The Blood and Water of the Good Shepherd – Lamb of God - Divine Mercy

I. The Good Shepherd is where the Divine Mercy (the Blood and Water) Flows

While the 2^nd Sunday of Easter is known as Divine Mercy Sunday, the 4^th Sunday of Easter is known as Good Shepherd Sunday.

In the Cycle B (Year B of the Liturgical Cycle), the Gospel reading for Good Shepherd Sunday is taken from  a middle part of the Good Shepherd narrative, which is John 10. To be precise, it is John 10:11-18.

The punch line of the reading should be: “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep (John 10:11).

Now, if Jesus is the good shepherd, who are his sheep, for whom he is willing to lay his own life?

Of course, that is us, the ones whom Jesus, the good shepherd, knows and who know him  - just as the Father knows  the good shepherd, and as the good shepherd knows the Father(John 10:14-15). It is because we also know Psalm 100:3, “Know that the Lord is God, our maker to whom we belong, whose people we are, God’s well-tended flock”.

Who else could be his sheep?

Those who do not believe in him – those who reject him, are not considered as sheep of the Lord. Rather, they are goats to be sent elsewhere, while sheep will be led into the God’s pasture, namely, the Kingdom, at the time of the Judgement (Matthew 25:32). They are also the ones who reject the stone that builders rejected (Psalm 118:22).

In other words, our faith in Christ makes us his sheep and entitle ourselves to his care.

The care that Jesus, the good shepherd, provides for us is his very life, in order to save us. It is important to note that Jesus repeats his willingness to lay his own life for us repeatedly in this Good Shepherd Sunday Gospel narrative (John 10:11,15, 17, and 18). It is obvious that Jesus wants to emphasize that he lays his own life for us, his sheep.  And this is also in the Father’s will (John 10:17-18).

As you read John 10:11-18, the 4^th Sunday of Easter (Year B)  Gospel’s Good Shepherd narrative, you notice that Jesus is, in fact, making reference to his death on the Cross, as his salvific sacrifice. Remember, in his agonizing prayer in Gethsemane on the night before his death, following the Last Supper, his passion and death are according to the Father’s will, which Jesus humbly and obediently accepted (Matthew 26:36-46//Mark 14:32-42//Luke 23:40-46).

Jesus demonstrated what he means by he is the good shepherd, who lays his life for his sheep, on the Cross.

As I mentioned in my blog article, the self-sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, to save us from God’s wrath, has two aspects:  Passover sacrifice offering and Yom Kippur sacrifice offering. The former is to save us from the judgement as the Passover sacrifice let the tenth plague safely pass over God’s people, while destroying those who are not. The latter is to atone our sin with God, rectifying our clocked relationship with God. In either way, there is a blood to be shed from the sacrificial offering.

Remember, when Jesus died on the Cross, blood, along with water, gushed out of his body, as a Roman soldier pierced his lance into Jesus’ body (John 19:34). This very blood, along with water, flowing out of the body of Jesus, sprinkling over those who were at the foot of his Cross, is a new covenant (i.e. Luke 22:20), as the blood of the sacrifice animal for Passover was an old covenant (Exodus 24:6-8), and is what protect us and gives us eternal life. In fact, it is the life that Jesus, the good shepherd, promise to give us under his protection (John 10:10). Because, the sacrifice of Jesus, as he laid his own life, for us, is not only to save us but also to make our atonement with God, the blood the good shepherd shed for us is for us to be forgiven (Matthew 26:28).

Now, you can see the connection between Good Shepherd Sunday and Divine Mercy Sunday here.

The blood and water flowing out of the wound of Jesus’ body on the Cross, as he laid his life, as he has promised in John 10, as the good shepherd, symbolize what Divine Mercy is - as in St. Faustina’s Diary 187 and as also cited in the 3 O’Clock Prayer of the Divine Mercy Cheplet:

 “You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole word and empty Yourself out upon us. O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in you! Jesus, I trust in you! Jesus, I trust in you! Jesus, I trust in you!”

The way Jesus has fulfilled his promise to protect us (Passover) and to atone for us (Yom Kippur), as the good shepherd, is kenoptic expression of the Divine Mercy, as well reflected in the 3 O’Clock Prayer.

The blood, along with water, of our good shepherd, is the redeeming blood for us. It cleanses us (1 John 1:7), and it atones us with God (Matthew 26:28) as it is the blood of the new covenant (Luke 22:20). And, this is what the Divine Mercy is as Jesus told St. Faustina (Diary 187).

Realizing this, it is no surprise that the Divine Mercy Novena begins on Good Friday, the very day that Jesus showed to the whole word to redeem what he meant by the good shepherd, who lays his life for his sheep  (John 10:11, 15, 17, 18) as his Christological identity.  

