Sunday Readings and Reflections for June 1, 2025 by Hugh Buchanan Acts 1:1-11 | Psalm 47:2-3,6-9 | Ephesians 1:17-23 | Luke 24:46-53 Then he led them out as far as Bethany… I wonder if we can even capture the moment in our imagination of the day Jesus left the Apostles and others behind on the mountain. They saw Jesus being raised from the earth, giving words of encouragement and direction even then. I think what is lost to us now, in all our sophistication is that they knew it was the PERSON of Jesus who was there. For too much of the time we think of heaven as a place of spirits or “beings”, separate and different from the “bodies” we know. But it is a place where the human bodily form of Jesus resides…and he promises, ours will too. There is another subtle connection that the gospel mentions in passing that I never really caught before. The connection was the place of the resurrection. I never absorbed it was near Bethany that Jesus brought the Disciples to witness his ascension in the clouds. I did know Bethany was a special place for Jesus and I expect for a few of his disciples, for it was the place where Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived. What I did not realize was it was located on the southeast side of the Mount of Olives where the garden of Gethsemane was located, the place of the agony. The stark geographical contradiction of the agony and the glory of Jesus brought some new reflection as to why Jesus would pick such a place and join them in this way. Other things began to surface. I discovered Bethany means “house of affliction” and is generally acknowledged as not only the place where Galilean Jews would form their neighborhood near Jerusalem, it was also the location where the sick of the community were treated and cared for. Thus, it was also where the home of Simon the leper was located; the place Mary anointed the hair of Jesus; where the Sanhedrin leaders decided not only Jesus must die, but Lazarus also. It, too, was the path Jesus took to enter Jerusalem to shouts of hosanna the week before his crucifixion. Affliction was now connected to the glory of the ascension of Jesus. Is it just so much contradiction? I think it hints at a message we should consider. The love of God, manifested in Jesus is found in many places, but few more poignantly as when there is affliction and suffering, agony and separation. Jesus broadly suggests just by the connection through Bethany that a love that would endure the doubts and pain of Jesus’ experience is only because of the love he has for us, and he showed it when he wept for Lazarus, embraced the act of generosity for Mary, tended to the sick, loved the unlovable. I think it is also true with us. God isn’t a watchmaker who set things running and views from afar. He is a person who loved us enough to show us the connection to living for each other, relishing the companionship which always brings both happiness and pain and finding it worth it all because it is rooted in the love of God for us…first. His relationship to Martha, Mary and Lazarus reveals that following Jesus means growing in relationship with Him through others whom we learn to love because of Him. Pray to the Jesus who is sitting there next to the Father this week. The Jesus who knows what you are going through, yes, the Jesus who understands you and loves you. His Resurrection was a reality in the life of the disciples and the momentum of the experience never subsided. …Has the promise subsided for you? God Bless You, Hugh #manresajesuitretreathouse #ignatianspirituality #findinggodinallthings #jesuits #midwestjesuits #bloomfieldhills #michigan #sundayreflections (fb)

Ladies, enjoy the peaceful beauty of Manresa; follow in Mary's footsteps to the heart of Jesus. REGISTER: manresa-sj.org/062025-w (fb)