From Resurrection to Pentecost - "Parakletos" in the Flow of Easter, A Comprehensive Review of the Gospel Readings for Easter Season Year A

For Easter Vigil and the first three Sundays of Easter, the Gospel readings are about how the disciples responded to the Resurrection of Jesus (Matthew 28;1-10, John 20:1-9, John 20:19-31, Luke 24:13-35). Whether Mary Magdalene, Peter and John, Thomas, or Cleopas and the other disciple, we reflected on our own response to the Resurrection of the Lord to the disciples in these Gospel narratives from the Easter Vigil to the 3^rd Sunday of Easter.

Then, there was a shift in the direction of the Easter Gospel readings on the 4^th Sunday, which is also known as the Good Shepherd Sunday. On this Sunday, the Gospel reading is always on Jesus’ self-identification with the Good Shepherd in John 10, regardless of the liturgical year. For Year A, the reading is from John 10:1-10, for Year B, John 11-18, and for Year C, John 10:27-30.

With his self-identification as the Good Shepherd and the gate to the Father in heaven on the 4^th Sunday of Easter, the Easter Sunday Gospel readings continue with Jesus’ own Christological discourse to reveal his messianic nature during the Last Supper for the 5^th  Sunday (John 14:1-12) and the 6^thSunday (John 14: 15-21).

Then, during the week of the 6^th Sunday of Easter, the Ascension of the Lord falls.  That is why the 5^th Sunday Gospel reading and 6^th Sunday Gospel reading from John 14 allude to the looming absence of the risen Christ.

Another important shifting factor to be noted in the Christological readings from John’s Gospel during the 4^th Sunday, 5^th Sunday, and the 6^th Sunday of Easter to prepare for the Ascension and the Pentecost is that the 5^th Sunday Gospel and the 6^th Sunday Gospels from John 14 are taken from the Jesus’ Last Supper discourse.

During the Lasts Supper, Jesus began his long discourse to the disciples, after Judas left, to prepare them not only for his impending death but also for what follows his death: the resurrection, the ascension, and the Pentecost, from John 13:31-16:33. The sequence of these events: the death of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, the ascension of Jesus, and the Pentecost, descending of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, mirrors the sequence of Jesus’ first prediction of his death (Matthew 16:21-28) and thetransfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9), which was the Gospel reading for the 2^nd Sunday of Lent.

In the 5^th Sunday Gospel (John 14:1-12), Jesus identified himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  This second Christological discourse by Jesus in John 14:1-12 for the 5^th Sunday smoothly follow the first Christological theme, Jesus as the Good Shepherd and the Gate to the Father in John 10:1-10 from the 4^th Sunday.

Jesus’ messianic identification as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, is a response to Thomas’ question, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” To this, Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him”.

Thomas asked Jesus where he would be, because Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house, there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.”

Jesus’ self-identification as the Way was prompted by Thomas’ anxious feeling, perhaps, anticipatory grief, over a prospect of disappearance of Jesus. A pastoral implication of this for our needs is that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, who shepherds us through turbulent times of anxiety and stress in our life, as in Psalm 23.  That is why Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me”(John 14:1), sensing his disciples’ anxiety upon giving the new commandment and making his impending departure known to them toward the end of the Last Supper.

When Jesus indicated about his departure to prepare dwelling places for the disciples, Thomas began to feel anxious with anticipatory grief. And, he indicated Jesus to tell him where he is going.

The answer Jesus gave to Thomas was his self-identification as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Namely, Jesus is telling the disciples that he is the Way to Salvation, the Truth of Salvation, and Life into Salvation, as he is the Way to the Father. To put the Good Shepherd and the gate perspective from the 4^th Sunday Gospel, it means that Jesus shepherds us to the Father and is the gateway to the Father. And, he is the only way to the Father. Of course, connection to the Father means salvation, as where the Father is, where salvation is.

Then, Jesus began to add the Holy Spirit in his Christological discourse, in addition to his relationship with the Father, in the Gospel reading for the 6^th Sunday, making his departure more evident.

A very important shifting factor to be noted here is that the Holy Spirit is introduced, as another Advocate (parakletos) in Jesus’ ongoing Christological discourse to reveal his messianic quality in addition to the Father-Son union in his identity.

In the 6^th Sunday of Easter Gospel reading (John 14:15-21), we can discern the Trinity, as all of its elements are in place: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  In this, Jesus indicate that the Holy Spirit as “another Advocate (Counselor)”(John 14:16), in place of his physical presence upon his body’s departure, the Ascension. This suggests that Jesus the Son, is the first and original Advocate (Counselor). Additionally, this also suggests that the 6^th Sunday of Easter Gospel reading also prepares us for the Trinity Sunday, which follows the Pentecost Sunday.

What the 6^th Sunday Gospel (John 16:21-15) teaches us is that God the Father in heaven, has given us Himself incarnate, in the human flesh of Jesus the Christ, the Son, as the first  "parakletos". I prefer to use the original Greek word for “advocate” in English translation. It is because this original Greek word, "parakletos" gives another important insight, not probably drawn from the English translation, “advocate”. Perhaps, the closest English translation of "parakletos" is a comforter and a consoler, who is sent and has come to be with you. To me, “advocate” seems like rather a bit distant translation of"parakletos". However, translating "parakletos" as “advocate” offers an image of the Holy Spirit as the Good Shepherd. Given that Jesus identifies the Holy Spirit as his successor to be with the disciples after his departure, upon his Ascension, and that Jesus has already identified himself as the Good Shepherd, translating "parakletos" as “advocate” also makes sense in this contextual flow in the Easter Gospel readings from the 4^th Sunday to the 6^th Sunday.