Also as read in the 2^nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday) Gospel of Year B, the wound mark of Jesus’ resurrected boy that Thomas had to put his finger in, in order for him to believe in the Resurrection (John 20:24-31), reminds  us where the Divine Mercy, as the blood and water, of Jesus flow, as the good shepherd has laid his life for us – for our redemption and atonement.

Through his blood with water, the Divine Mercy, the good shepherd purifies us and gives us eternal life, as we continue to hear his voice. We follow him because we know him better as we have witnessed his passion and death during the Paschal Triduum and believe in his Resurrection through Eastertide.

II. The Divine Mercy as the Eucharist - The Blood of the Water from the Agnus Dei

Yes, this Divine Mercy is also received in the challis as the Sacrament of the  Eucharist – Corporis et Sanguinis Christi, nostra Pastor Bonus.  The Sanguinis Christi comes to through the challis that is offered up during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, accompanied with Eucharistic prayer.

First, in preparation of the wine, the presiding priest says in presenting  and preparing the gifts (bread and wine  received at the alter). When the priest mixes water into wine, he says:

Per huius aquæ et vini mystérium eius efficiámur divinitátis consórtes, qui humanitátis nostræ fíeri dignátus est párticeps (By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity).      i.e. 2 Maccabees 15:39; 2 Peter 1:4; John 19:34; Romans 5:2; Philippians 2:8

Followed by:

Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this wine to offer, fruit of the vine and work of human hands.  It will become our spiritual drink.

To this, we respond, “Blessed be God forever”.

Then, the priest brings the challis of wine to the bread and say the prayer of :

Lord God, we ask you to receive us and be pleased with the sacrifice we offer you with humble and contrite hearts.

Pray, brothers and sisters, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father. 

(We all say) May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands, for the praise and glory of his name, for our good, and the good of all his Church.

Then, the priest moves on to cite Eucharistic Prayer through the Prayer over the Offerings, Eucharistic Preface Dialogue (The Lord be with you…Let us give thanks to the Lord our God….. It is right and just.) , Preface Prayer  (It is truly right and just….we declare your glory, as with one voice we acclaim) and Preface Acclamation (Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts…Hosanna in the Highest).

In this Eucharistic prayer, the priest says:

Therefore, Lord, we pray: graciously accept this oblation of our service that your whole family; which we make to you also for those whom you have been pleased to give the new birth of water and the Holy Spirit, granting them forgiveness of all their sins.

Upon these prayers, Epiklesis takes place as the priest proclaims these words of Jesus at the Last Supper, holding the bread and wine to be transubstantiated into corpris et sanguinis Christi:

Take this, all of you, and eat of it; for this is my body which will be given up for you. Take this, all of you, and drink from it; for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant. which will be poured out for you and for many  for the forgiveness of sins . Do this in memory of me.

These words of the Institution of the Eucharist are followed by the Memorial Acclaim (When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death,  O Lord, until you come again – Form B) to continue more Eucharistic prayer and to lead to proclaim:

Through him, and with him, and in him, O God , almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, forever and ever.

Now, compare this flow in the Liturgy of the Eucharist to these words cited in the Divine Mercy chaplet:

“Eternal Father, I offer you the body and blood, soul and divinity, of your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world” (Diary 475).

Since this is the time of the year when children are receiving the First Communion upon the First Confession, let us guide them to link the Blood of Christ to the Divine Mercy, which gushes from the Body of our Good Shepherd as he has laid his life for us.

We, the sheep of the Lord, are forever grateful for the Divine Mercy that gushes out of the wound of our Good Shepherd as he has laid his life on the Cross.  The Divine Mercy continues to flow even after he is risen.  

Thank you Lord! Praise the Lord! Alleluia! 

Francis Cardinal George as I Know - My Brother Francis in Christ and My Shepherd, Who Has Blessed and Inspired Me

After more than a half century of dedicated service to the Lord, Francis Cardinal George was called home by God.  He was born to eternal life, on Friday, April 17, 2015, at age 78. Though we are saddened by Cardinal George's passing, our heart remains filled with gratitude for his service to the Lord, as it has nourished and inspired us, who have been fortunate to be pastored by him for the last 17 years in Chicago.  Of course, our faith assures that Cardinal George continues to be with us and among us in spirit, as the ascended Jesus has been with us through parakletos, transcending  temporal et territolialis finium.

Because I was fortunate to have met Cardinal George in person several times, I cannot help but remember him in a special way -  not only as an archbishop of Chicago but rather as my brother in Christ, as “brother Francis”. Obviously, I have been personally touched by the risen Christ in Cardinal George, through his pastoral quality, which reflects his Christ-centered personal character.

