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This Saying is Hard

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In yesterday’s Gospel, Jesus says the hard saying: “Unless you eat of the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you.”

These words, if we think about them, are still hard to hear, because they go beyond our reason and understanding. We ask, as the Jews did, “How can this be?” How can it be that God is present under the appearances of Bread and Wine in the Eucharist?

Jesus knows it is hard, but he also knows it is not the only hard thing for us to accept with our human minds and hearts. “Does this shock you? What if there are even more shocking things? And yet, this is Truth, this is Spirit and Life if you believe it. You have to see with the heart to understand this; you have to open your spirit to the limitlessness of my love and desire for you to begin to grasp this; you have to accept that my ways are not your ways, and that I am not limited by human understanding. If all that I am and all I long to do for you were to fit into the confines of your skull, I would be very small. But I am Who am. Before Abraham was, I am. I am infinite and eternal. And I can do things that you cannot grasp, except with the heart.”

Jesus wants us all to open ourselves radically to His Truth and His Love, just as he wanted to Apostles, his close friends and collaborators on earth, to accept all he had planned for them. And he knew it was hard for them (especially before Pentecost) and so he asks them, as others are walking away from him in disappointment: “Do you also want to leave?” He does not try to explain it all right now, he does not plead with them; he merely poses the question. And Simon Peter, often the first to respond, does not assert that they all understand or that this is easy for them to accept. He makes an act of faith, a sign of his willingness to accept whatever Jesus tells them, beyond reason and understanding: “You have the words of eternal life…you are the Holy One of God.”

What about us? When the things that we use to make sense of things stop making sense, to whom do we go? Are we open to all that the Lord longs to give us, even when we don’t understand the reasons, or see how it will go, or why it will be good? Do we walk away from the Lord in search of something that will satisfy our reason? Or do we remain with Him in trust, even when things make no sense to us? With Peter, we can say, “We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God,” and remain with Him in loving trust.

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including newly ordained Father Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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Have You Been Born Again?

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No matter how much we learn or study, no matter how refined our culture or advanced our science, these are still bound to earth and limited by our human limits. It is grace and the indwelling of the Spirit of God that free us and allow us to understand and judge with right judgment, to love freely, and to participate fully in all God desires for us.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says that “unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God,” to which Nicodemus (who seems to take this literally) replies, “How can a man once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?” Jesus explains, “Unless one is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.”

We have two “births” then: a physical birth from our mother’s womb, and a spiritual birth from the baptismal font of Mother Church. It is this second “birth” that opens for us the door to the Kingdom of God. “What is born of flesh is flesh,” Jesus says, “and what is born of spirit is spirit.” Our physical eyes see the physical world; we need spiritual eyes to “see” the spiritual realities. It is necessary for us to be “born of water and Spirit” in order to participate in the life of the Spirit, which is the life of the Trinity – the Family of God!

How does this happen? It is mystery. As mysterious as the source and direction of the wind, but the effects are obvious in a person.

This is not to draw an artificial division between our flesh and our spirit, or make “spirit” the opposite of “body” – we are embodied souls, physical and spiritual! This is, rather, to help us see that we cannot remain simply on the level of the “flesh” but must turn our attention to our eternal souls; we cannot simply be content to take care of the body, but we must be attentive to the spirit. The Spirit Jesus speaks about comes “from above” and is sent by the Father: the Holy Spirit.

In the Holy Spirit, we are called and empowered to live IN Christ, not just near Him, not just next to Him. John’s words at the beginning of his Gospel give insight to this: “But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were not born by natural generation nor by human choice nor by man’s decision but of God” (Jn 1:12-13).

Is sacramental Baptism enough? To be born again in Baptism is the beginning, but we must continue to grow in wisdom and spiritual stature and in favor with God! Let’s pray during this Easter season that God will complete the work He has begun in us and bring us to full maturity in the Spirit!

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including newly ordained Father Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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Jesus Surprises

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Alleluia! He is Risen! Christ has overcome sin and death to remain with us always!

We, like Mary Magdalene, may believe we can only find Jesus in a certain place in a certain way. She went looking for the body of him who had been crucified and laid in the tomb, so she did not recognize the presence of the One Who Is Risen.

She was seeking him, and he came to her.