It is also important to note that love is an important theme for the 6^th Sunday of Easter Gospel narrative (John 14:15-21). As a continuation of his Last Supper discourse (John 13:31-16:33), which Jesus began with “Mandatum Novum”(new commandment) (John 13:34), he reiterated “Mandatum Novum”, which is to practice “agape”, not only with one another but also including him and the Father. Jesus further teaches that the coming of “parakletos” is Father’s response to the disciples’ practice of Jesus’ “Mandatum Novum” in light of Luke 10:27, loving God to the very best of ourselves in order to love one another as neighbors, as loving ourselves.

Secondly, the 6^th Sunday of Easter Gospel reminds us, in John 14:17, that “parakletos” is the Spirit of Truth (as Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6)). In the following verses, Jesus further teaches the love that characterizes “parakletos” – the “agape” that is Jesus’ “Mandatum Novum”, stemming from the Father-Son unity, which is characterized with “agape”, the self-sacrificing love to the point of “kenosis”(self-emptying for the sake of an object of love). Therefore, Jesus assures that the disciples will not be left alone like orphans even though his physical presence will soon cease with the Ascension. It is because of the very nature of “parakletos”, coming to be with, as Jesus said, “I will come to you”(John 14:18).  The world, “parakletos” is composed of “para”(close, besides) and “kaleo”(making a call). Thus, this Greek word used for the Holy Spirit that Jesus promises as another Advocate, and his replacement while he returns to the Father until Parousis, is the being, who comes to us to be right besides us. And, the mission of “parakletos” to be with us on Pentecost is to remind us that the Son, Jesus, is in the Father, as we are in him (John 14:20). Jesus also teaches that following his “Mandatum Novum” in John 13:34 in light of Luke 10:27 will be loved by the Father (John 14:21). Because being loved by the Father as we practice Jesus’ “Mandatum Novum”, and because Jesus loves his Father (John 14:21), we are known to the world that we are the disciples of Jesus the Christ (John 13:35). Thus, the 6^th Sunday of Easter Gospel reading also indicates our sacramental nature that we receive upon the coming of “parakletos”.

But, for the “parakletos” to be poured upon and infused into us on Pentecost, the body of Jesus has to ascend and to return to the Father, who is the source of “parakletos”, evolved from “ruah”, which blew over the waters when God’s Creation began (Genesis 1:2).

This is where Ascension falls on the week of, in fact, on Thursday of, the 6^th Sunday of Easter, always.

The Ascension is the consummation of the mission of Jesus to the world, as the first Advocate. The period between the Ascension and the Pentecost is the transition period. But, through his words in the Gospel narratives of Sunday Gospel narratives through Easter, our first Advocate, Jesus has prepared us for this transition until another Advocate, the Holy Spirit arrives on Pentecost.

In the first reading for the Ascension (Acts 1:1-11), which describes how the Ascension took place, Jesus is, once again, assuring the disciples of the Pentecost to come soon after his departure. In this, he tells that the Pentecost is the baptism with the Holy Spirit for the disciples (Acts 1:5) to give them the power  so that they can be a witness of Jesus to all over the world from Jerusalem (Acts 1:8). This suggests that the Holy Spirit is not only another Advocate, who teaches (John 14:26), but also the power to spread the witness of the risen Christ throughout the world.  Therefore, right before his Ascension, Jesus is assuring the missionary nature of the Pentecost.

The Gospel reading for the Ascension (Matthew 28:16-20) further goes along with Jesus’ teaching on the missionary nature of the  Pentecost  from the first reading.

Though this Gospel reading’s setting is shortly after Jesus’ resurrection, we remind ourselves, once again, that we, the follower of Christ, are commissioned to go on our mission to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and catechizing them to observe all of his teaching, especially his “Mandatum Novum” (Matthew 28:19-20). In fact, this also leads to “charismatizing” those whom we make the disciples by baptizing and catechize, so that they also receive the power, the Holy Spirit, to join us in our evolving mission.

There is an analogous connection between the Resurrection and the Ascension, as Matthew 28:16-20, a resurrection narrative, and Acts 1:11, an Ascension narrative, are used to celebrate the feast of the Ascension. It is that Jesus commissioned the disciples in Galilee to make the disciples of all nations upon his Resurrection (Matthew 28:19-20) and commissioned them on Mount of Olives near Jerusalem to go proclaim the Good News of the glorified Christ to the ends of the earth right before his Ascension (Acts 1:8).

This really reminds us of what Catholic Mass is about – its Pentecostal nature upon the Resurrection and the Ascension of Jesus, in addition to the Eucharistic nature, of Mass, as it always concludes with a commissioning statement pronounced by the presiding priest, “Ite, Missa Est!” (aplolysis).

With this, the Church is emptied after Mass, as we come out, nourished by the Eucharist, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, commissioned anew to make more disciples of all nations, bearing our witness of Christ, the Good News, to the ends of the earth – so that everyone will be baptized, catechized, and “charismatized”, to be shepherded by the Good Shepherd, the Chris, in “parakletos”, to the Father!