When I first met him, it was at a garden party in his residence, after celebrating Mass to conclude Theology-on-Tap program, in August, 2002. Theology-on-Tap is a month-long program for Catholics in the 20s and the 30s to experience what the Church and its faith tradition can offer to this young adult generation.  Cardinal George was very supportive of now-international program to address theology for young adult Catholics in a relaxed summer-breeze setting over some beer started in Chicago, promoted by Fr. John Cusick, with blessings from Joseph Cardinal Bernadine, in the early 1980s. Not only he opened his residence to welcome participants of Theology-on-Tap but Cardinal George spoke to as many young adult Catholics as he could over this program to show how much he liked to engage in this generation of Catholics, who otherwise might not stay in the Church.

Thanks to Fr. Cusick, then director of the Young Adult Ministry program of the archdiocese, I had the honor to serve as a liturgical co-coordinator for the Theology-on-Tap Mass, celebrated by Cardinal George.  After this Mass at Holy Name Cathedral, I had an opportunity to speak with Cardinal George, together with my fellow Theology-on-Tap participants and liturgical volunteers I coordinated, in his residence.

Though the titles, “Archbishop of Chicago” and “Cardinal”, may make it a bit uneasy to approach him, I immediately noticed that Cardinal George was as easily approachable as “brother Francis”, once the initial ice was broken.  This ease is due to Cardinal George’s outgoing friendliness, reflecting the flow of the Holy Spirit, as he often initiate conversations with his “Hello” and greetings, especially, to those who seem shy or nervous in meeting him.  Within a minute, we all engaged in laughter-filled conversation with Cardinal George.

With Francis Cardinal George, 2002 Theology-on-Tap Garden Party

This experience reminded me that the foremost important factor in pastoral ministry is the kind of hospitality and approachability that Cardinal George exhibited to all of us, no matter who we are and where we are from. This hospitality and friendliness is also about getting to know each person as who he or she is.  Even though he had to meet so many people in a very limited time, Cardinal George made conscious efforts to get to know each of us, beyond “Hello” and handshake.  Witnessing this most important element of ministry in Cardinal George, I began to be more cognizant about Cardinal-George-like hospitality in my own lay ministry leadership.

On another occasion, I witnessed outgoing friendliness of Cardinal George, when I chaperoned my confirmation students to a youth retreat.  As a feature of this confirmation youth retreat, Mass was celebrated by Cardinal George.  

Like young adult Catholics, this young generation of Catholics tend to find the Church “boring” or “too conservative”, as there have been many young Catholics, who left the Church shortly after receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation.  

Those who have taught religion to preteen and teen students know how difficult it is to keep them engaged as you teach what the Catholic Church is about. And, this is the very generation that you often find them drifting away mentally or even bold enough falling asleep in the pews during Mass. However, including my students, all preteen and teen participants of the youth retreat were listening attentively to Cardinal George’s homily.  It is not because he was Cardinal but rather because the way Cardinal George engaged this otherwise elusive generation through his homily.  The youth on this retreat wanted Cardinal George to spend the rest of the day with them – even though many of them might have thought that it would be boring to listen to him, as they found it difficult to let him leave after celebrating Mass for another scheduled commitment.

Again, Cardinal George taught me what it takes to practice effective ministry through his example. The ministry must be practice as in the way of the rubber meets the road. 

It was December 2009, when I met Cardinal George, once again, though I had never thought that it would turn out to be my last personal meeting with him. Thanks to a Jesuit scholastic friend, Steven Pitts, SJ, whom I was assisting his efforts to serve the Lord in Japan, and his mentor, Fr. Michael Sparough, SJ, whom I enjoyed working for the Charis Ministry,  I was able to join a Jesuit scholastics’ dinner meeting with Cardinal George .  At this event in a Jesuit residence , I had the privilege also to meet, again, Fr. Raymond Baumhardt, SJ, former president of my alma mater, Loyola University Chicago, as he was working with Cardinal George, at that time.

Together with Fr. Baumhardt, Fr. Sparough, and Jesuit scholastics, I was very fortunate to enjoy dinner conversation with Cardinal George.

As Fr. Sparough introduced me to Cardinal George, he immediately recognized me, smiling and saying, “We have met!”. This recognition that Cardinal George made put all of us at ease and on a fiesta mode to share. This time, we had more time to enjoy conversation.  Of course, this showed not just how good his memory was but rather how he cares each person he has encountered, regardless of his or her status or position.  This really reflects how God cares and knows each person on earth.  Knowing that he meets so many people every day, I never thought that he would remember me.  But, it sure tells that Cardinal George value every meeting with a person, no matter how brief it may be, rather reflecting this Japanese  proverb, “Ichigo Ichie”(一期一会), which values a meeting with a person as if never to meet again.

Cardinal George obviously wanted to know me more personally, just as much I wanted to know about him.  He asked me about my ministry activities, beyond my involvement with Theology-on-Tap and youth ministry.  I described my journey of professional development in pastoral ministry to have become a professional lay pastoral minister and a certified catechist. Cardinal George was pleased to acknowledge the progress on my journey to serve the Lord better. He also thanked me for the service I provide in the archdiocese.

