4th Sunday after Easter 2022, Forming the Seeds

 4^th Sunday after Easter

John 16:1–33 

"All these words I have spoken to you so that you will not go astray [because you discover what destiny falls to you through being connected with me]. For they will exclude you from their communities, and the hour will come when those who kill you will think they are offering service to God. They will do all this because they have not known my Father or me. All these words I have spoken to you so that when the time comes, you will remember that I told you about it. In the beginning, I did not need to say such things, for I was with you. But now I am going away to him who sent me; yet, none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'  Now that I have said these things to you, sorrow enters your heart. 

"Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is for your salvation and healing that I leave you, for if I did not go away, the Helper, [the giver of spirit courage, who will stand by you in all trials, or, the Spirit upon whom you can call for assistance at any moment,] would not come to you. When I now go away, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will call humankind to account for the decline into sin, for the working of human's higher being and for the great world separation; for the decline into sinfulness, because they did not fill themselves with my power; for the working of their higher being, because I go to the Father and you see me no more; for the great world-separation, because the decision has already been made about the ruler of this world. 

"I have yet much more to say to you, but you cannot bear it now. But when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will be your guide on the way to the Truth that Embraces All. he will not speak out of himself, but what he hears he will speak, and he will proclaim to you what is to come.  he will reveal me, for what he draws out of my being, he will proclaim to you. Everything that the Father has is also mine. That is why I can say, 'He will draw upon my being and proclaim to you.' 

"In a little while, you will see me no more, and again a little while, and you will see me." 

"Then some of his disciples said to one another, "What does he mean by saying 'In a little while you will see me no more, and again a short time and you will see me,' and 'I am going to the Father'? They kept asking, "What does he mean by 'a short time'? We do not understand his words." 

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him,

Dvorak

and he said, "You are wondering that I said, 'A short time and you will see me no more, and again a short time and you will see me.' Yes, the truth I tell you, you will weep and lament while other people will rejoice. You will be filled with sorrow, but this your grief will be turned into joy. A woman giving birth must bear pain, for her difficult hour has come. But when the child is born, she no longer considers the anguish because of her joy that a human being has been born into the world. 

"So it is with you. Now is your time of grief. But this your grief will become the power of Spirit-Birth, for I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one can take that joy from you. On that day, you will no longer need to ask me anything. 

"Yes, I say to you; from now on, what you ask of the Father in my name, He will give to you. Until now, you have not been able to pray in my name. Pray from the heart, and it will be given to your heart so that your joy may be full. 

"All this I have given to your souls in imagery. But the hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in pictures but will tell you plainly about the Father, [so that you can grasp it in full, knowing consciousness]. On that day, you will ask out of my power and in my name. And no longer will I ask the Father on your behalf. For the Father himself loves you because you have loved me, and have known in your hearts that I have come forth from the Father. I have come forth from the Father, and I have come into this world. I am leaving the [sense] world again and going to the Father, [of which you say that it is the world of death]." 

Then Jesus' disciples said, "Now you are speaking in clear thought and without imagery. Now we know that all things are revealed to you and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. By this, we believe that you came from God." 

Jesus answered, "Do you now feel my power in your heart? Behold, the time is coming and has already come, when you will be scattered, each to their own loneliness. You will then also leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is eternally united with me. 

"All this I have spoken to you so that in me you may find peace. In this world, you will have great fear and hardship. But take courage. I have overcome the world."

 4^th after Easter

May 15, 2022

John 16:1-33

 

In spring, the fruit trees blossom like a revelation from heaven—purity of color and heavenly fragrance. But, in a short time, the revelation is lost; petals drop; the glory disappears. Yet at the places where the petals shone, there now appear tiny green fruits. The tree sacrificed the glory of its petals in order that fruit could form. 

Once upon a time, we human beings shone with the glory of heaven; but we lost our glory as we descended to earth. With the loss of our awareness of our heavenly origins, we are threatened with barrenness. Without conscious sacrifice, it is possible that our lives will bear no fruit. 

