|The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, Book III Chapter X: ”How it is Sweet to Serve God by Despising the World” (third entry)

Again, Kempis’s focus is on those who have chosen the vowed religious life. But it is really a message to all Christians, a universal call to holiness (see here). Keeping on the “narrow way” (see Mt 7:13-14) is the greatest freedom since God, the divine Creator, has the instruction manual for lives lived properly to meet their purpose and end.

|Today’s First Reading: 2 Tm 2:8-15

As we continue to hear Paul’s second letter to his disciple Timothy, he implores the purveyors of the Gospel message to persevere in their evangelization efforts, even as he does as a prisoner in chains. Stay true to the cause and the message for the sake of others, he says, “so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus.”

|Reflection

Paul speaks of persevering with and dying with Jesus. To “enter upon the narrow way and put aside worldly care,” as Kempis puts it, requires perseverance and dying to self, does it not? When we say, with our Lord, “not my will but yours be done” (Lk 22:42), even in our greatest trials and temptations (remember, Jesus said these words in his Agony in the Garden), we free ourselves of the shackles of worldly concerns in order to “live with” and “reign with” Jesus.

It is something of a paradox that the more narrow-minded we are the more attractive the wide path (to destruction) is. We must broaden our perspective to appreciate not only the goods of this world and our God-given mission in it, but also to never lose clear sight of our ultimate goal: eternal life in Heaven with the Trinity.

|The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, Book III Chapter X: ”How it is Sweet to Serve God by Despising the World” (second entry)

Kempis’s words of the disciple, at first glance, should strike us as odd. Do we not think the answer to the initial question should be resounding in the affirmative? Yet, the author wishes to emphasize the point that we should not be focused on the status discipleship brings but only on our own unworthiness to carry that mantle. Earlier in the section, the disciple acknowledges his own corruption but then lauds the mercy, grace, and friendship — all undeserved — that elevates him to the position of being a special servant of God.

|Today’s First Reading: 2 Tm 1:1-3, 6-12

The beginning of this epistle has Paul once again greeting Timothy, whom Paul has ordained. In what we heard today, Paul gives encouragement to Timothy in his ministry, with an emphasis on “courage.” The gifts Timothy received through the Spirit, “power and love and self-control,” enable the faithful disciple to remain steadfast, to not be ashamed of Christ, Paul (now in prison), or the Gospel, and to endure well suffering (undoubtedly already experienced by Timothy in his travels with Paul).

|Reflection

The emphasis from both Kempis and Paul today is on our call from God to be disciples despite our unworthiness. It is “according to his own design” that the Lord designates us for our important roles, that only we can fulfill, in building up His Body on earth. There is no reason to exalt ourselves for being set apart; rather, it is our duty and obligation to pursue our designated mission for love of God and neighbor, despite our being “unworthy and poor.” The result of our calling and labors should be gratitude to God: for being made worthy to evangelize in the first place and for any good outcomes from our faithfulness that ultimately blossom.

|The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, Book III Chapter X: ”How it is Sweet to Serve God by Despising the World” (first entry)

In this chapter, Kempis focuses on those who, like himself, have dedicated themselves to the vowed religious life. Yet, like almost all of this book, the principles he espouses have wide applicability. Case in point, the quite above. We are all to “subject” ourselves to the “holy service of God.” Not only, in following our calling, will we receive “great grace,” but Kempis goes on to say that this also leads to “sweet consolation” and “great freedom.”

|Today’s First Reading: 2 Pt 3:12-15a, 17-18

This excerpt from 2 Peter gives us the first pope’s words at the very end of the letter. Peter encourages his readers to “be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace” while they “[w]ait for and hasten the coming of the day of God.” They must not be led astray by the unprincipled but to do what it says in the headline.

|Reflection

Peter’s letter tells us to grow in God’s grace. Kempis gives us an important — vital, really — way to do this: become subject to God. That is, “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5). These wise and final Scriptural words of the Mother of Our Lord, are meant for all Christians for all time. As Peter says, we are to grow in the knowledge of Jesus. Good books, preeminently the Bible, and then the Catechism of the Catholic Church, will assist us in getting to know Jesus better. This must be combined with prayer — developing a personal intimacy with Christ. And the highest prayer, the Mass, brings Jesus to us in the way par excellence: the Eucharist. To prepare for receiving Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament we go to Confession. Sacraments are the ordinary means in which we receive sanctifying grace. Let’s frequently take advantage of these great gifts given to the Church by its Head for our help and salvation.