Because he is easy to engage in conversation, I found myself asking Cardinal some personal questions, in regard to his own ministry experiences and personal interests. In response, Cardinal George uninhibitedly shared his experience and thoughts with me.  As I listened to him, it was evident that Cardinal George really loves meeting people from all walks of life and from all cultures of the world, while acknowledging inevitable challenges in dealing with cultural and value differences.  His distinct interest in difficult cultures and inculturation reminded me that he has been a missionary priest of the Missionary Oblates of Immaculate Mary (OMI).

As our conversation topic shifted from multicultural pastoral ministry in the diverse Chicago archdiocese to a global missionary, reflecting Cardinal George’s OMI missionary background, I told him that my country, Japan, has its own unique share in the Church’s global missionary history – though the Catholic population in Japan is very small.  Cardinal George showed his particular interest in the missionary history in Japan, also reminding me of the presence of his religious order, OMI, in Japan.  

In fact, the focal point of Cardinal George’s interest in the Catholics in Japan was on the strengths in their faith, which had sustained for almost 250 years of severe persecution, without any priest or bishop to guide.   He acknowledged that it really amazes him how Japanese Catholics managed to maintain their faith under such an extremely difficult condition, not only being under persecution but also being totally cut-off from Vatican’s support, as Japan enclosed itself from the rest of the world, while the persecution went on.  In fact, in regard to the Japanese Catholic heritage, Cardinal George emphatically pointed out as a good example to highlight the quality of faith over a mere number of the faithful.

I had never thought that Cardinal George had such a strong interest in the Catholic heritage of Japan, given the fact that there are not many Japanese Catholics in Chicago. Not even many Japanese American Catholics.  The presence of the Catholics of Japanese background in Chicago is very small.  Japanese Catholics are not like Filipino Catholics in Chicago and elsewhere, even among Asian Catholics. Perhaps, this reflects the fact that the Catholics barely make up less than 1% of the total population in Japan.  However, perhaps, even he rarely ministers  to a Japanese Catholic person in Chicago, Cardinal George showed his strong interest in the Japanese Catholic heritage.  And, it was not just because of me, but it was also because of his missionary background as a member of the OMI order.

I was so happy to know that he was so interested in my faith heritage from Japan.  And I told him that I really want to see myself on the continuum of countless courageous faithful, who kept the faith strong during these difficult years in Japan.  To this my missionary spirit, Cardinal George said that he also wants me to serve the Lord to take this strong Catholic legacy in Japan further towards the fullness.  In fact, Cardinal George gave me his blessing on my missionary spirit to serve the Lord in Japan, telling me that it can be my next calling. Of course, I was so empowered and inspired by this blessing that Cardinal George gave me.

During this conversation, we also shared a light-hearted moment of laughter, upon giving St. Francis Xavier a huge credit for planting a good seed of faith in Japan, setting a stage for the Japanese Catholics to cultivate this exemplary strength of faith that endured all adversities for many years.  Because the name of this missionary priest to Japan is Francis, and Cardinal’s name is also Francis, and my baptismal and confirmation name is also Francis, we just felt a very strong bonding through our name, Francs. Cardinal George and I are not only brothers in Christ but also brothers in the order of Francis, as it is our name in Christ.  If we had that dinner conversation today, Pope Francis would be added to this order of Francis that Cardinal and I are in. Not to mention, this order goes back to St. Francis of Assisi, our beloved Saint.

Now in retrospect, it was not a coincidence that Cardinal George had such a strong interest in the Japanese Catholic heritage, as he personally described to me.

It was his polio experience that led him outside Chicago and made him as a missionary priest, before his service as Bishop of Yakima and then as Archbishop of Chicago. 

Because of his motor disabilities caused by polio, young Francis George was not welcomed by Quigley Preparatory Seminary of the Chicago Archdiocese.  The Chicago seminary saw him “unfit” to become a priest because of his polio-related challenges.  But, young Francis George did not let this rejection stop him from pursuing his desire to become a priest, as his heart was burning strong.  So, he searched around and around for a seminary that would accept and welcome him, regardless of his disabilities. And, his uncompromising spirit toward priesthood found a preparatory seminary of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) religious order in Belleville, IL, as a welcoming place for him to continue responding to his call to become a priest.

Cardinal George is a man of faith-driven strengths and resilience, as he did not allow any challenges, including his polio-related disabilities, keep him from pursuing his call.  He is a fighter, and all his battles for the Lord result in victory.  Through his diligent and tireless efforts, guided by the Holy Spirit, Francis George not only became an OMI priest but climbed through the missionary order’s ranks, while obtaining two doctorate degrees and making missionary trips to 68 countries.

