FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

21 APRIL 2024

 

            The image of God as a shepherd is a classic one in Scripture.  Just as shepherds guarded, guided, protected, and watched over their sheep, God guards, guides, protects, and watches over Israel.  That is why God expected the human leaders of ancient Israel to be good shepherds of their people.  The prophet Ezekiel criticized the leaders of his day.  He accused them of being shepherds taking care of themselves and neglecting the care of their flock.  Their failure to be good shepherds resulted in the calamity suffered by their people.  He promised that God would some day shepherd his people himself.

            We see this prophecy fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.  At the top of our triumphal arch, the Good Shepherd is seated, drawing the sheep to himself.  As we meditate on this image, we are reminded that we are those sheep.  We are called to be the lamb seated on his lap.  There is another image of the Good shepherd outside the entrance to the Parish Education Center.  It is a copy of a statue believed to be the first image of Jesus the Good Shepherd.  The shepherd is young and without a beard.  He carries a lamb on his shoulders, bringing that lamb through dark valleys and dangerous places to a place of rest and refreshment.

            Today, Jesus proclaims himself as the Good Shepherd, using the words “I am.”  When Moses asked God to identify himself in the burning bush, God responded “I am.”  In the Gospel of Saint John, the first descriptive title given to Jesus comes from the mouth of Saint John the Baptist:  “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”  At the end of the Gospel, the high priest Caiaphas argues that it was “better for one man to die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”  His statement is fulfilled in ways that he could never have imagined.  At noon on the Day of Preparation, Caiaphas sacrifices an unblemished lamb on the altar in the temple to inaugurate the beginning of the Passover observance.  Across town, outside the city walls, the true Lamb of God, Jesus, voluntarily and once-and-for all lays down his life on the cross of execution, “lest the whole of humanity perish.” 

            On the night of Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times out of fear.  In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter boldly proclaims the truth about Jesus Christ to the Sanhedrin.  He had encountered the risen Lord and had been filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  What he tells them, he tells us.  We can trust the love of the Good Shepherd, because he knows each of us by name.  He has laid down his life on the cross for us, as shepherds would lay down their lives at the entrance of the sheepfolds at night.  There were no gates at these sheepfolds.  They became the gate preventing wolves and thieves from attacking their flock.  He has become the Lamb of God who feeds us with his Body and Blood. 

            He calls us to imitate his selfless and total love in our roles as shepherds.  He speaks to us who are priests or deacons, teachers, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, or brothers and sisters.  Filled with the Holy Spirit and fed by the risen Lord’s real presence in the Eucharist, we too must lay down our lives for those entrusted to our care.  When we are humble enough to imitate his example, it is the Good Shepherd working through us who continues the work of salvation.  There is no salvation through anyone else.

            Today’s Collect sums it up.  “Almighty ever-living God, lead us to share in the joys of heaven, so that the humble flock may reach where the brave shepherd has gone before.”  We already share the joys of heaven when we give ourselves in humble service.

 

 

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER

14 APRIL 2024

 

            In the passage preceding today’s Gospel, two of the disciples of Jesus had left Jerusalem and were heading for the village of Emmaus, seven miles away.  They were disappointed and broken.  On their way, the risen Christ joined them.  With his risen body transformed, they did not recognize him.  Thinking that he was a stranger, they told him their story.  They had been disciples of Jesus and had been convinced that he was the Messiah.  But he had been executed like a common criminal.  They were running away.  After listening to their pain, Jesus began to speak.  He connected the sayings of the prophets with his experience.  Listening to him, their hearts began to burn within them.  Even though he indicated that he was going further, he agreed to stay with them.  When he took bread, blessed, broke, and gave, they recognized him.  Despite the danger of traveling at night, they immediately returned to Jerusalem. 

            Today’s Gospel picks up that story.  As they are telling the other disciples what happened on the way, the risen Christ stands in their midst.  They do not recognize him.  But he greets them with the words, “Peace be with you.”  Jesus breaks, shares and unlocks for them the words of Scripture.  They begin to understand, and in the process are transformed themselves.  Then they share a meal with the risen Lord, whose transformed body contains the same wounds that were visible on the cross.  Then the risen Lord gives them the mandate to preach in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem to go and transform all the world.

            This is exactly what happens at this Mass.  We began the Mass by being reminded that we are baptized members of the Body of Christ with the sprinkling rite.  Then we heard the Word of the Lord.  Saint Luke emphasizes that the disciples are not seeing a ghost.  They are encountering a physical person who is eating with them. As soon as I stop talking, we will profess our faith and offer our intentions.  Then we will celebrate the Eucharist.  We do not encounter the risen Lord in the same physical way that those original disciples did.  But we encounter his risen presence in a very real way when we feast on his Body and Blood under the form of bread and wine.  Finally, we are dismissed from this Mass to spread the Good News.  We cannot keep the good news to ourselves.