|The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, Book III Chapter IX: ”That All Things Should be Referred to God as Our Last End” (third entry)

The closing words of this chapter have Kempis sharing the eternal truth that joy and hope must be centered on the Lord alone since no passing thing can rightfully promise these virtues in an enduring way. For His unfailing love and desire for us to be with Him forever, we praise and bless God for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do for those who remain faithful until He calls them home.

|Today’s First Reading: Acts 1:12-14

The alternate first reading gives us the events immediately after Jesus’ Ascension. The Eleven, Our Lady, some other women, and some relatives of the Lord head back to the Upper Room to pray, awaiting the Holy Spirit just promised to them by their Master.

|Reflection

It is important to keep the perspective that Kempis shares with us as we march through the highs and lows in life: always place joy and hope ultimately in God. All things in this life pass: the good and the bad, the joys and the sorrows, the hope and the despair. But if we praise and bless God in all things, we not only dispose ourselves to see God in all things, we also dispose ourselves to see all things as God sees them. The apostles had experienced over the course of Holy Week all those wide ranges of emotions. So, like the apostles, to keep an even keel and focus us on our mission in this life, we too are to pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit into our lives, that He possess us, enlighten us, and guide us. We know very little of what Jesus said to the apostles during those forty days before the Ascension, but they knew He was commissioning them to carry on His work. They knew they could not make any progress without God’s help. They placed their hope in the Lord and so must we. Their first instinct in the excerpt from today: praise and bless God and ask for guidance to do it better and to manifest this conviction in their apostolate to others. This seems to me a pretty good formula for us today.

|The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, Book III Chapter IX: ”That All Things Should be Referred to God as Our Last End” (second entry)

When we keep ever in front of us that Christ is our true end, we will be mindful to consider Him in all things, eschewing the world and sin, remaining humble in the fact that we only own our own sins and faults. In being faithful in this way, we will have the greatest chance, again with God’s assistance, to be able to offer back to Him thoughts, words, and deeds that show our faithfulness and do Him justice.

|Today’s Second Reading: 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13

Being Pentecost Sunday, it is only right that we should hear from St. Paul regarding the power, gifts, and fruits of the Holy Spirit given to the faithful disciple. We cannot even confess our faith in Jesus without the Spirit! The Spirit gives different gifts, expecting different service, which manifests itself in different workings. But all the baptized are part of the Body of Christ, thus we have different functions within that Body.

|Reflection

Kempis’s Christ tells us to give everything back to God because it is from Him that all the good we have comes and all the good we do is made possible. As we know, we are asked to return to God these gifts with interest, per His instruction (see Mt 25:14-30). So we cooperate with God (only possible and efficacious because of the gift of grace) and then give Him the glory when we make something of the gifts (or, put another way, talents) He has provided. We are given these gifts of the Spirit “for some benefit.” We all have a part to play, a Bodily function to perform. This great feast of Pentecost is a wonderful time to reflect on how well we have used our gifts, manifested their benefits to others (see the fruits here), and given them back to God with interest. And if we don’t know what are our gifts (review them here) or how to use them for the Lord, prayer and a spiritual director are in order (contact your diocese to find the latter). The Spirit wants to work in us — let’s not forego the opportunity!

|The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, Book III Chapter IX: ”That All Things Should be Referred to God as Our Last End” (first entry)

Our spiritual thirst is only slaked by Christ; there is no other fountain, not any “private good” as Kempis says further on, that will satisfy us. By serving God “freely and spontaneously” we continue to be refreshed by this “living water” that sustains us here and sets us up for eternal bliss.

