“Wait! Where are you going? You just got back.”

Seventh Sunday of Easter (Year A) – Ascension Sunday
Acts 1.6-14; John 17.1-11
St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Whenever I go away for a while – be it a few days or a few weeks – I can count on the same series of reactions from my cats upon my return. When I first get home, they will look at me like, “oh, it’s you.” Then they will proceed to ignore me. Anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Their way of punishing me for abandoning them. Then they will not leave me alone. They will keep me in sight at all times. This will go on for anywhere from a day to nearly a week, depending on how long I was gone. But the best reaction, the one that breaks my heart every time, is that first time after I’ve returned home when I have to leave again. To run an errand, go to work, whatever the purpose. Be it later the same day or several days later. The reaction is always the same. As I go to close the front door, the Boys will be sitting there, looking at me with the most pathetic expressions, with eyes purposefully made to melt my soul. In that look that says, “Wait! Where are you going? You just got back.”

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God's Witness Protection Program

Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year A)
Acts 7.55-60; 1 Peter 2.2-10; John 14.1-14
St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

In the last half of Eastertide, we focus on identity. Christ’s identity and ours, as revealed through the mystery of the Resurrection. Last week’s Gospel focused primarily on Jesus’ identity and our response to that identity. How Christ is at once the Lamb, the Good Shepherd, and the gate to the sheepfold, whereby we enter into the fellowship of God. Today’s Gospel shifts the emphasis to focus more on our identity in light of the Resurrection. And what that identity means in a deeper sense.

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I AM, the Gate

Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year A)
John 10.1-10
St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

We’re only halfway through the season of Easter, but with last week’s journey to Emmaus, we have finished the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. Throughout the rest of Eastertide, we turn our attention to what it means to be the followers of the Risen Christ. It is quite appropriate that the imagery that is used as we shift our focus involves sheep. Not so much about what the image of sheep says about us, but what it says about Jesus.

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