This is the surprising and amazing thing: Jesus comes to us. We may be looking for Him elsewhere, thinking that he can only be found in a certain place in a certain way. But He is always right here, calling our name, waiting for us to turn toward Him. But that requires that we turn AWAY from something else – the empty tomb of death, our sin, but also any narrowness of vision that says, subtly, “He MUST BE right here! That is where I last saw Him!”

We don’t usually encounter visible angels along our search, but they are present! Their eyes behold the living God, and they want to open our eyes to His presence; maybe with a question or comment we don’t want to hear, maybe with the salve of repentance. Sometimes, like Mary Magdalene, we are looking right at Him and do not recognize Him. He surprises us. And His presence to us is deeply personal. Do we know how to remain open to the surprises of the Lord? Are our hearts free enough to recognize Him when He calls our name from an unexpected place? Maybe in what seems to us to be a ridiculous comment or question (Why does the Lord so often ask obvious questions like, “Why are you weeping?” “Whom are you looking for?” “Do you want to be healed?” To focus our hearts.)? Maybe in a person we would rather avoid? Maybe in a lonely or difficult place or situation? He is present in all of it and is at work in all of it.

The work of a lifetime is seeking Him in every place and keeping our hearts open to the quiet surprise of His personal presence to us. It takes some spiritual energy and steadfast faith to see in the things of this world the presence of the One for Whom, and through Whom all things exist, and to know that He is present in a deeply personal way to each one of us.

And when we do encounter Him, He always sends us out on a mission. He tells Mary and us, “Go to my brothers and tell them…” What is He sending you out to do? To whom is He sending you? What is He calling you to do for the good of His eternal Kingdom today?

We are each called by baptism to echo the truly Good News that in Jesus Christ, God has definitively conquered sin and death and set us free. The victory is already won! Share the Good News! Alleluia!

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including newly ordained Father Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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And it was Night

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 We are embarking on the journey of the Passion, and the Gospel readings for yesterday, today, and tomorrow all focus on Judas’ betrayal. Why?

Because we are all Judas, to some degree, and our fallen human nature is prone to walking away from the Lord Who is the Light of the world and into the night. These Scriptures should help us examine our own conscience, to see where we have betrayed God. Jesus did not come to tell us God’s rules or truths; Jesus came, fully God and fully man, to be the way for us, to die for each of us, and to entrust Himself to each of us personally. He IS Truth. Walking with Him in love IS the law! He came to give himself TO us and FOR us; God comes to dwell WITH us and IN us, to be our life and our strength and our virtue. He seeks a personal relationship with each of us, as Brother, Lord, and Friend!

In order to do this, Jesus “emptied himself, taking the nature of a slave” (Phil. 2:7), setting aside his omnipotence and glory. In His love affair with each of us, there is no dazzling force, no glorious coercion, no insistence beyond an irrevocable invitation and steadfast calling. We are asked to recognize a hidden God, an unassuming Savior, a defenseless Love, and to walk with Him in faith toward the open arms of the Father.

But there are many moments and circumstances in which we do not act faithfully, against our best knowledge and desire. In small and large ways, we betray Him for the small silver of some vanity or advantage or security, sometimes even for vengeance or hatred. We put our own sense of what is important and valuable ahead of what the Lord tells us is important and valuable.

As Fr. Romano Guardini said, “Judas himself unmasks us” (The Lord, 1954). In the treason of Judas, we see the possibility of our own betrayal; when we hear that “Satan entered him,” we are cautioned against allowing any treachery to become fixed in us, so that our hearts become sealed against the road back to true contrition and the way of self-giving love.

Jesus makes the invisible God visible for us, and he puts the infinite love of God on display, especially on the Cross. I heard once that Jesus’ love on the Cross would be like me sitting in the electric chair in place of the person who murdered my children, so that the murderer doesn’t have to suffer and die. This is superhuman, immeasurable, unfathomable love!

The Triduum is coming soon, and it will be historically unique for all of us. Being separated from the familiar rituals of the season gives us a tiny taste of the Cross. May we all bear this cross in the world for the sake of the world, and show our Christ-love in this patient offering.