Christ, the Divine Human Being, descended into earthly human existence. His radiant purity shone at his Baptism. He sacrificed the flower of his divinity. Through his death, he offered his divinity to us. He transplants it into us so that our lives can once again become fruitful and that humankind will have a future. He transplants the radiant blossom power of His being into the human spirit. In awakening to Him, we can become pure of heart, radiant with life. 

All this He accomplishes, like the woman giving birth, through His pain, a pain that continues to be fruitful, a pain that is becoming an immense and deep joy. Christ's continuing pain and sacrifice ensure that our losses, our pain, and our sacrifices will be fruitful and create joy. Christ's continual self-offering ensures that the loss of our original innocence will be transformed into a more conscious power of purity, into a power to grow rich future-bearing spiritual fruit. 

Angelus Silesius said, 

The Godhead is my sap; what in me greens and flowers

It is His Holy Spirit who all the growth empowers.* 

In the Act of Consecration of Man, we make a conscious offering, a conscious sacrifice along with Christ. We offer our purest thoughts, feelings, and intentions. We do this so that our lives, our souls, and spirits, joined with His, can grow and be transformed. We do this so that our soul fruits grow and ripen into the future. We do this not only for ourselves but for all of humankind, for the whole earth. For together with others, together with Him, our many offerings are forming the seeds of humanity's new future, a City of Peace, a shining new earth. 

*"The Godhead Brings forth Growth," Angelus Silesius, in The Cherubinic Wanderer, transl. by M. Shrady, p. 43

 

 

4th after Easter II, The Great Death

4^th Sunday after Easter

John 16:1-33 (adapted from Madsen)

“All these words I have spoken to you so that you will not go astray.  For they will exclude you from their society, and the hour will come when those who kill you will think they are doing God a service. They will do all this because they have recognized neither me nor my Father. I have said this to you so that when the time comes, you will remember that I told you about it. In the beginning, I did not need to say such things for I was with you. But now I go to him who sent me; and none of you asks me, “Where are you going?”  Now that I have said these things to you, sorrow enters your hearts.

Mary Reardon

But, I tell you the truth: it is for your salvation and healing that I leave you, for if I did not go away, the Comforter, the giver of spirit-courage, would not come to you. When I now go away, I will send him to you. When he comes he will call humankind to account for the decline into sinfulness, for the working of Man’s higher being and for the great world separation; for the decline into sinfulness, because they did not fill themselves with my power; for the working of Man’s higher being, because I go to the Father and you see me no more; for the great world-separation, because the decision has already been made about the ruler of this world.

I have yet much more to say to you, but you cannot bear it now. But when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will be your guide on the way to the Truth that Embraces All. he will not speak out of himself, but what he hears he will speak, and he will proclaim to you what is to come. 

he will reveal me, for what he draws from my being, he will proclaim to you. Everything that the Father has is also mine. That is why I can say, ‘He will draw from my being and proclaim to you.’

Yet a short time, and you will see me no more, and again a short time, and you will see me.”

Way to Emmaus, Janet Brooks-Gerlof

Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean 'A short time and you will not see me, and again a short time and you will see me,’ and ‘I am going to the Father?’ They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a short time’? We do not understand his words.”

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, and he said, “You are wondering that I said, ‘A short time and you will see me no more, and again a short time and you will see me.’  Yes, the truth I tell you, you will weep and lament while other people will be happy. You will be sorrowful, but your grief will be turned into joy. A woman giving birth must suffer pain; for her hour has come. But when she has born the child, she no longer considers the anguish for joy that a human being has been born into the world.

So it is with you. You have to suffer pain now. But I will see you again, and then your hearts will be filled with joy, and no one can take that joy from you. On that day, you will have no need to ask me anything.

Yes, I say to you; from now on, what you ask from the Father, He will give you in my name. Up to now, you have not prayed in my name. Pray from the heart, and it will be given to your heart so that your joy may be fulfilled.