Though there is a bit of grief for not seeing Jesus in flesh upon the Ascension, the scripture readings for theAscension Mass sure gives us fresh inspiration. And, it is what Jesus wants us to experience, as he did for the disciples.

Though many Catholic dioceses in the United States celebrate the Ascension, which is always on the Thursday of the week of the 6^th Sunday of Easter, on the following Sunday, the 7^th Sunday, we do have the designated scripture readings for the 7^th Sunday of Easter. It is important that we read and reflect these words, whether your diocese or archdiocese cerebrates the Ascension on the Thursday and celebrates the 7^th Sunday or not.

The 7^th Sunday of Easter Gospel (John 17:1-11a) is taken from the last long prayer of Jesus in thegarden of agony, Gethsemane, shortly before his arrest to be tortured and killed. Jesus began his Passion with this intense prayer to prepare his way to the Calvary, the Cross, the tomb, and the Resurrection. It is also to shepherd us to salvation, to the Father in heaven, to the dwelling places in the Father’s house.

Given the flow of the themes from the Sunday Gospel readings during Easter, as I indicated above, Jesus made this prayer not only to prepare himself for his way into the Calvary and to the Cross but also for us to receive  new “paraklete” on the Pentecost, after his Ascension.

It is important to note here that the 7^th Sunday of Easter gospel reading ends with Jesus’ statement, “I am coming to you”(John 17:11).  Jesus’ statement of this nature, expressing his desire to be with us, is also found at the end of the Gospel reading for the Ascension, “I am with you always, until the end of the age”(Matthew 28:20). Such sentences are also found in the 6^th Sunday of Easter Gospel, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you”(John 14:18) and in the 5^th Sunday of Easter Gospel, “I will come back again and take you to myself so that where I am you also may be” (John 14:3).

This indication of Jesus’ desire to stay with us, regardless of his physical presence in the world, is extremely important to appreciate the nature of “parakletos” as “para”(being intimately close) and “kaleo” (making a call). Throughout the Gospel readings from the 5^th Sunday on, Jesus has been consistentlyreminding us not only his “parakletos” nature as the first Advocate but also the same nature of the Holy Spirit, which is now called another (second) Advocate, “parakletos”.

Therefore, we are about to conclude the 50 days of Easter from the Resurrection, with the Pentecost, though the Ascension, as we now come to better understand the “parakletos” nature of Jesus and the Holy Spirit – the comforter, consoler, advocate, the power, the teacher, as well as the Good Shepherd (John 10:11) the Gate to the Father (John 10:7), the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6) – the eternal life of the resurrection (John 11:25).  As not only physical being but also spiritual being of all of these qualities, Jesus is always coming to us, to close to us, as our “parakletos”, as in flesh, the Sacrament of the Eucharist, and as in the Holy Spirit, always. We also now better understand that the “parakletos” nature of Jesus, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is a reflection of the Father’s “agape”, which binds the Son with the Father consubstantially (John 10:30). Therefore, as we are about to conclude Easter with Pentecost, we are also ready to celebrate the Trinity Sunday, which follows the Pentecost Sunday.

As we prepare ourselves to complete Easter, reflecting on the “parakletos”, in Jesus, the Son, and in the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father in heaven, let us listen to this beautiful Catholic hymn by David Haas.

This hymn begins singing, “I will come to you in the silence”.  Given that now is the transition time between Ascension and Pentecost, it is a good time to listen and sing this hymn, as we wait for and  prepare ourselves for Pentecost.  We know Jesus has assured us of the coming of second “parakletos”, the Holy Spirit, we still may feel anxious during this “waiting period”, though we are now definitely hopeful. As anxiety and hope are mixed in us, we take a lesson from the disciples in terms of how they spent this time.

The first reading for the 7^th Sunday (Acts 1:12-14) tells that the disciples spent this anxious and hopeful transition time between Ascension and Pentecost praying and praying in the Upper Room in Jerusalem.  They were praying perhaps silently while waiting to receive the descending Holy Spirit from the Father in heaven. Perhaps, this is like a quiet incubation period – getting ready for actions, called mission.

Let us be comforted and empowered by our “parakletos” to be sent out to make the disciples of all nations with “Ite, Mass Est”! 

The Ascension of the Lord and the Ascending Spirit of the Deceased in the Smoke out of the Crematorium's Smokeatack

Images play significant roles not only in human psychology but also in Catholic theology, as well as in many religious traditions, including Buddhism.

Today is the feast day of the Ascension of the Lord. This is the second glorious mystery in the Rosary, following the Resurrection of the Lord, preceding the Descent of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost).

Because religions are based on memories passed on throughout generations, it is about reminiscence (anamnesis/  ἀνάμνησις) of early religious and mystical experiences. So, on this feast day of the Ascension, we remember how Jesus ascended into heaven, as we always say in the Nicene Creed, through Luke 24:50-53 and Acts 1:1-11, which is the first reading for the Ascension Mass, regardless of the liturgical year.

In Acts 1:1-11, there is this image of the risen Jesus, being taken up into heaven, the whole body, immediately after giving his last instruction to the disciples and assuring them of the coming of the Holy Spirit upon them.