The strengths and resilience of Cardinal George sure resonates with these of the Japanese Catholics, who endured 250 years of persecution even without any support from Vatican and without any priest or bishop. The early Christians survived  300 years of persecution in the Roman Empire as they were guided by bishops and priests. But, the Catholics in Japan had to survive without these shepherd figures for 250 years.  This unique strengths and resilience of the Japanese Catholic heritage must have gravitated Cardinal Georges’ interest and help his own strengths and resilience to drive him beyond any obstacles.

Perhaps, Cardinal George might not have developed such a strong interest in the Catholic heritage in Japan and in inculturation – had he not suffered from polio.

Had Cardinal George not suffered from polio, my dinner conversation with Cardinal George back in 2009 could have been not as meaning as it was.

As I continue to remember how warmly touched, blessed and inspired by Cardinal George, how he inspired my own missionary spirit, I must find an opportunity to serve the Lord in my country, Japan, so that I can make a happy report to Cardinal in heaven in regard to the progress of my missionary, as an extension of the original missionary of our brother, Francis, St. Francis Xavier. When the Lord grant me an opportunity to engage in pastoral ministry in Japan, drawing upon all my ministry experience in Chicago, it will be done in honor of and in memory of Francis Cardinal George, who has inspired me and blessed my missionary spirit.

After all, Cardinal George was a very humble and obedient servant of the Lord and respondent to his call. He just wanted to be remembered as a shepherd who did his best to help us grow holier.

Cardinal George, my brother Francis, you sure did!  You sure did to me, as you have done so to countlessly many around the world through your 52 years of ministry.  Please watch me and continue to bless me and guide me as I continue on my journey with the missionary spirit, which you have blessed during our last conversation.

Thank you, Cardinal George....brother Francis...for inspiring me to strive to be holier. May you now enjoy your heavenly Sabbath in your dwelling place that the Father has prepared for you (John 14:2). 

From Rejected Stone to the Cornerstone: Growth of the Kingdom of God during Eastertide

Happy Easter! Now Christ has risen, alleluia! Alleluia! Praise the Lord!

Actually, Easter cannot be understood and appreciated without reflecting back Paschal Triduum.  

Paschal Triduum is the concluding part of Lenten journey.  It means that Lent is a necessary condition to appreciate what Easter is about.  Therefore, it is important to view Eastertide on the same one continuum with Lent, as a journey of our faith development.

Of course, what guides us on this critical journey of growth in faith is the Holy Spirit, which guides us (John 16: 13), shepherding us as Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10:14), as David sung in Psalm 23:1, about 1,000 years before the time of Jesus.

As we move from on this journey on the Lent-Eastertide continuum from Ash Wednesday to Pentecost, we first cleanse ourselves, especially our heart, as symbolized by Jesus’ action of washing his disciple’s feet  during  the Last Supper (John 13:1-15). Then, we witness the Lord’s Passion (suffering) and death on the Cross during the Paschal Triduum, to realize a consequence of our sins, in light of the prophecy in Isaiah 52 – 53. In this, Jesus is symbolized as the rejected cornerstone but not simply so as he was made into the cornerstone (Psalm 118:22; Matthew 21:42; Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:7) of the Kingdom of God, through the Resurrection.  The context of Matthew 21 also illustrates how our sins disfigured the world that God had given us before, through Jesus’ parable of the vineyard, as Jesus clearly juxtaposes himself, as the rejected stone, to the vineyard in this parable, also in light of the Song of Vineyard in Isaiah 5:1-7.

The vineyard parable of Jesus (Matthew 21:33-46) and the Song of Vineyard (Isaiah 5:1-7) remind us of very grave consequences of our unrepentant sins.  Vineyard is a metaphor of the world that God provides for us. We are entrusted to take a good care of it with our stewardship. We are to put our best efforts in the vineyard that God provides for us to produce good fruit and wine. Alas, we have let our narcissistic ego dictate our behaviors in the vineyard and hijacked the world. Perhaps, this is a result of misunderstanding what God said in Genesis 1:28-30, because of our narcissistic ego and greed.

Our unrepentant sins have turned this world into a place of abomination to God. The filth of our sins corrupted the vineyard.  When Jesus came to Jerusalem to spend the very last week of his life, corresponding to the Holy Week, the Temple of Jerusalem was morally corrupted. So, he had to cleansed it (Matthew 21:12-17//Mark11:15-18//Luke 19:45-47) and dropped a verbal bomb against the religious leaders, who corrupted the Temple, citing Psalm 8:2 in Matthew 21:16, to remind them that God will avenge for their sinful act as children and infants, whom they did not care, will be appointed to silence them.  These strong prophetic words of Jesus against the religious leaders, who corrupted the Temple, as the vineyard of God was corrupted by our unrepentant sins, are also echoed in another strong words of Jesus, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days”(John 2:19).