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including newly ordained Father Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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If You Can’t Say No, You Can’t Say Yes

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What is freedom? The world’s idea of freedom is an absence of restraint so that we can do what we want, when we want, in the way that we want. But reason tells us that this is a false “freedom” that simply makes us slaves to our whims and emotions and selfishness (like toddlers, really). True freedom is the power to say yes to what is good and true and beautiful, and realize the profound potential in each of us, to enter into the great adventure that is God’s calling in our lives.

Most of us feel that we could be better people, but something is holding us back – some habit, some wound, some lack of understanding or talent. We could be so much more, but our fallen nature finds itself stuck in a mediocrity that has us comparing ourselves to others and wishing for more. We are not fully free to be what we sense we could be.

Can “truth” set us free? Only if what enslaves us is “not truth,” right?

Freedom is not just the ability to make any choice at all. Freedom is the potential we possess to reach the excellence we long for by intentionally choosing what is in accordance with the truth. This is why we must abide in God’s word and walk in truth in order to be truly free.

This is the message Jesus gives the Jews in today’s Gospel. He tells them the truth will set them free, but they do not understand, because they do not think they are enslaved in any way. Jesus tells them that everyone who sins is a slave. A slave of sin. Because sin is an act against truth, a choice against truth. They are slaves to sin because his word has “no room” in them. They are filled with their own ideas and their own pretensions, their own understanding. They have no room or patience for the ideas and words of this itinerant preacher who is turning their way of life upside down and stirring up trouble.

The freedom God gives us is so complete that we are free to say NO to Him. Because if we can’t say “no,” we can’t really say “yes.” A forced YES is meaningless.

What must we do to be truly free? Jesus tells us the way to walk as children of the Father: if we accept Jesus’ word (which comes from the Father), we will be his true disciples; in following him, we will come to know the truth and be truly free.

Freedom is in the heart and spirit, even when we are not physically free (whether from illness or circumstances or disability or quarantine!). If we carry the love of the Lord in our hearts and desire His will and the good of others, we remain in the truth and in profound interior freedom.

It is this profound freedom that gives true meaning to our YES.

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including newly ordained Father Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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Do You Want to be Well?

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“Do you want to be well?”

This may seem like a crazy question to someone who has been ill for 38 years. Why did Jesus ask it?

The lame man’s answer may give a clue. He does not say yes. He shifts the problem to the circumstances around him: he has no one to put him into the healing pool, which was said to cure the first person to enter it when the water was disturbed. He is alone. No relatives or friends to help him.

Perhaps, having been alone and sick for so long, he had simply lost hope. He was accustomed to his aloneness and his inability to get into the water. His solitude and situation had become familiar and somewhat comfortable. He went to the pool where he might be cured, but without any real hope that it was possible for him. His difficult rut had become his permanent reality in his mind.

Jesus stirs up a new possibility by looking at him and asking, “Do you want to be well?” Do you want to change? Do you desire something new? Because something new demands something of you! Are you ready for this? “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.”

Jesus never forces himself or his way on us. We must desire it. That is why he tells us elsewhere to ask, seek, knock in order to receive. We have a responsibility to direct our desires and our hope toward the good and true and beautiful, toward God’s will for us, toward true happiness in Christ. This demands something of us. We must be willing to leave some things behind, to encounter the Truth in Christ, to embark on the spiritual adventure of grace.

Jesus tells the healed man and us, “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.”

In order to love, we must leave behind our grudges.
In order to serve, we must leave behind our pride.
In order to be whole, we must leave behind our woundedness.
In order to walk with Christ, we must leave behind our own ideas and agendas.

Do we want to be spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically well? Do we want to be true followers of Christ? Are we willing to open ourselves fully to all God wants to pour into us and through us? Are we ready to be well?

What do we need to let go of?

During this time of social isolation (a friend called it “the lentiest Lent”!), we have the opportunity to spend more time in prayer and reflection. Let’s imagine Jesus himself looking us in the face and asking, “Do you want to be well?” and ask him to show us what our true answer is. And then he can begin to set us free.

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including newly ordained Father Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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Untangle the Fibers of your Heart and Mind

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We know that love is patient and kind and forgiving. We know that love is the whole law.