Images often brings another images for associations.  It is to make sense and to discern meaning out of images in religious or theological concepts, such as what Luke 1:1-11 describes about the Ascension.

What an image of the Ascension from Luke 1:1-11 triggers out of my own personal memories is an image of the black smoke billowing out of a crematorium in my grandmother’s town in my childhood. And, the memory of my grandmother explaining to me that the smoke coming out of the crematorium’s tall smokestack means the spirit of the deceased person is rising into heaven, just as the smoke was rising. 

Whenever I imagine Jesus’s whole risen body being taken up into heaven, this image of the crematorium’s billowing black smoke comes back to the surface of my consciousness from my memory storage in the subconscious domain.  

I remember that day as if it were yesterday, when I asked my grandmother what the black smoke coming out of the tall smokestack next to a small building at the far corner of the cemetery. It was back in the 1970s, when we used to have crematoriums with tall smokestacks in Japan – though most crematoriums in Japan are “smokeless”: no tall smokestacks and no smokes.  This change is mainly due to environmental concerns, as many people in recent years have found tall smokestacks of crematoriums and smokes are eyesores, besides environmental concerns about the smoke.

 But, back in the 1970s, black smokes from tall smokestacks of crematoriums were common memories of attending funerals, as a funeral process in Japan continues all the way until picking up white dry bones in crematorium and placing the cremated remains at home upon returning from the crematorium.  Usually, during the first seven days of intense prayers, the cremated remains in the urn are placed at the mourners’ home.

As it says, the cremated remains are remains – just dry bone fragments. It has no spirit, as the spirit was released from the flesh of the corpse through the fire of cremation. Thus, the smokes from crematorium’s smokestacks  were believed to be the spirits of the deceased being released and rising into heaven, as my grandmother said to me.

Jesus did not ascend into heaven as smokes. He was not taken into heaven in smokes. He was not dead when his whole body was taken into heaven. He was alive, when he rose into heaven out of the sight of his disciples on the Mount of Olives, between Bethany and Jerusalem.

But, because I did not personally witnessed this event together with the disciples on the Mount of Olives in the Holy Land, about 2,000 years ago, while relying on the anamnesis passed on through the scripture narratives, such as Acts 1-11, I can only relate to this significant event with my personal relevant experiences, such as my memory of the rising smoke out of the crematorium and my grandmother explaining it as the spirit of the deceased rising into heaven.

Once again, I am reminded how personal life experience can affect the way we understand religious truth and how we appreciate images in religions and religious experiences. Not to mention, as our life is affected by culture, there are some cultural bearings to the way we make sense out of religious concepts and truths, including the Ascension of the Lord. In my case, it is my visual memory of the rising smoke out of the crematorium’s smokestack.

My grandmother’s explanation of the smoke as the rising spirit plays a very important role for me to associate the visual memory of the smoke out of the crematorium’s smokestack to the Ascension of the Lord.

When we die, it is our bodies – flesh – that die and disappear.  The essence of life, the spirit, is released from the bodies that no longer function. When our bodies stopped working, then, the spirit no longer need to be with the flesh. So, the spirit is totally free – as free as the air that fills the sky. And, it also becomes winds that blows.

So, now, the song, “I am a Thousand Winds” comes nicely in connecting my memory of the rising smoke from the crematorium’s tall smokestack and the feast of the Ascension of the Lord.

Don't stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
I am the sunlight on the ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain

I am a thousand winds
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glint on snow
I am a thousand winds that blow

Don't stand at my grave and cry
I am not there, I did not die
I am the swift rush of birds in flight
Soft stars that shine at night

I am a thousand winds
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glint on snow
I am a thousand winds that blow

Don't stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
I am the sunlight on the ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain

I am a thousand winds
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glint on snow
I am a thousand winds that blow

I am the diamond glint on snow
I am a thousand winds that blow

Though our remains, though they may become cremated remains or even completely integrated into the earth, will not be raised until Parousia, the spirits of the deceased continue to be around us, just as winds, which are movements of the air.

As the rising smokes from the crematorium’s smokestacks are becoming part of the air in the sky, we know that the spirits of the deceased as alive and well, as free as the air in the sky. And, they remind us that they are always with us, just as we cannot live without the air, as blowing winds.

The above song is based on Mary Frye’s 1932 poem, “Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep”.

Do not stand at my grave and weep

I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on the snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;

I am not there. I did not die.

Let us remember those who have gone before us and now with us in the air we feel through winds and we breathe to sustain life on earth, as we remember the Ascension of the risen Lord. 

Jesus the Good Shepherd, The Divine Scheme Leads Us out of the Samsara-Like Cycle of Sin

In the Year A 4^th Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday, Gospel (John 10:1-10), Jesus said that he is the Good Shepherd, who lays his life for his sheep, and is the gateway to the Father in heaven.  Following this self-identification, Jesus further identified himself as the way, the truth, and the life, in the 5^th Sunday Gospel (John 14:14:1-12). 

In these Christological narratives from the John’s Gospel, Jesus is described as the way to salvation. He is the Good Shepherd, who leads us to salvation. He is the new gate of heaven, even though God closed the gate of heaven upon the fall of Adam and Eve. That is why Jesus is the only gateway to heaven. 