|Today’s First Reading: Acts 28:16-20, 30-31

With Pentecost coming tomorrow, it is appropriate that the Church’s lectionary ends the Easter Season with the closing words of the Acts of the Apostles. We would all love to know more about Paul and his remaining adventures, but hearing that he made it to Rome, the center of the world of his time, to successfully evangelize a few Jews, but mainly the pagan Gentiles, is a great comfort. The closing words, above, are a stirring encouragement that Paul stayed true to his convictions and preached boldly even while a prisoner. No doubt, based on the amazing growth of Christianity that we cull from other historical records, his ministry was extraordinarily fruitful and his disciples, undoubtedly, numerous, quickly spreading throughout the empire.

|Reflection

Did anyone better epitomize a disciple who “freely and spontaneously serve[d Christ]” than St. Paul? “He received all who came to him” and proclaimed the Kingdom and Christ. He knew trouble lay ahead (as it already had behind) because of his dedication to the Gospel. This certainly inspired him to make very good use of the remaining time the Lord allotted him to do the work consigned to him by God. He drank deeply from the “living water” that is Jesus, and was happy to share it by the bucket-full with others.

Jesus stood up and exclaimed, “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink.^u Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.’” He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. (Jn 7:37-39a)

The waters of Baptism blessed us with spiritual life. They also gave us a mission, strengthened by Confirmation, to evangelize. We, like Paul, are to “freely and spontaneously serve” Jesus and His Church. We are to proclaim the Kingdom and teach about Jesus “with complete assurance” that the Spirit will help us (giving us “grace upon grace”) and we are to proclaim “without hindrance” the entire truth of the Gospel. God “wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4). Do we?

|The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, Book III Chapter VIII: ”Of the Mean Estimation of Oneself in the Eyes of God” (third entry)

Kempis closes this chapter with the three marks of a disciple of Christ: thankfulness, humility, and devotion. Why are these dispositions so important? Because Jesus is “our salvation, our virtue, and our strength.” These gifts inspire us to: thankfulness for the goodness of God toward us, His fallen creatures; humility because on our own without them we would be lost and could do nothing; devotion due to God for who He is and for what He has done for us.

|Today’s Gospel Reading: Jn 21:15-19

We hear proclaimed this day some of the final words recorded of Jesus before ascending to the Father. It provides us the scene in which Jesus invites Peter to affirm his love for his Master three times in front of a charcoal fire just as he denied knowing the Lord three times in front of a different charcoal fire just a short time earlier (see Jn 18:15-18,25-27). John then tells of Jesus’ prediction of Peter’s death many years hence. His last words to Peter are recorded above.

|Reflection

Jesus last words to Peter may well have prompted the latter to be reminded of the same words of Jesus in this interchange they had at the Last Supper:

Simon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?” Jesus answered [him], “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later.” Peter said to him, “Master, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times.” (Jn 13:36-38)

If it did not come flooding back at that moment, it surely would at Pentecost. Peter was not to follow Jesus to the cross on Good Friday due to cowardice. But because of the salvation Jesus wrought, and the virtue and strength He provided, tradition tells us that Peter did “follow later” the road to crucifixion and glory.

Jesus uses “Follow me!” several times throughout the Gospels to call specific apostles He has chosen, but of course it applies to all of us. Remember this other famous passage:

Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Lk 9:23)

So we note a common them that not only applies to Peter, but also to all disciples of Christ. Following Jesus, by its nature, entails suffering and death. On our own this is a tragic and meaningless circumstance. But, because Christ led the way, we now have the strength He imparts to those of us who ask for it, to follow in His footsteps to the glory of God and eternal beatitude,.

[Jesus said,] “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” (Lk 9:24)

(By the way, an interesting exposition of this scene, likely different from what you’ve heard before, can be found on The Sacred Page. I encourage you to check it out.)

|The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, Book III Chapter VIII: ”Of the Mean Estimation of Oneself in the Eyes of God” (second entry)

When we realize our nothingness compared to God, and that nothing we can do on our own merits God’s love, we are in a good place. Yet, the Lord loves us gratuitously and completely as if we were His only creation. We owe Him the same love back.for who He is and what He has done for us.

|Today’s Gospel Reading: Jn 17:20-26

Above we read the last words of the Last Supper Discourse and the High Priestly Prayer. What wonderful parting words from Jesus to His closest collaborators, the apostles. Jesus’ arrest is imminent, and He will be going away for awhile, but the love of the Father remains in them, and so does Jesus. They may forget this for a time, but the third Person of the Holy Trinity will remind them of all this in a few short weeks.

|Reflection

This motley group that Jesus called certainly didn’t deserve the love of Jesus based on their own merits, particularly in light on the abandonment of Him that Jesus predicted would happen. Yet, the Lord leaves them with the promise of the love of the Father and the Son and the help of the Holy Spirit (which He spoke of frequently previously in this discourse).

Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God. (1 Cor 1:26-29)

Paul is not speaking only to the citizens of Corinth here. He is referring to the apostles and to us as well. Weak, foolish, lowly — put me first on the list. We can only boast of our own sins — and those are nothing of which to be proud. Yet, we are loved with a love undeserved but gratefully accepted and the promise that we will not be abandoned:

I am with you always, until the end of the age. (Mt 28:20b)

These consoling words are the last recorded by Matthew in his Gospel. This is a wonderful takeaway for all Christians. Whatever life brings, Christ promises to be with us (for Catholics and Orthodox this is fulfilled in a special way in His Real Presence in the Eucharist). Only we can drive Him away by serious sin and/or the belief that we cannot be forgiven (commonly held to be the sin against the Holy Spirit). Will we drive Him away or, like the disciples on the Emmaus road, say:

Stay with us (Lk 24:29)

(For an edifying and relatively short read, check out Saint John Paul II’s apostolic letter, his third last, by the same name (Mane nobiscum Domine), in which he introduced the Year of the Eucharist.)

|The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, Book III Chapter VIII: ”Of the Mean Estimation of Oneself in the Eyes of God” (first entry)

Kempis once again extols the virtue of humility. It is the only appropriate disposition we are to have in relation to our Creator. Without God’s grace we can do nothing and are especially susceptible to “grave dangers” and “innumerable evils.”

|Today’s Gospel Reading: Jn 17:11b-19

Today we hear the middle section of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer that He intones immediately before His arrest. He asks the Father to protect His apostles from Satan and enlighten them to the truth as Jesus sends them out as missionaries to the world just as the Father sent the Son into the world.

|Reflection

Jesus gives the apostles a mission to the world to declare the truth of God. They are to be in the world but not of the world. This is a message meant for all Christians of all times and all places. Kempis recognizes this. This fallen world is full of lies, deceit, evil, and all manner of grave moral dangers. But, like the apostles, the vast majority of Christians (aside from cloistered orders) are deputized, as it were, to engage the world, not flee from it (as tempting as that may be). The danger is that we are dragged down by it as opposed to elevating it. The world is supposed to be changed by us — not us by the world. All we need is the love of God to prevent us from falling and to assist us in our mission.

Let us pray often for the grace to convey to others the truth in love as Christ conveyed to us the truth in love.

|The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, Book III Chapter VII: ”How Grace Should Be Hidden Under the Guardianship of Humility” (third entry)

Kempis has Christ telling us that we have a duty, even when feeling arid or anxious and not receiving consolations, to live the Christian message. The Lord doesn’t need us, absolutely speaking, but He has ordained that His message of Good News be carried to the ends of the earth by those who declare faith in Him (see Mk 16:15).

|Today’s Gospel Reading: Acts 20:17-27

Acts tells us of the incessant journeying of Paul as he endeavors with passion and urgency to evangelize as many regions as possible in the time on earth that God had given him. Now he wishes a final farewell before returning to Jerusalem where he knows not what he will find awaiting him. He has been informed by the Holy Spirit that “imprisonment and hardships await” him and he seems certain that he will never again see the Miletans and Ephesians that he is addressing. He leaves with a clear conscience, not holding back, but preaching the whole truth, whatever the consequences. He closes with the words above.

|Reflection

It is not at all hard to imagine the difficulties Paul encountered (which he was not reluctant to express explicitly) and frustrations experienced (that he no doubt felt interiorly) in his ministry. Yet, I don’t recall an instance when these challenges ever deterred him from pressing forward, maybe with even more conviction. We need to be more like Paul. No matter what life throws at us because of our faith, we keep up the fight “do[ing] willingly what depends on [us]” so that we can in good conscience say that we are “not responsible for the blood of any of” those whom we have encountered who looked to us for Christian example by a living out, in word and in deed, of the fullness of truth.