I have said all this to you in imagery. But the hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in pictures. Then I will speak openly and plainly to you about the Father. On that day, you will pray in my name. I do not say that I will pray the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I come from the Father. I went forth from the Father and came into the earthly world. And now I leave the sense-world again and go to the Father.”

Then his disciples said, “See—now you are speaking plainly and openly and not in pictures. Now we recognize that all things are revealed to you. You do not even need anyone to question you. And so our hearts confess that you come from the Father.”

And Jesus answered, “Do you now feel my power in your hearts? See—the hour is coming; it has already come, when all will be scattered, each one to his own loneliness. Then you will then also leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.

I have said these words to you so that in me, you may find peace. In this world, you will have great fear and hardship. But take courage. I have overcome the world.”

5^th Easter

May 13, 2020

John 16:1-33

When the wind blows, we feel it on our skin; we see its effects on the trees. But it may be astonishing to realize that we cannot see the wind. The wind itself is invisible.

There are many things we experience that are invisible. As with the wind, we perceive their effects, but not the entities themselves: love, goodness, beauty, truth are such things. We have felt the embracing warmth of love, the nobility of goodness, the radiance of beauty, the impartial strength of truth. But their real essence is invisible. Those of our loved ones who have died still exist, but like the wind, like love, their existence is invisible to us.

Our own souls are another of those invisible entities. In fact, there is more of our being that is invisible than not. Most of our true being resides in the realm across the threshold of visibility, in that realm where truth and goodness reside, in the realm of those who have already died, in the realm into which we will withdraw at our own death when what is visible of us falls away.

Christ is Someone whose being also resides in the invisible. But we can still perceive His presence—in the love that shines forth from others, in the strength of human dedication to the truth, in the noble promptings of conscience.

Vincente Juan Masip

Christ calls us to enter the invisible world consciously while still on earth and to open here the eyes of our souls, to become aware of the Invisible Ones, face to face. Perhaps this is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a 20^th-century martyr, meant when he said, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” To ‘die’ means to awaken in the invisible realm, the realm to which we will fully return at our own death.

On earth, Christ takes on a visible form to help remind us of the reality of His mostly invisible existence. He takes on the form of circles of bread to nourish our invisible souls, the juice of the vine to strengthen our invisible spirits. His real invisible essence keeps us alive in the realm of the Invisible.

For [as the poet Rilke says] we are only the rind and the leaf

The great death, that each carries inside,

Is the fruit.

Everything enfolds it.*

* Rilke, Book of Hours, Barrows and Macy, p. 132

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4th Sunday after Easter, Not to Falter

4th after Easter

John 16:1-33

All these words I have spoken to you so that you will not be offended because you discover what destiny falls to you through being connected with me. For they will exclude you from their communities, and the hour will come when those who rob you of your earthly existence and kill you will think they are offering service to the progress of the world. They will do so because they cannot raise their knowing to knowledge of the Father, nor to knowledge of my being and working. All these words I have spoken to you so that when the time comes you will remember that I said them to you. I did not speak to you in this way in the beginning because I was with you. But now I am going away to him who sent me; yet, none of you has yet the strength and courage to ask me about the realm into which I now enter. Your hearts are full of grief and therefore closed to the things I have said to you.

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is for your salvation

and healing that I go away, for if I did not go away, the Comforter, who will

Stephen B. Whatley

stand by you in all trials, the Spirit upon whom you can call for assistance at any moment, would not come to you. But because I go, I will be able to send him to you. When he comes, he will bring to the world a consciousness of how the nature of the sickness of sin works, of how people can be reconnected with the divine world in which there is no sin, and of how the decision about human error can be brought about. Sin is human beings not really being able to trust in my being and in that which works out of my being within them. The balancing of sin holds sway in my going to the Father and in not remaining limited to appearing outwardly. Judgment works in the decision that has already been made about the prince of the outer world.