Reflecting on these Johannine Gospel accounts (John 10:1-10, 14:1-12) on Jesus’ Messianic identity from the Good Shepherd Sunday and the 5^th Sunday of Easter, we can discern an image of Jesus shepherdings us, his beloved sheep, to the Father in heaven, through the new gate of heaven.  Jesus’ love of his sheep, us, is, after all, how the Father in heaven loves us. This love is redemptive and agape of kenosis, manifested in Jesus’ passion and death on the Cross, as we followed during Easter Triduum. 

In con junction with the Old Testament, the Good Shepherd Messiah, Jesus, makes himself the way for us,  out of the vicious deadlocked cycle of sin that people before Jesus’ appearance had been repeating for generations – ever since the fall of Adam and Eve.

The below diagram (Fig 1) shows the sin cycle that we had been deadlocked in the time of the Old Testament. 

Fig 1: Before Christ’s Death and Resurrection:   Christian “Samsara”

                                                                         ↙             God

                                                                                    ↙                                   ↓                 ↘

                                                       Sin → judgement→penance→reconciliation→restoration

                                                    ↗                                                                                                     ↘

                                             restoration                                                                                                Sin

                                                  ↖    ↖                                                                                          ↙    ↑

                                                        ↖           reconciliation  ← penance ← judgement                   ↑

                                                                     ↖                 ↖                               ↗                               ↑

                                                                                          ↖            God                                         Original Sin

                                                                                                                                                            ↗

                                                                                                                                                       Satan

Fig. 1

Adam and Eve allowed Devil to contaminate the humanity with sin and let suffering and death enter into the humanity. This resulted in the eviction of the humans from the paradise, separation from God, as the gate of heaven was closed.

Upon the Original Sin committed by Adam and Eve, the humans have been going through a vicious dead-lock cycle of sin-God’s judgement-penance-reconciliation-restoration as Fig. 1 shows.  This cyclical pattern is consistently found throughout the Old Testament’s prophetic books. 

The Israelites who sinned again and again, in spite of repeated God’s interventions, are a projection of the human weakness without Christ. Prophets after prophets had been commissioned and sent by God to us to teach us the lesson and to motivate us to refrain from sinning for good. Yet, we have failed and failed, ignoring and even killing prophets.  

Whether purposefully or unintentionally, we ignored God’s warning messages against our sins.  

After about 400 from the existence of the last Jewish prophet, Malachi, God finally decided to directly intervene this vicious cycle of human sins, not just sending judgements as He used to do, but rather to submit Himself as a human by incarnating through Mary.  This kind of divine intervention as God’s providence is found in no other religions throughout the world.

God’s immeasurably profound agape for us was manifested in the divine incarnation to break this vicious cycle of sin, delivering us out of this cycle, and to bring us back to the Him.  This is God’s scheme of the redemption.  To lead us out of the vicious cycle of sin, Jesus the Christ, plays the role of the Good Shepherd, as the gate, the way, the truth, and the life, for us, his sheep. 

This divine redemptive scheme for us through Jesus, God incarnate, is like how Amitabha Buddha’s infinite mercy leads us out of the vicious cycle of samsara into Nirvana through practicing the Shakamuni (Gautama) Buddha’s teaching on Dharma – including the Eightfold Right Path and the Six Paramitas.

As God’s immeasurable mercy and compassion on us in the samsara-like deadlocked vicious cycle of sin became manifested in Jesus through Mary’s immaculate body, God the ultimate shepherd (Psalm 23) began to lead us out of this cycle.  Thus, upon Christ, the above diagram of the vicious cycle of sin (Fig 1) began to change into the below diagram (Fig 2).

Fig 2: Upon Christ’s Death and Resurrection: Jesus the Christ, the Way out of the vicious cycle, Gat way to the Father

                                                                                                               

                                                                                           God, the Father        

                                                                                                             ↙                  ↑                  ↘

                                                                              Holy Spirit, the Paraclete      ↗                     ↓

                                                                                           ↙       restoration↗                              ↓  

                                                                                 ↙     penance    ↗            

                                                                           ↙   ↗                                                                     ↓                 ↘

                                          Sin →  Jesus , Good Shepherd, Gate, Way→penance→reconciliation→restoration

                                    ↗                                                                                                                                   ↘

                              restoration                                                                                                                            Sin

                                                  ↖    ↖                                                                                          ↙                    ↑

                                                        ↖           reconciliation  ← penance ← judgement                                  ↑

                                                                     ↖                 ↖                               ↗                                               ↑

                                                                                          ↖            God                                                  Original Sin

                                                                                                                                                                  ↗

                                                                                                                                                       Satan

Fig.2

Unlike the times of the Old Testament, God is fully with human through Christ among us in this new redemptive scheme.  This time, God is not sending the message through appointed prophets and sending judgement.  Instead, God is also fully human through Jesus, who is the Good Shepherd, now shepherding us out of the vicious cycle of sin, which started with Adam and Eve, to heaven. 

God has opened the new gate of heaven through the death of Christ, the gate.  And, now God in Christ, the Good Shepherd is leading us, as the way, the truth, and the life to the truly greener pastures in heaven, where God is building our new dwelling places (John 14:2).

Now, because God in Christ, has opened the gate of heaven, has become the gateway, what we need to do to benefit this divine scheme of redemption, is to listen to the voice of Him and to follow Him, our Good Shepherd, as the way, the truth, and the life. 

