaches us that only when joy and sorrow come together in the cup of one's life does it become the cup of salvation. 

The La Salette mystery is deeply rooted in the vision our Mother Mary has of us, her lovable yet self-centered, sinful, squabbling children. We should be forever grateful that she chooses to see us through a loving Mother^'s eyes, that the entire life she placed at her Son's service embraced the unspeakable joys and sorrows of her unique Motherhood. If at times we behave like hurt little ones, competing for her attention, perhaps it's because we know she will hear us and come to our rescue as she did in her apparition. 

"Can you drink the cup I shall drink?^" Jesus asks. What answer do you give? What joy and what sorrow come together in the cup of your life today?

THURSDAY OF THE EIGHTH WEEK OF THE YEAR  Mark 10:46-52

"I want to see." 

The blind man of Jericho cannot see the face of Jesus but, intuiting in faith, he "sees" that he is the Messiah. Ironically, he sees by faith what the spiritually blind cannot begin to fathom. Believing is seeing, and the blind beggar is the only one here with sharp, penetrating vision. He sees Jesus' identity more clearly in fact than the disciples do. Even more clearly does Jesus see him. Why ask this man what he wanted him to do for him? What else might a blind man want of a miracle worker but to see? There is much more than a physical cure happening here. Though unspoken, themes of identity, faith, and discipleship that Jesus' followers would struggle with in every age are very much at issue here. His physical sight restored, the thankful beggar of Jericho "followed him up the road"! What is it we want Jesus to do for us? With his help do we want to win the lottery? Do we simply want a -good day, sun shining and birds singing? Do we want the cour­age, perseverance and resolve to follow Jesus wherever he leads us? 

Moral blindness today calls for hearts that can see beyond personal, private con­cerns. A clear vision of the path human beings are to follow is desperately needed. And so we reflect on the message brought to La Salette by a highly favored and graced woman who surrendered totally to God's will, who pondered his healing word and deeds (Luke 2:19), and who taught her child to cure human shortsight­edness. We honor this woman of singular faith by making of our own life a jour­ney of reconciling love with her. 

"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asks. What is your reply? Can you identify one of your blind spots?

FRIDAY OF THE EIGHTH WEEK OF THE YEAR Mark 11:11-26
"My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.^" 

The two fig tree incidents that frame the temple cleansing underscore its meaning as a dramatic act so typical of prophetic ministry. Jesus is challenging the validity of a corrupted temple system. Having been repudiated by so many who held power and in a life-and-death struggle, he comes to the temple to free it from the powers that be and reclaim it for God, whose house they claim it is. He rejects a temple of politics and privilege and establishes a new order founded on God's non-discriminating will to save. To stand with Jesus is to stand with an indomitable power for good against all that would tear us apart and leave us in hell. A brief examination of our collective conscience will tell us that self-interest carries the day. Abuses of power are rampant and could lead us to overestimate evil's might. That would be to deny the absolute power of good, the power of God.

The gift that is La Salette is none other than the gospel blessing of a new begin­ning. "For anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creation has gone, and now the new one is here. This is all God's doing" (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). This deed of God empowers all the fallen children of Mother Mary to em-brace new life, entertain new hope and to share such great news with any who are willing to submit to the power of God's healing mercy. 

Have I ever experienced powerlessness firsthand? Do I feel called to counter the effects of ageism, racism, and sexism in our society?

SATURDAY OF THE EIGHTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Mark 11:27-33

"On what authority are you doing these things?" 

Jesus really had no better credentials than himself. When the disciples of John the Baptist came to him and asked, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?" he simply answered, "The blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them" (Luke 7:20, 22). He overturned long-standing expectations and claimed full authority to do so. Challenging all misconceptions, he made God truly known. In word and deed he made it plain that God is su­premely free to love unconditionally and forgive universally. Such views were bound to baffle chief priests, scribes and elders. They believed that only faithful keeping of the law could offer spiritual security and guarantee merciful judg­ment. In questioning Jesus' authority they revealed more than they perhaps in-tended about themselves. They cared little about John, less about the baptism he preached. They obviously cared a whole lot about their power over people. They stood face to face before the full authority of God and managed to miss seeing it! 

At Jesus' Presentation in the temple, the aged Simeon spoke an ominous proph­ecy: "Behold, this child is destined to be a sign that will be contradicted" (Luke 2:34). And so Mary had to be aware of the contempt, distrust, envy, and suspicion her Son would arouse in so many hearts in his lifetime. That was true in his own day, in the turbulent political climate of her 1846 appearance at La Salette, and it remains true at the turn of the millennium. Witness Our Lady's pleas for our conversion throughout history. Pleas so long unheeded.