I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But only when the Spirit comes, through whom the Truth can reveal itself to the world, will he lead you to the Truth that Embraces All. For he will not speak only out of himself, but he will speak what he hears in the realm of the Spirit, as the speaking of the eternal reality, and he will tell you what is yet to come. Thus will he reveal me among men, for out of what he takes from my being he will proclaim to you. In the realm in which my Father works, there I also live. That is why I can say, ‘He will take from my being and proclaim to you’.

In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”

Ascension, Sombart

Some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more’, and then, ‘after a little while you will see me’, and ‘because I am going to the Father’? They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not understand what he is saying.”

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “You are wondering what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.’  Amen, amen, the truth I say to you, you will weep and deeply mourn, and the world will rejoice in this. You will be filled with sorrow, but this your sorrow will be turned into unceasing joy. A woman giving birth must bear pain, for her difficult hour has come. But when the child is born, she no longer considers the anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.

So it is with you. Now is your time of grief. But this your grief will become the power of Spirit-Birth, for I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. On that day, you will be so deeply united with me that you will no longer need to ask me anything.

Amen, amen, I tell you the truth; from now on what you ask of the Father in my name, He will give to you. Until now, you have not been able to ask anything in my name. Ask and you shall receive, and your joy will be complete.

Pray from the heart, and it will be given to your heart so that your joy may be fulfilled.

All this I have given to your souls in imagery. But the hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in pictures but will tell you openly and unveiled about my Father, so that you can grasp it in full, knowing consciousness. So will I proclaim to you the being of the Father. On that day, you will ask out of my power and in my name. And no longer will I ask the Father on your behalf. For the Father himself will love you because you have loved me and have known in your hearts that I have come forth from the Father. I have come forth from the Father and I have come into this world.

I leave the sense world again and return to the world of the Father, of which you say that it is the world of death.”

Stephan B. Whatley

Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking in clear thought and without imagery. Now we know that all things are revealed to you and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”

Jesus answered, “Do you now feel my power in your heart? Behold, the time is coming, and has already come, when you will be scattered, each to his own loneliness. You will then also leave me alone. But I am not alone, for the Father is eternally united with me.

All this I have spoken to you so that in me you may find peace. In this world, you will have great fear and hardship. But take courage. I have overcome the world.”

4^th Sunday after Easter

May 10, 2020

John 16:1-33

Stephen B. Whatley

When we know that we will be separated from a loved one, we may give them a photo, to help them remember us. Before He died on the cross, Christ gave his disciples images of himself. He knew he was going away for a time, and so he gave them word-pictures of himself: I am the Good Shepherd of Souls. I am the Doorway into the heavenly realms. I am the true Vine, connecting, and holding you all. I am He who shows you the pathway to Truth in Life, the Way to real, true Life.

 He hoped that in their time of grief and sorrow after His death, his disciples would remember the pictures and would find comfort and trust in them.

These images have been repeated again in the gospel readings since Easter. And just as they were given to the disciples beforehand, as a comfort for the impending events on Golgotha, so do they now precede yet another death, another loss. For on Ascension Thursday, Christ’s Resurrection Body, the body in which he appeared to his disciples for forty days after his death, that body would undergo yet another change of form. It would become another kind of body, expanding to become the true life, the living Vine of the whole world. And his disciples would lose sight of Him yet again.

We too do not always see Him. In fact, most moderns have not yet seen Him. This, as He says, is humanity’s time of separation and grief, our time of laboring and pain. But He assures us that our labor is not in vain. Our suffering can bear fruit.

As the poet Rilke compares us to trees in an orchard. He says

… even though the burden

should at times seem almost past endurance.

Not to falter! Not to be found wanting!

Thus must it be, when willingly you strive

throughout a long and uncomplaining life,

committed to one goal: to give yourself!

And silently to grow and to bear fruit.*

* Rainer Maria Rilke, “The Apple Orchard.”

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