In regard to the corrupted Temple to be destroyed in order to be raised anew in three days in John 2:18, Jesus was referring it to his death and resurrection. Through this, Jesus prophesized to the religious leaders, who were to exercise leadership in good stewardship of God’s Temple but corrupted as the tenant vineyard workers corrupted the vineyard of God, the Temple they corrupted will be taken away, just as the corrupted vineyard is so, so that God can give new one to those who are faithful to Him.

In response to this verbal bomb, leaded with Jesus’ prophetic words, against them, the corrupt and narcissistic religious leaders of the time were raged against Jesus and became determined to kill him.  This is reflected on the Monday of the Holy Week.

Now, note that Jesus cited Psalm 118:22-23, saying to the religious leaders, “ Have you never read in the Scriptures:’ The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed”(Matthew 21:42-44).

Those leaders, though entrusted by God for their stewardship leadership, refuse to repent and change their heart, are the builders who rejected the stone (Psalm 118:22; Matthew 21:42). They are like the wicked tenant vineyard workers Matthew 21:33-41. They also correspond to the subjects of God’s judgement (Isaiah 5:4-7) in the Song of Vineyard.  They are the ones who falls on the stone that they rejected and will be crushed as the stone falls on in Matthew 21:44. Thus, Isaiah 5:4-7 and Matthew 21:43-44 carry essentially the same prophetic message, referring to those who refuse to repent and convert their heart to God, symbolized with the builders who rejected the stone – who turned the vineyard a place of abomination – who corrupted the Temple.

These are the projection of our stubborn sinfulness – our persistent clinging to sins, reflections of our narcissistic ego.  In John 2:19, this sinfulness of ours is projected into the body of Jesus that is to be killed, symbolized with the Temple to be destroyed. In other words, the corrupted vineyard, which is subject to displacement in Isaiah 5:1-7 and Matthew 21:33-46, itself is juxtaposed to the Temple to be displaced – the body of Jesus to be killed. Furthermore, this is also projected further into the rejected stone in Psalm 118:22 and Matthew 21:42.

Jesus has made it clear in Matthew 21:42-44 that those who refuse to repent and turn to God will be subject to the Judgement (Revelation 20:11-15), while those who follow Christ and convert their heart to God through Christ will be shepherded into the Kingdom of God, which is eschatologically envisioned in Revelation 21-22, as God raises the rejected stone, which is crucified and killed Jesus, to be made the cornerstone of the Kingdom.  And, this is an important message from Easter Sunday. That is why we joyfully sing, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it!”(Psalm 118:24) for our Responsorial Psalm at Easter Sunday Mass.

Easter Sunday is the joyful day when the Lord has made the rejected stone into the cornerstone of the Kingdom of God! Though this joyful day of the Resurrection seems like a day of culmination on our faith journey from Ash Wednesday of penance, it is not an end of the journey. It is not the purpose of our faith journey, either, although Easter characterizes our hope-generating faith. Easter is a point of powerful affirmation of all we have prepared for during Lent to further inspire us to grow strong in faith. For this reason, starting Easter Sunday, on the same continuum of Lenten journey, we find ourselves in the unfolding impacts of Easter leap of faith during Eastertide and beyond.

During Eastertide, the 50 days of celebratory time of the Lord’s Resurrection, we deepen our understanding of Jesus’ teaching, while our faith continues to grow in our purified heart. This is to prepare ourselves for Pentecost, receiving the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8), to become charismatized. This is to make our faith firm, reflecting the Sacrament of Confirmation. But, for this, we need to increase hindsight as to what Jesus has meant by all his teaching.  That is why the Eastertide Sunday Masses have the First Readings from the Acts of the Apostles to see the effects of Easter and Pentecost, while the Gospel Readings to reflect back how the disciples came to terms with the Resurrection and the teaching of Jesus.  This pattern in the Liturgy of the Word during Eastertide Sundays reflects the way we spend Eastertide is, characterized by these words of Søren Kierkegaard, “life can only be understood backward; but it must be lived forwards”.  While First Readings from Acts of the Apostles inspires us to continue on going forward with increasing faith, the Gospel Readings helps us cultivate deeper insights on the teaching of Jesus.

Feeling not really ready to embark on Eastertide journey, because something in you is holding back to Lent?  Still afraid of not having pure heart? No worry! Because Eastertide is also when we are reminded of the Divine Mercy, as the Sunday after the Easter Sunday is the Dine Mercy Sunday.  All we have to do to deal with this kind of uneasy feeling is to trust the merit of the Divine Mercy, with our desire to attain clean heart and to increase our faith, saying, “Jesus, I trust in you! Jesus, I trust in you! , Jesus, I trust in you!’This is like Japanese Shin Buddhists say, “Namuamidabutsu, Namuamidabutsh, Namuamidabutsu” , meaning, “Amitabha Buddha, I trust in you and put everything to your care and mercy”.