But in certain circumstances, we find love difficult. Especially when it comes to forgiving some offenses, some people who do not seem to deserve our forgiveness. In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us a “secret” to forming a forgiving heart: we must see and acknowledge our own immense failings so that we can begin to understand the generous forgiveness that God extends to us. Once we are convicted of our own poverty and the deep darkness we experience without God’s grace, we see how much God has given us, and our hearts are enlivened anew and determined to extend mercy to others.

The Rabbinic teaching at this time was to forgive someone three times, so Peter was undoubtedly expressing something magnanimous by suggesting SEVEN times – more than twice as many! And Jesus says even this is not enough. We can never weary of forgiving others because we ourselves will never run out of reasons to be forgiven by God!

Jesus wanted us to be absolutely sure of his forgiveness, and so he made it audible in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Have we encountered the mercy of God in this sacrament this Lent? We come in humility to speak our weakness and woundedness to Jesus through the priest, and Jesus reaches down to us through that priest to make sure we know clearly that we are forgiven. Through the mouth of the priest, we hear the words of Jesus: “I absolve you from your sins…”, and we can rise up to try again. What a gift!

During this Lenten season, many of us have been given the opportunity to slow down and remain at home, away from our usual activities and events and routines, by the need for “social distancing.” This is not easy, but one way we can use this time is for more prayer, more self-examination, more spiritual reading, and a reflective re-prioritization of our usual activities.

One area to reflect upon, in light of this Gospel, is where we may be harboring a lack of forgiveness. What do I need to “let go of” in order to be free to love fully? What person irritates me or continues to act in hurtful ways? A good resolution is to pray for that person each time you feel the irritation. It can be as simple as, “Lord, I lay that situation at the foot of your Cross. Give me peace.” Then, let go of it; untangle the fibers of your heart and mind from that person or situation, so that you are freed for other things! There is no magic in this practice, but the Lord never fails to meet us more than halfway. If we resolve to move toward Him in this way, He will do the rest. And by Easter, our hearts will be more ready to encounter the Paschal Mystery.

Meanwhile, let us all pray for health and peace!

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including newly ordained Father Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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Climbing Up By Bowing Down

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“All their works are performed to be seen.” Do you know people like this? It seems they live as if a camera were constantly on, and they are always “performing.” Because their attention is only on themselves and they are marinating in compliments and attention, their company is not very enjoyable. The sad truth is that they aren’t truly happy, because they know that the compliments and attention they receive have come through subtle manipulation, not sincerity.

You may also know people who are actively doing good and serving others, but it seems they talk too much about all the good they do and fail to acknowledge the good of others. Their “good deeds” are waved like a banner of virtue-signaling to announce that others just don’t care as much as they do. They are propping up their own egos with their list of charitable works.

We have all experienced the desire for recognition, praise, even admiration; this is part of our fallen human nature. And while true good deeds should certainly be acknowledged, we make ourselves the recipient of our own “gift” if we give so that we receive praise from others! When the desire for recognition is the basis of our choices and actions, we are slaves to the opinions of others, sometimes to the point of protecting our sense of superiority by humiliating others.

Jesus came to set us free. Free from sin, error, and our dependence on the opinions of others. Free to recognize Truth, to love fully. Truly free.

He tried to win over the Pharisees and help them to freedom, but they were enslaved by their pride. So Jesus points out the dangers of their position and maneuvering: they were very attached to what others thought of them and in a position to manipulate those opinions. It was a dangerous game, and they were in a bad place. They were the elite of God’s people, but by glorying in their own sense of superiority, they blinded themselves so that they could not even recognize the Messiah among them.

Jesus contrasts this attitude with the attitude his own followers must have: to see each person as a brother in Christ, to serve all others rather than maneuvering to be served, to humble ourselves even in our good works and successes! Because every success comes from using the talents that have been given to us in circumstances that are largely beyond our control, not from ourselves alone. We are not here to make a name for ourselves, but to glorify God’s Name.

Jesus teaches us that if we promote and protect and prefer ourselves and prop ourselves up on the opinions of others, we will ultimately be humbled by the truth. But if we willingly recognize the truth of what we are and seek God’s will for our lives, we will reach the exalted place which He has prepared for us. The way to climb up to God is to bow down.

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including newly ordained Father Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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Whose Kingdom is it? Who is in Control?

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We probably say the Lord’s Prayer at least once a day. These words are part of our Christian “DNA.”But do we really KNOW what we are praying?