Where He shepherds us is where the truth and the life is, while there is no truth and life in the cycle.  

………………………….

Ignorance about Christ, a lack of understanding of who Christ is and the meaning of Christ to us, can make us vulnerable to committing sins. This is just like Buddhist teaching on how ignorance may breed greed and anger, as these three psychological factors are considered as three poisons in Buddhism. In Buddhism teaching, these three poisons are manifestations of kleshas, defilements. Thus, ignorance, greed, and anger, keep us in a vicious cycle of sufferings, the cycle of samsara, according to Buddhism.

Christian teaching is very similar.

Throughout the Old Testament, there is a cyclical pattern of sin, God’s judgement,  penance, reconciliation, restoration. From generation to generation, this cycle of sin repeats, as if the cycle of samsara in Buddhism.

For Buddhists, ardent practice of the Six Paramitas is necessary to break free from the vicious endless cycle of samsara, through  enlightenment.  Nembuts is also necessary for this salvific purpose. And, this is the essence of Dharma that Shakamuni Buddha taught.

As Shakamuni Buddha’s teaching is to lead his followers to the salvation of Amitabha Buddha, the teaching of Jesus leads Christians to the salvation of God.  As Nembuts is also necessary for Buddhist to attain salvation, Christians do need the Divine Mercy to be led by Christ, the Good Shepherd, for salvation. 

Thus, Jesus, who embodies his teaching, which is the truth, and who is the everlasting life, is the way, the truth, and the life.

For us to know this truth of Jesus’ salvific way, we have nothing to let our hearts be troubled, as Jesus said in John 14:1. 

And, upon his Ascension into Heaven, Jesus continues to shepherd us through the Holy Spirit. 

Let us always heed the Holy Spirit, our paraclete , our Good Shepherd, to follow the way, the practice the truth, and to remain in the life, the Christ, our Lord.

Good Shepherd Sunday and Mother’s Day - Mother as a Christ-Like Shepherd, Christ as a Mother-Like Shepherd

This year, the year 2014, Good Shepherd Sunday (the 4^th Sunday of Easter) was also Mother’s Day.

Was it just a mere coincidence?

My thought on this is that there is something relevant between Good Shepherd Sunday and Mother’s Day, as there is a thematic thread that connects Good Shepherd  to Mother.

So, what is in common between Jesus the Good Shepherd and a mother?

This question does not seem easy to answer.

But, if the question is changed to: What is common between sheep and children in their early years?

It’s a need to have a caring and nurturing figure. To sheep, it is a shepherd. And, to an infant, it is a mother. In other words, what a shepherd to sheep is like what a mother is to her child.

Sheep without a shepherd are in danger of being attacked by predators, as they cannot defend themselves. Likewise children in their early years are vulnerable to harmful factors in environment.  Thus, sheep need to be protected and led by a shepherd, while babies need their mothers’ care and guidance.

Biologically and psychologically, human babies cannot survive and thrive on their own.  They will cease to exist without their respective mothers or primary caregivers with excellent maternal quality. Human babies without mothers, if left alone, are exposed to predatory dangers, as they cannot defend themselves. They are not able to find food for themselves, either.

Though sheep are able to eat grasses on the pastures by themselves, they are extremely vulnerable to predators that can invade the pastures, if left without a shepherd.  For them to live safely and thrive well, sheep need to be led to safer and more nutrient pastures.

What is better pastures, provided by a shepherd, to sheep is what mothers’ abundant breasts, overflowing with nutritious milk, to human babies, given by their mothers.

In relation to God, through Christ, the Son, we are His sheep (Psalm 23:1, 28:9, Genesis 48:15, John 10:11-16, 21:15-18), protected and nurtured by Him.  Also, our object relation to God is like a mother-baby relationship, as best described with these words,” like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation”(1 Peter 2:2).

God, as the shepherd and the mother nurtures, protects, and guide us on our journey into salvation.  Though He is the Father in Heaven, we are blessed to be led and cared by this God, who has the dual nature: pastoral and maternal, though Christ.

The Good Shepherd Sunday Gospel (John 10:1-10) gives an introduction to the Jesus’ self-description as the Good Shepherd, who has a mother-like quality, given that mothers are likely to sacrifice themselves for the sake of their babies. It is a maternal instinct.

In this introduction, Jesus first describes himself as the shepherd, who enters through the sheep gate (John 10:2), to lead his sheep out and into the sheep pen.  His sheep listen to and follow him, because they know their shepherd, while they do not listen to anyone other than their shepherd, as they do not recognize a stranger’s voice (John 10:6).

This narrative of Jesus the shepherd with his sheep following invokes an image of geese chicks following their mother, as often seen in ethological study’s imprinting. Furthermore, in the human context, this corresponds to the neurological system that connect a mother and her infant child, as the infant child’s brain has been neuroanatomically structured to first recognize his or her own mother’s voice ever since his or her prenatal gestation time in the mother’s womb.

What is so amazing is that, as this intra-womb “creation” process, called the gestation, unfolds in order, the fetus already has eyes and ears by the 4^th week, and at the 13^th week, a developing baby’s ears begin to sense vibrations of the mother’s heartbeat.  In other words, human babies were neuroanatomically created to listen to their mothers’ voices, beginning with their heartbeats, first, while in the womb.