With our Buddhist’s like humility – like Buddhists’ “Namuamidabutsu” chanting, we cry, “Jesus, I trust in you! Jesus, I trust in you! , Jesus, I trust in you!”, and submit our total self to the care of his Divine Mercy to attain the merit of Eastertide.

Pope Francis writes:

Maybe someone among us here is thinking, My sin is so great, I am as far from God as the younger son in the parable; my unbelief is like that of Thomas. I don’t have the courage to go back, to believe that God can welcome me and that he is waiting for me, of all people. But God is indeed waiting for you; he asks of you only the courage to go to him. How many times in my pastoral ministry have I heart it said, “Father, I have many sins”? And I have always pleaded, “Don’t be afraid, go to him, he is waiting for you, he will take care of everything”. We have many offers from the world around us; but let us take up God’s offer instead: his is a caress of love. For God, we are not numbers, we are important; indeed we are the most important thing to him. Even if we are sinners, we are what is closest to his heart.

(Pope Francis, “The Church of Mercy” a Vision for the Church”, Loyola Press, 2014, pp.5-6)

Eastertide is also a time for those who are still in a Lenten mode or those who not yet even come to Ash Wednesday to take courage to go to God to be embraced by His Divine Mercy.

The wound that Jesus has from his Crucifixion is a powerful reminder that his death and resurrection are to shower all of us with the Divine Mercy.

Meaning of Eastertide - What Rises, What Not Rises

Surrexit Christus hodie! Jesus Christ is risen today! Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Haec dia quam fecit Dominus; exsultemus et latemur in ea! This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad! Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!.... Psalm 118:24

Now Lent has given its way to Eastertide, through the Paschal Triduum. Now we have 50 days until Pentecost to savor what the Resurrection of the Lord means. But, in order for us to truly appreciate what the Resurrection is about, we must cultivate a good hindsight.

While the 40 days of Lent is a journey to transform our heart into the kind of clean heart, as described in Psalm 51, the 50 days of Eastertide is develop a deeper insight of who Jesus is, as two disciples did on their way to Emmaus, as described in Luke 24:13-35. In this sense, what characterize Eastertide is these words of Kierkegaard, ”Life is lived forward but understood backward”.

We continue to move forward during Eastertide, as guided by the risen Christ and the Holy Spirit, as the Father wills.  That is why the First Readings for Sunday Masses during Eastertide are taken from the Acts of the Apostles, which describes how the disciples lived beyond the Resurrection, Ascension, and Pentecost, which Gospel readings, primarily from John’s Gospel, help us develop the necessary hindsight.

This way, by the time Eastertide ends with Pentecost, we will be in a better position to recognize Trinity in full circle, as we can see how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are related as one triune God.  Thus, counting from Ash Wednesday, we are on this special journey to deepen our relationship with our Triune God.

On Good Friday, through the death of Jesus, we hang our sinfulness on the Cross, as Paul says in Galatians 5:24. On that day, stumbling blocks for us to live the way of the Holy Spirit died.  Because of this, we have become better suited to focus on the way of the Holy Spirit, as we let go of the way of the flesh.  As the Paschal Lamb, Jesus has delivered us from the enslavement of our carnal desires, which often defile us.

On Easter Sunday, Jesus has risen. But, not our ego, not our carnal desire, as these have been taken away since Good Friday.

Just as only unleavened bread is eaten during Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which follows Passover, our ego and carnal desires are now removed upon the new ultimate salvific Passover that Jesus, as Agnus Dei, the Paschal Lamb, was its price for – just as yeast was removed form dough to make unleavened bread.

This is why the Eucharistic bread, as Sacrament, is always unleavened, in the Catholic Church.

Some people argue that leavened bread should use for communion, because Jesus is risen. But, this view really misses the very meaning of the Resurrection.

As it is not dough that rises, neither are our ego nor carnal desire, as Jesus died and is risen. 

Otherwise, why we have worked so hard to let our ego and carnal desire go during Lent? If we were to use leavened bread for communion, it would symbolize that we were still living with “fungus” that raises our ego and arouses carnal desires.

Such  “fungus” in our heart is a major stumbling block for the Holy Spirit, which raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11).

It is not dough that is to rise.

It is neither our ego nor our carnal desire that are to rise.

It is only Jesus, the Christ, and the Holy Spirit that rise. 

And, as we let “fungus” in us be crucified on Good Friday, our clean heart is also raised by the rising Holy Spirit.  This is what Easter is about.

Yes, Jesus Christ is risen today! Not the “dough” – what our ego and flesh, because the “fungus” in us died on Good Friday. Our clean heart is free from “fungus”, thanks be to God, whose immeasurable love let His only begotten Son, to remove it by dying, yet rises him with the Holy Spirit – so that our clean heart also rises with the soaring Spirit.

With our humble heart, symbolized with unleaven bread, we can thank and praise the Lord better! With our clean heart, we can rejoice in God better! 