Father, “hallowed be THY Name.” Not mine. I am not here to make a name for myself; I am here to glorify YOUR holy Name, a name the Chosen People dared not pronounce. You alone are holy, and I glorify Your holy Name.

“THY Kingdom come.” I am here to do my part in YOUR Kingdom, to work to establish YOUR Kingdom, not build my own little fiefdom, not maneuver myself into a place of power or influence or adulation, not to be in control of things. The world is Yours, and I am here to help turn it toward You.

“THY will be done.” I am here to do not MY will, but YOURS. Not just accept Your will, but to actively do Your will “as it is in heaven”…joyfully, promptly, perfectly.  You make all things work together for good, You choreograph every step of ours, if only we sincerely resolve to seek and do Your will.

“Give us this day our daily bread.” Give us today, Lord, all that we need for today. Give us our physical sustenance, our spiritual Food, provide for our psychological and emotional needs, give us the grace we need for this moment. We trust that You have always provided, You can provide, You will provide, because You are a good Father.

“Forgive us our trespasses,” in Your great mercy, “as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Your mercy is freely given, but it has metaphysical conditions for receiving it! Jesus tells us that IF we forgive others, the Father will forgive us. But if we do NOT forgive others, then the Father is, in some mysterious way, prevented from forgiving us. This is a deep mystery, as God’s love IS mercy. And yet, if we refuse to forgive others, we are locked up inside a sealed box of resentment, and God’s mercy cannot penetrate it from the outside. We have to release the latch from the inside! What a terrible freedom we have: our willfulness and determination to hold a grudge and refuse to forgive can even thwart the love and mercy of God Himself! But, on the other hand, if we willingly let go of our anger and resentment, God will forgive us freely and fully.

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Guide our ways, Lord, so that we avoid occasions of sin, and keep us safe from the pervasive darkness. Free us from all that holds us down – our woundedness, blindness, attachments, confusions – so that we dance in the light of Your Spirit, trusting in Your Providence and Love! In this way, we will walk steadily in Your way, the way that leads to Your very Heart, our Home.

“For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory, now and forever. Amen!”

Contact the author

Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including newly ordained Father Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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Becoming a Beautiful Bride

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Today’s short Gospel is a quick Q & A between the disciples of John and Jesus – one question, with a two-sentence answer. And yet, the answer gives us much to ponder.

The disciples of John want to know why Jesus’ followers do not follow the typical Jewish cycle of fasting. Jesus gives a somewhat cryptic answer: “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

The questioners must have been wondering what this meant.
First, by the “bridegroom,” Jesus is clearly referring to himself. For the listeners, this would have brought to mind the prophetic words of the Old Testament, in which the relationship between the Chosen People and God is often referred to as a betrothal. It is a way of revealing the kind of love that God has for His people: personal, passionate, faithful, and fruitful love, like a young fiancé for his beautiful bride. God’s love for us is deep and intense and steadfast!

But a “bridegroom” is a step beyond a “betrothed.” Jesus is expressing that the betrothal is ending and that – in him – the marriage is now imminent! God has come in Christ, and Jesus IS the bridegroom, come to wed his spouse, the Chosen People, the Church, by saving her from sin. This is why we refer to the Church as the “Bride of Christ.”

In ancient Israel, the guests – family and friends – spent the week-long wedding celebration sharing the joy of the new couple. Here we see Jesus declare himself the bridegroom, and his disciples are the “wedding guests,” invited to share his joy as he takes the Church as his bride. He wants all of his disciples throughout time (even you and me) to do the same! He longs for each of us to remain near him so that the overflowing joy of his Heart can flow into our lives as well until we are fully one with him in the Heavenly Kingdom.

One more thing: Notice Jesus does not say that the bridegroom will leave; he says that the bridegroom will be taken away. He is forcibly and violently removed, but he does not want to leave us alone! Before “the bridegroom is taken away,” he reveals a way he can remain with us always: at the Last Supper, he institutes the Eucharist.
Until the total fulfillment of the Kingdom is revealed, while we “wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior,” we fast and pray and grow in love in order to be more fully conformed to his image, just as his disciples did.

This Lent, let’s open ourselves fully to all that the Church suggests – praying, fasting, giving – so that we are of one heart and mind as we focus our attention on all that Christ, the Bridegroom, has given for us, his bride.