This biological truth of the human gestation and neonatal development has influenced the mother-child attachment theory of John Bowlby (1969) and Mary Ainsworth and her colleagues (1978), and furthermore, Allan Schore’s (2001) neuroanatomical verification and elaboration of the attachment theories.  The fact that human babies are being developed in the mother’s womb to recognize and listen to their mothers’ voices first sets newborn babies to form a secure attachment with their mothers as the psychological foundation for the rest of life.

In our relation to God, because we were created in the image and light of God (Genesis 1:27), we are set to listen to God’s voice  first and to  form a secure attachment with Him, just as babies were formed in the womb to listen to their mothers first and to develop a secure attachment with them. Because of this, Jesus  says that his sheep listen to his voice, as he calls his own sheep by names, in leading them (John 10:3).

The mother-child attachment theories of Bowlby and Ainsworth are seen by Lee Kirkpatrick ( 1998, 1999) as a parallel to the God-human relationship. Therefore,  the Bowbly’s and Ainsworth’s attachment theories offer important insights for us to appreciate our relationship to God as a sheep-shepherd relationship, in light of a mother-infant relationship.  Furthermore, Rosalinda Cassibba’s (2013) study shows that children of secure attachment with their mothers feel closer to God than those of insecure attachment with their mothers. Thus, our secure attachment to the Good Shepherd can be understood in light of a secure attachment between a mother and her child. In such a secure attachment, sheep recognize their own shepherd’s voice and listen to it, in following him, while babies sense their own mothers’ voices first and seek them.

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In the Good Shepherd Sunday Gospel, Jesus also emphasizes his identity as the sheep gate itself (John 10:7,9). In fact, it means that Jesus is the only gateway into salvation, by saying, “I am the gate for the sheep”(John 10:7), “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved”(John 10:9).

In these self-identification statements of Jesus as the sheep gate, Jesus wants us to know that he is the gate into heaven.  Though the gate of heaven had been closed ever since Adam and Eve fell with Satan’s temptation (Genesis 3:24), now Jesus is willing to serve as a new gate for his sheep – us.

The new gate of heaven was opened with the death of Jesus on the Cross,  as the curtain of the Holy of Hollies in the Temple was torn open upon his last breath (Mark 15:37-38, Matthew 27:50-51). 

The curtain of the Holy of Holies, the most sacred place on earth, symbolized what separates us from God.  The curtain indicated that God was not accessible to ordinary people.  However, by tearing the curtain through his own death, Jesus has opened the possibility for us to enter into heaven and to see God the Father.

Through his death on the Cross, tearing what separated us from the Father in Heaven, Jesus the Son, is now serving as the gateway for us to the Father.  By his death on the Cross, Jesus the Good Shepherd and the new gate, is leading us closer to the Father in Heaven.  This aspect of Jesus the Good Shepherd and the new gate  functions just as a mother can plays significant roles in facilitating father-child attachment (Clarke-Stewart, 1978).

The 5^th Sunday of Easter Gospel reading (John 14:1-12) further explains that Jesus is not only the gate and the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-21)  but also the way, the truth, and life (John 14:6) into heaven and salvation. He is the way to salvation and heaven, and the truth that sets us free, delivering us from suffering and death (John 8:32), and the life, as well as the resurrection, enabling us to live beyond death, for believing in him (John 11:25). 

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Following the Good Shepherd Sunday Gospel reading (John 10:1-10), Jesus repeatedly and more clearly portrays himself as the Good Shepherd, who lays his own life for his sheep.

“I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep”, (John 10:11).

“I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father know me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep” , (John 10:14-15).

The way, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, cares for his sheep with his own life at stake, is just like how mothers instinctively lay their own lives for their babies.  Thus, John 10:1-21, which is known as Jesus’ discourse on the Good Shepherd, including the Good Shepherd Sunday Gospel reading, especially vv. 11-18, offers an image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd with the maternal self-sacrificial love and care.

Just like Jesus the Good Shepherd, who lays his own life for his sheep, mothers do not even think of their own selves but only think of their children’s wellbeing, as they do not hesitate to sacrifice themselves for the sake of their children, when their children are in danger.

In the scorching ashen debris in Nagasaki, shortly after a plutonium bomb was dropped on August 9, 1945, a badly charred corpse of a mother, covering her child, was found.  Though the mother’s body had turned charcoal-like, the body of her young child beneath the mother’s corpse was not as damaged as the mother’s body was.

During the Holocaust, mothers resisted Nazi officials with their full forces, when these officials tried to take away their children. The mothers put their own bodies as shields and weapons to protect their children from and to fight the predatory Nazi officials, for the sake of their children.  These Jewish mothers, who fought Nazi predators with all her forces, to protect their children, were also like David, a shepherd, who fought a lion and a bear for the sake of his sheep (1 Samuel 17:35-36).

This is a maternal instinct, not exclusive to the humans, but common to all animal species.

The way Jesus explains who he is, as the Good Shepherd, who lays his own life for his sheep, really invokes this image of mother – a mother, who sacrifices her own life for the sake of her children.

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Images of mothers laying their  own lives for their children  as in the above cases of mothers in  Nagasaki and Nazi concentration camps,  invoke not only Jesus as the Good Shepherd but also God the Creator.