Praise the Lord! 

Dual Meaning of Good Friday: Korban Pesakh (Passover) but also Azazel (Yom Kippur)

In a sense that Yom Kippur is the holiest day for the Jews, Good Friday is the holiest day for those who believe that Jesus is the Messiah, who died to atone our sins for salvation. It is true, however, that the prevailing juxtaposition of the Paschal Triduum is Passover. Therefore, it is tempting to argue which Jewish holiday we can compare the Paschal Triduum to. 

To me, it is not a matter of which but rather how we can put these important Jewish holidays together to appreciate the meaning of the Paschal Triduum – the significance of God’s saving love and mercy on us through the passing of His only begotten Son from this world and to put as the ultimate sacrificial lamb.

To mark the beginning of Exodus, it was the unblemished lamb that was sacrificed so that God’s people, the Jews, at that time, were saved as God’s judgement pass over them safely, with the blood of the sacrificial lamb. It was Passover. Then, the Jews also observe Yom Kippur to conclude the holidays of their spiritual renewal of their covenant with God, Rosh Hashanah. In culminating their spiritual renewal – the renewal of their covenant with God, they atone their sins and make a fresh start with a new year. For this, it is a goat that is being offered for a sacrifice. 

Jesus is not a goat, as he is Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). But, the way he was put to death on this day, about 2,000 years ago, gives an impression that Jesus was not only Korban Pesakh (Paschal Lamb for Passover) but also Azazel (scapegoat for Yom Kippur atonement). 

With the focus on God’s mercy, Jesus is Korban Pesakh, whose blood saves us from God’s judgement, as it was the case with the day when God sent the tenth plague over all the firstborn. Because of this blood of the sacrificed lamb, the Jews were saved and were able to escape Egypt with Moses. They also hastily made unleavened bread so that they did not have to start the long Exodus journey hungry. For this reason, Passover marks the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  Jesus hosted Passover Seder dinner with the Apostles in the Upper Room on Holy Thursday, as the Last Supper, to institute the Sacrament of the Eucharist and to give Mandatum Novum, the new commandment, which is to love one another. 

On the other hand, with the focus on our stubborn sinfulness, Jesus was made Azazel. Our inability to recognize the sinfulness within – fungus of evil and its spores hidden in our heart – made us easily persuaded by those who are even more psychopathological, turning our heart against Jesus, the very man, we just praised and welcomed as the Messiah on Palm Sunday, waving palms and shouting, “Hosanna exelsis!”(Messiah, we beg you, please save us in heaven!). Those who were more psychopathological were the religious leaders, whose envy (Mark 15:10), made them conspire the Roman Governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, to crucify Jesus. 

These words of Caiaphas, the chief priest, “one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish”(John 11:50), as the religious leaders were planning to have Jesus arrested and to be executed by the Romans to save themselves also suggest that it is the very sinfulness of us, psychopathology within us, such as envy, whatever our narcissistic disposition within our heart, drives us, making Jesus Azazel. 

Our sinful heart makes us reluctant to face what we deserve – due judgement. This psychological reluctance also puts a scapegoat to avoid the judgement. This reflects one of the Freudian ego defense mechanism, displacement. 

It would have been our own sinful heart, heart of narcissistic psychopathology, represented by the conspiring religious leaders and the persuaded crowds in Jerusalem, that deserved what Jesus had to go through on this day, about 2,000 years ago.

Recognizing meaning of both  Korban Pesakh for Passover and  Azazel for Yom Kippur, we experience the immeasurable depth of God’s mercy and love for us – for not putting us in the Passion and death that Jesus had to go through on this day. 

How can we express our gratitude to God the Father, who did not put us in that judgement but put His only begotten Son, instead? Likewise, how can we demonstrate our gratefulness to Jesus, the Son, who is the Christ, for being both Korban Pesakh and Azazel to save us? Because of Jesus’ absolute obedience to the will of the Father, Good Friday became possible, as to fulfill a prophetic scripture narrative. The First Reading (Isaiah 52-13-53-12) for Good Friday Liturgy of the Word suggests that Jesus had to die to fulfill this scripture narrative. 

Because of Jesus’ strengths, which were tested during his 40-day fasting (Matthew 4:1-11; for Year B First Sunday Gospel reading, Mark 1:12-15) and further assured in his prayer in Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-42//Matthew 26:36-46//Luke 22:39-46), nothing could interfere the will of the Father to be carried out as prophesized in the Old Testament. Because of this, not only his own will but also all external circumstances, such as Peter’s attempts to interfere, could not interfere the will of the Father for us to be saved. 

This day, Good Friday, is not only the memorial day of Jesus’ death and a fatal consequence of our sins on him but also the day to truly appreciate the infinite mercy and love of God.  This shall prompt conversion of our heart to renew our covenant with God while we await the resurrection.