Contact the author

Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including newly ordained Father Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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The Amazing Value of Not Much, Not Many

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How much time do you have?
How much money do you have?
How much patience do you have?
How many talents do you have?
How much energy do you have?
How much prayer time do you have?
How many gifts do you have?

You’re probably thinking: not much, not many.

“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked his disciples as he looked on the thousands of people who were hungry because they had been following him for days.

The disciples were probably thinking: not much, not many.
Notice that Jesus did not ask them how much EXTRA food they had. They were hungry, too, of course. Jesus did not ask them if they had a surplus to help feed others. He asked them how much they had, and they gave it all to him.

Then he gave thanks, broke the bread, and gave it to his disciples to distribute to the crowd. It would have been unbelievable if everyone had gotten a bite. It would have been incredible if everyone ate enough to be satisfied. But it is amazing that everyone ate and was satisfied, and there were still seven baskets of fragments leftover.

Jesus is not just doing this to amaze, of course. Jesus is acting out of compassion and addressing a real need of the people who were following him to hear about the Kingdom, who would not have had enough strength to get back to their homes.

Jesus, as always, is also teaching a lesson: he wants us to participate in his saving mission by putting what we have at his disposal. Jesus did not make bread out of thin air (which he could have), nor did he distribute the bread himself. He asked his disciples to give what they had and asked them to hand out the gift. They entrusted their meager resources to the Master, and they must have been in consternation as they continued to hand it out to the people without running out!

What would have happened if the disciples had decided that they had no surplus, and kept those loaves for themselves? This would not have been unreasonable. But God calls us to act beyond reason, to act in faith.
Jesus asks each one of us to entrust our meager resources to him, knowing that God’s work is done beyond our small human abilities, reason, and calculations. We may think we do not have much to give, but when we give generously, he is able to give more generously. In fact, God does his best work when we are at the end of our capabilities and lean into him for results. And God’s results far surpass the sum total of what we give.

Let’s confidently hand him all we have – our meager loaves and little fish – and then watch what he can do.

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including newly ordained Father Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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Begging Jesus to Leave

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At first, today’s Gospel seems like a straightforward story of Jesus healing another person, freeing him from demonic possession and telling him to go and share his personal good news. But that’s just the surface. If we look deeper, we see the whole human drama of good and evil and freedom with Christ.

Let’s look first at the power of evil. The man is clearly possessed, and St. Mark describes the seriousness of his situation in some detail, so there is no doubt. And yet the devil does not have complete control, ever! In this case, the man is forced to prostrate himself before Jesus, the enemy begging to be left alone. When it is clear that Jesus means to free the man, the enemy is not then freed to roam at will; he must ask Jesus’ permission to enter the herd of swine! While the devil works with angelic intelligence and strength (which is greater than human intelligence and strength!), he is not all-powerful; the enemy can only operate within the parameters set by God Himself.

Let’s look next at how narrow the human perspective can be. The people of the town, who can see only the external details, are more concerned about the loss of the swine than the welfare of the previously suffering man. Hearing “what had happened to the possessed man and to the swine,” they see only the loss and not the gain, and they “began to beg him to leave their district.”

Let’s look at how Jesus operates within this struggle of good and evil. Jesus has supreme authority and power to free and heal and command demons. But Jesus also respects the gift of free will God has given to humanity, and never forces himself on anyone. When the Gerasenes beg him to leave, he gets into the boat and leaves. Free will is a powerful gift; we are always free to send him away.

What about the possessed man? He wanted to remain with Jesus, but Jesus gave him another task. He directed him to share his testimony, to be a witness. And he did, to the amazement of all who heard him. The Lord entrusts his work to us who have been blessed by Him!

What about us? An examination is always in order:

Are there areas in our lives in which we see only the surface, and are unable to see deeply and appreciate what God is doing?

Are there circumstances in which we are counting the cost but missing the deeper spiritual benefits?

Are there places within us that we have “fenced off” from Jesus because we are afraid of what he might demand of us, or ask us to change?

Are we ready and willing to share what God has done in our own lives so that others can know Him better?

Lord, give us light and strength so that we can SEE DEEPLY and remain open to Your saving power!

Contact the author

Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including newly ordained Father Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.