John Janaro's Blog, page 32

“Twilight Moon”

“Twilight Moon” (May 2024). #DigitalArt #JJStudios

Is Life "A Puff of Smoke" That "Disappears"?

"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town, spend a year there doing business, and make a profit'— you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears. Instead you should say, 'If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that.' But now you are boasting in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil" (James 4:13-16).

Isn't this so true? We live as if we were masters of space and time. We assume we can dominate reality, when the truth is that every moment of every day is a gift from the One who creates and sustains us and who loves us. We are given reason and freedom, and our lives are fruitful when our decisions and plans adhere to and cooperate with the wisdom and mercy of God.

If we trust in ourselves alone, and what we can control by our own power, time will swallow us up and we will "vanish." Even in the course of this life we can see the "smoke" of our plans and projects and hopes "disappearing," especially as we get older. So we wander through our brief lives in arrogance, anxiety, distraction, desperation, mendacity, and violence.

Why do we live this way? It brings nothing but illusion and failure.

But if we entrust ourselves to the One who transcends time, who "gives us time"—and the One who has come into time and redeemed time—then our little fragile wisp of life has meaning. Every moment has meaning, every hope will be realized in its ultimate truth. Nothing will be lost.

Pentecost 2024

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of Your love!

The Holy Spirit and the "Groaning" of Our Times

The wars that have intensified during this decade continue to escalate, widening the circle of those under imminent danger, and suggesting that the world is likely to face new perils and catastrophes in the near future. We will all have to face these burdens in some measure, on top of our own personal struggles, failures, frustration and grief. What prevents us from being overwhelmed by fear?

As Pentecost 2024 approaches, it is good once again to ponder prayerfully certain passages from Romans, chapter 8. There is much here that resonates with our own personal sufferings, as well as the sufferings in our world so full of desperation and violence and yet so immensely loved by God.

The Holy Spirit brings hope that transforms our own seemingly inexplicable sorrows into prayer. The Spirit is also at work—profoundly and mysteriously—in the midst of the often-confused, obscure, sometimes hesitant, sometimes ardent longings of people all over the world who seek the truth, who seek healing.

The truth remains that every human heart belongs to God.

Every human heart belongs to God, to the Father who lovingly creates and sustains the heart; to the Son—Jesus—who redeems the heart from sin and enters into the depths of every human burden and misery; to the Holy Spirit poured out as Gift of Love and the power to live as children of God, in abandonment to Infinite Mercy who holds us and carries us through all the agony and danger and terrors we might be called to endure in our lives, in this moment in history.

We must offer our “groaning within ourselves” in solidarity with all those who search for light in the darkness—a search that the Spirit awakens and sustains in the depths of their hearts. Thus we can share our hope for salvation, knowing that the same Spirit who works with us is calling and drawing every person. In the Spirit, our patience, our endurance, our sufferings will bear fruit in Jesus Christ, according to the wisdom and love of God.

“We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that sees is not hope. For who hopes for what one sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance.

“In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit ­himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will.”

~Romans 8:22-27

Shouts of Joy

“All peoples, clap your hands.

Cry to God with shouts of joy.”

~Psalm 47:2

Lying in this bed, letting my joints ache in the humid wet days of May 2024.

The News is full of conflict, and it's all been heard before and it's all passing away. "The love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Timothy 6:10).

Everything changes. Everything is changing. The resurrection of Jesus is the beginning of a New Creation. Creation groans with eager longing. We groan inwardly as we await the redemption of our bodies. (see Romans 8:18-23)

So much groaning in travail, so much eager longing...

Come, Holy Spirit, transforming Fire, Light dispelling all darkness, Love ever greater.

The Spirit of Truth Bears Witness to God’s Love For Us

We have nearly completed our annual celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ our Redeemer and the events that happened in our human history that constitute God’s definitive gesture of boundless love for human person and the whole universe. 

God the Father who created all things has spoken—through the Word-made-Flesh—the fulfilling and decisive “word” that draws together the unknown millennia of the past with God’s promises and the victory of Christ, and that touches us in the here-and-now through the Spirit of the Risen Lord. We live, even now, the newness of Life in the Spirit and share with Christ—according to the grace of our Christian vocation and our free correspondence to it—the task of “advancing” the growth of the Kingdom of the God who is Eternal Love.

Jesus reigns in the glory of His own resurrection which He makes present in His Church, gathering all the moments of history and of the present and all those still to come (however long or short the time may be that remains for the history of this present world).

“Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever!” (Hebrews 13:8)

My graphics are playing with a lot of “light and darkness” themes, because in this year, 2024, the “hundredfold” that we experience in following Jesus has not been without its tribulations.

Yet it is a “hundredfold” of joy for us even in this life, even in the most difficult times. Perhaps it is “hidden” in the gratitude of our hearts as we focus on perseverance. If we are able, it is good and strengthening to take moments to dwell in that gratitude, to “lift up our hearts” to the Lord, to adore Him and marvel at the immeasurable Gift of our being and our vocation and, above all, Himself—from the Cross, in the humility of the Eucharist that feeds us, in His Spirit who makes all things possible.

Come Holy Spirit!

Christina Grimmie: “People Grow Stronger, Little by Little”

“People aren’t born strong. People grow stronger little by little, encountering difficult situations, learning not to run from them” (Christina Grimmie).
I designed and posted this “meme” seven YEARS ago, according to Facebook. The impact of this young person on my life only grows with time.💚 And I know that I am far from alone in saying this.

The "Farewell Discourses": What Does Jesus Mean?