What connects Jesus the Good Shepherd, who lays his life for his sheep, to a mother, who lays her own life for her child, and God the Creator is the Hebrew word, רָחַף (rachaph), used in Genesis 1:2, Deuteronomy 32:11, and Jeremiah 23:9.

In Deuteronomy 32:11, the word,”rachaph”, is used to describe how God care His people with an image of a mother eagle caring for her young by hovering over and fluttering over them. This is not only to protect vulnerable young birds but also to help them become able to fly out of the next on their own. 

The former protective meaning of “rachaph” in Deuteronomy 32:11 is more like the protective nature of Jesus the Good Shepherd, while the latter nurturing character of “rachaph” in this verse is more like a mother-child secure attachment. And, all of these are found in God’s love for us.

In Jeremiah 23:9, “rachaph” is used to suggest compassionate nature of God’s love, as it is how a mother is stirred by a suffering of her child and respond.

Perhaps,“rachaph” is used to allude to the very much mother-like nature of God in Genesis 1:2, at the very beginning of the Creation process.

Genesis 1:2 in English bible to describe the situation before God’s first creation of light is:

“The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters” (NASB).

At first, an image invoked from this verse is that a father’s sperms are laid over the mother’s egg  to begin the creation process of a new life through the fertilization of the egg.  In this image, sperms are like the spirit that gives a new life to an egg, which is like the waters.  I first came up to this image, because I am male.  However, when I read the same verse in different version:

“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”(NIV)

I had a different image. It is an image of the Spirit hovering  and  fluttering over the waters as God was about to begin His Creation process. 

In Genesis 1:2, “rachaph” is used to give the Holy Spirit an image of a mother bird’s wings fluttering, creating some winds, stirring the waters from the surfaces. It is to set the tone for shepherding the Creation process.

It is always a mother, who “shepherds” a new life from its conception on in her womb.  During the prenatal “shepherding”, a little new life in her womb, which assures safety, grows steadily and becomes ready to come out of the cervical “gate”, which connects the mother’s womb and the virginal canal.

Once the mightiest sperm reaches and enters into an egg in the fallopian tube, the fertilized egg must be shepherded safety to the uterus in a timely manner, in order to assure a new life to grow. This shepherding process is governed by the invisible movement, like the  life-forming “rachaph” vibrations. In other words, an amazing process of the development of fetus into a baby from the fertilized egg in the mother’s womb is governed by the life-giving vibrations of “rachaph”, as the Holy Spirit is so.

The marvelous developing process of transforming the fertilized egg into a baby in the mother’s womb can be seen parallel to the Creation process of God in Genesis 1. Just as God created the universe one step at a time, on one theme per day, a new life in the mother’s womb is being developed into a baby in an orderly manner.  

When God started shepherding His Creation process, the earth was formless and empty (Genesis 1:2).  When the father’s sperm entered into the mother’s egg for fertilization, the mother’s womb was empty.

In an orderly manner, God first created the light (Genesis 1:3).   Likewise, the central nervous system (the brain and the spinal chord) is being developed first, transforming the fertilized egg into a fetus. As the gestation process continues on in an orderly manner, like the Creation in Genesis 1, the heart is being formed and starts beating in 22 days from the conception – even though the mother may not yet realize that she is already pregnant.  By the 13^th week of gestation, the developing baby in the mother’s womb moves at least 50 times per hour and is believed to have REM sleep, suggesting a possibility of already dreaming.  And, in 6 months, every organ and body part are developed.

When the full term, the mother’s body gently guides the new life in her womb come through the cervical gate into this world. Upon delivering her child, a mother continues to shepherd her child through her breast into a secure attachment, which mirrors God-human attachment.

As the mother-child attachment is being developed, oxytocin is flowing from the mother to the child, through her breast given to the child. Oxytocin is an essential hormone for love and compassion. Thus, the mother-child secure attachment, rich in oxytocin, is characterized with agape, just as the God-human secure attachment is all about agape.

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Jesus, the Good Shepherd and the new gate, sure has maternal character in his self-sacrificing love – agape, as he lays his own life for his sheep – just as a mother does so.

God the Father, who sent His Son, the Good Shepherd and the new gate, sure have some maternal characteristics, as well, symbolized with the word, “rachaph”. This also characterized the Holy Spirit, as indicated in Genesis 1:2. Thus, our Triune God is both paternal and maternal.

In our appreciation of mothers, we  can certainly deepen our faith in God, as a mother-child secure attachment can characterize a God-human secure attachment, which is the core of our faith.

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Ainsworth, M.; Blehar, M.; Waters, E.; and Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and Loss, Vol. 1: Attachment. New York: Basic Books.

Cassiba, R. (2013) .Mother’s attachment security predicts their children’s sense of God’s closeness, Attachment and Human Development, 15(1), 51-64

Clarke-Steward, A. K. (1978). And Daddy Makes Three: The Father’s Impact on Mother and Young Child, Child Development, 49(2), 466-478.

Kirkpatrick, L. A. (1998). God as a substitute attachment figure: A longitudinal study of adult attachment style and religious change in college students. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 961-973.

Kirkpatrick, L. A. (1999). Attachment and religious representations and behavior. In Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications(pp.803-822). New York: Guilford Press.

Schore, A. N. (2001). Effect’s of a secure attachment relationship on right brain development, affect regulation and infant mental health, Infant Mental Health Journal, 22(1-2), 7-66