What can an ancient Carol teach us? ….Everything.

It is amazing how quickly fear can wipe away even the strongest bonds of friendship! In this chapter, we see the serenity and love of Jesus juxtaposed to the fear and lies of Peter. We see the self-sacrificing light of Jesus against the self-preserving darkness of Peter. This chapter is a beautiful metaphor of the little choices that we must all make each day. Do I choose truth and stand for love? Or do I choose fear and grasp for what feels like security in the moment? Jesus reminds us, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39). 

The verb to “consecrate” is not a commonly used word in modern English, outside of the Church. According to Webster's dictionary, the action verb, Consecrate, means “to make or declare sacred.” A person’s position, like a priest, can be consecrated, or a building, like a church, can be consecrated. In this passage, Jesus is praying directly to the Father about his disciples, both those who he knew in his earthly ministry, and those who will come after. “I pray not only for them, but also those who will believe in me through their word” (John 17:20). Jesus is praying for us to be consecrated!

In John Chapter 13, we see a very intimate picture of Jesus’s relationship with his disciples, and also of the relationship of the disciples to each other. The chapter begins with Jesus washing their feet. Fr. Richard Rohr says, “Eagerness and readiness to love is the ultimate freedom and future,” in his book, Universal Christ.

Fear or Faith: Ancient— Religious Leaders Made the Same Mistake We Do Today. The Gospel of John 11, verse 48 says, “If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.” Political tensions in modern life are putting the same type of stress on Christians today.

People are so judgmental — both towards other people and towards themselves. It causes so much emotional damage. The way that we exclude people from our lives based on superficial judgements holds us back from growth. The way that we hold ourselves back from opportunities because we judge ourselves to be unworthy, stops our individual well-being and prosperity. But why?

Let us turn to Christ for the energy to do the works of light: choosing peace instead of conflicts; doing the work necessary to be physically healthy; and seeking creativity and optimism as a pathway to solve problems.