In recent weeks, the Gospel reading for the day has been taken from what are sometimes called the "farewell discourses" of Jesus in the Gospel of John, chapters 14, 15, and 16.

Many classic verses are found here. "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (14:6). "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (14:9). "I am the vine; you are the branches... apart from me you can do nothing" (15:5). Then there are those words about His gift of His peace, and bearing abundant fruit, and exhortations to "abide in Him" and "keep His commands," and especially "this is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you" (15:12).
These "discourses" are a profound exchange between Jesus and the disciples. As is so often the case, however, the disciples don't understand. Jesus uses these great images that are familiar to us, but the disciples are confused. Jesus speaks of Himself, His Father, the Spirit, the world, and the disciples themselves, but they are not sure what He means by all of it.
When we read these texts, we are dazzled by their depth and inspired by all the often-heard themes. Still, perhaps we sympathize with the disciples in a certain way.
Maybe we have studied the Bible for years, but do we really "get it"?
"We do not know what he is talking about" (16:18) the disciples are saying near the end of chapter 16. Two thousand years later, we can still appreciate their perplexity. We too may wonder, "What is He talking about?"
We have the benefit of the apostolic witness to Jesus Christ after the resurrection and Pentecost, as well as the development of doctrine, the tradition and the Fathers, the teaching of Christ's Church, many good modern commentaries, and our own prayerful reading in the light of the Holy Spirit. These resources assist us, but the heart of the text remains an awesome and beautiful mystery, and it brings us more and more to a simple gaze full of silence, adoration, and love. We are drawn to "abide" in Him, and allow Him to dwell in us, with the Father and the Spirit.
Here is one of the powerful moments in the New Testament when we encounter the Infinite Mystery made flesh, the One whose presence is decisive for the destiny of every human person.
Within the narrative, however, the disciples remain confused.
But just then comes a moment in the text when the clouds seem to open for them. Jesus says something that strikes the disciples in a different way, that breaks through and appears clearly, even if only for a moment, in their minds and hearts.
Jesus says:

"I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will tell you plainly of the Father. On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God" (16:25-27).

And then He says a single verse that sounds like something He has already said many times. Yet this time it stands out; it seems to touch the disciples for the first time in all its richness. If we ponder it for awhile, we might be touched by it too. Jesus says:

"I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father"  (16:28) .

The hitherto bewildered disciples seem suddenly awakened by these words. Perhaps they don't know what they are saying, and yet they are impressed with a luminous certainty, as if they are standing before Jesus transfigured. They seem to be greatly consoled and enlightened. Suddenly they rejoice, and cry out with a newly found joy.

"His disciples said, 'Yes, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure of speech! Now we know that you know all things, and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God'" (16:29-30).

Perhaps we reach this point and wonder what we've missed. What did Jesus say that suddenly made it all clear?
I wonder if these words might indicate the very heart of the matter. The Eternal Mystery -- source and fulfillment of all things -- is the Holy Trinity, in which the Son is eternally generated by the Father. And the Father and the Son eternally breathe forth the Holy Spirit.  The Trinity is, of course, the transcendent, "super-dynamic" and "always" realization of the exchange and overflow of Love, a mystery that transcends words like "coming" and "going."
Yet this is why the Son of the Father has been made flesh. Jesus has come into the world above all to reveal and glorify the mystery of the Holy Trinity, the mystery of the God who is Eternal Love. "I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father."
Earlier in the discourse, Jesus told them, "If I do not go, the Advocate [the Spirit] will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you" (16:7). Now He appears to be synthesizing everything in a few words that refer to His "coming-from-the-Father" and His "going-[returning]-to-the-Father."
Perhaps these words open the hearts of the disciples to Jesus's relation to the Father in the Spirit. Perhaps they grasp for a moment His whole mission: He who is forever generated from the Father is sent by the Father into the world to "open up" the life of God so that those who adhere to Him might share that life through Him, so that they might be raised up into the Father's glory in the Holy Spirit.
The Voice and the Dove at Jesus's baptism. The luminous Glory of Tabor and the Voice again. Transfiguration. Infinite Love who is Father, Son, and Spirit, revealing His Trinitarian mystery and freely pouring forth His glory and His love and His mercy upon the world.
Is this what stirred the ardor of the disciples and drew forth for a moment their joyful affirmation of faith?
Still, in the "farewell discourses," Jesus knows that His coming-and-going has not yet reached its definitive moment. The Cross remains before Him:

Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!" (16:31-33)

Pope Francis: Jesus Calls Us His “Friends”

In his Wednesday homily for May 8, the Pope noted the importance of the fact that Jesus calls us “friends.”

I Feel Like a Soggy Worn-Out Stiff Wooden Plank

…with rusty nails still hammered into it.

Didn’t I say that I love this time of year? I do, but the transition from one season to another is glitchy, especially in Spring, when the temperatures and humidity can fluctuate from one day to the next. Lyme Disease has helped make my body into a pretty accurate meteorological instrument. I don’t know for sure why things are this way, but I still get periods of more intensive arthritic and myofascial pain, exhaustion, sensory overload, and brain fog. More intensive than my “baseline,” which is dodgy but tolerable in my slow-paced life.

Inevitably, when this happens weather is involved. Cooler air, rain, and humidity came in yesterday and today I woke up stiff and soggy and too tired to read or even smile at anybody.

Ouch!

By the way, May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month. Many of our local people in the Valley have been through this whole mess, and are therefore already “aware,” even if they would prefer to forget.

But more on this another time.