            Throughout this Easter Season, the Scripture readings invite us to renew our faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The first reading for every Mass is taken from the Acts of the Apostles.  In this second volume, Saint Luke helps us to understand how the good news is spread from Jerusalem to the end of the earth (Rome, at that time).  The first members of the Christian community  have accepted the testimony of the original witnesses.  They cannot keep their faith to themselves.  Peter may have denied knowing Jesus out of fear after the Last Supper.  But he has encountered the risen Lord and has known the Lord’s peace and mercy.  He has received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  He is not afraid to proclaim the central mystery of our faith to anyone who hears him.  He tells them that those who crucified him did so out of ignorance.  But with the knowledge that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has raised him from the dead, he invites his listeners to repent and be converted.       

            He speaks this same message to us, who profess our faith in the resurrection while still suffering wounds and being tempted to fall back into sin.  The Letter of Saint John tells us that we express our faith in the resurrection by keeping the commandments.  When we are sent forth from this Mass, we proclaim the good news by redoubling our efforts to love God and neighbor in very specific ways.

 

 

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER

7 APRIL 2024

 

            On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala had come to the tomb of Jesus in the dark.  The darkness was not only the absence of daylight.  The darkness expressed her grief and despair, because she had come to complete the anointing of his dead body.  Later, in the light of that eighth day of the new creation, she encountered the risen Lord and became the Apostle to the Apostles.  She announced the news to the Apostles that he had been raised from the dead. 

            On that same day, they remain in darkness.  In the darkness of the evening, they lock themselves in a room.  Saint John says that they had locked the doors out of fear of the Jews.  They fear that the authorities might do to them what they did to Jesus.  They are also afraid of Jesus.  If Mary Magdalene is telling the truth, Jesus must be angry with them.  Most of them had abandoned him at his darkest hour. Thomas had bragged that he would go to Bethany to die with Jesus.  At the Last Supper, Peter insisted that he would never deny him.  But when one of their own betrayed him and handed him over to be crucified, most of them had run away. 

            Just as the risen Christ had broken through the locked heart of Mary Magdalene, he now breaks through the locked doors of the place where the Apostles are hiding.  He shows them his hands and his side.  He has been raised from the dead.  It is the same body scarred by the nails and spear.  Instead of scolding them, his first words are, “Peace be with you.”  He speaks these words of forgiveness and mercy again and breathes the Holy Spirit on them.”  He tells them to give that same mercy to others.  We receive that gift of mercy every time we encounter the Lord in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

            Saint John does not tell us why Thomas is not with them.  More than likely, his heart is  troubled.  Perhaps his intense grief is made worse by the guilt of what he had bragged about before going to the tomb of Lazarus.  In being separated from the community of believers, he remains in the darkness of unbelief and grief.  On the next Sunday, united with the community, he makes the most profound expression of faith when he sees the wounds:  “My Lord and my God.”  In response, Jesus proclaims that those who have not seen as he has seen will be blessed.

            Jesus is talking about us!  We have not encountered the physical body of the risen Lord as those first disciples had done.  But, we trust that they were telling the truth.  Their encounter with the risen Lord profoundly changed their lives.  In response, they gave their gifts of mercy and forgiveness to others, even to those who persecuted them and took their lives from them.

            In the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Luke describes the community of faith formed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  They are of one heart and mind.  They share their possessions with one another, especially with those who were needy.  During this Easter Season, we will hear from the Acts of the Apostles as our first reading.  We will hear about how they cooperated with the Holy Spirit.  We will hear how they failed.

            As we reflect on their witness, we can reflect on our own community of faith.  Our community is formed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Sometimes we cooperate with the Holy Spirit.  Sometimes we fail.  Like Thomas, we can bring our darkness and fears to our encounter with the risen Lord when we come to Mass.  We can bring our wounds.  We can acknowledge our doubts.  We need to understand that facing our doubts and wounds can be a way of coming to a deeper faith, as Thomas did.  But we must not make the same mistake that he did.  We cannot separate ourselves from this faith community, with all our successes and failures.  Alone and isolated, we are vulnerable.  Gathered here as a community, we can allow the Holy Spirit to breathe courage when we have locked our hearts and minds to the presence of the risen Lord. 

 

EASTER SUNDAY OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD

31 MARCH 2024

 

            Mary of Magdala comes to the tomb early in the morning, while it is still dark.  The darkness is much more than the absence of the light of day.  In her personal darkness of grief and despair, she comes to complete the task of anointing the dead body of Jesus.  When she sees that the tomb is empty, she presumes that someone had stolen his body.  Then she runs to Peter and the Beloved Disciple, who run to the tomb.  Peter enters the tomb and remains in the darkness of his three-time denial of the Lord in the courtyard of the high priest.  The Beloved Disciple had been with the crucified Lord in the darkness of Good Friday.  He is the verge of believing that something remarkable has happened.  But there is still darkness, even for him.      

Earlier in the Gospel of Saint John, Nicodemus came to see Jesus “at night.”  He needed the cover of darkness to hide from the other members of the Sanhedrin his interest in hearing from this self-educated preacher from Galilee.  In the darkest of nights, Judas leaves the upper room to betray Jesus.  Saint John says, “And it was night.”

Today, we come to Mass knowing what Mary Magdalene and Peter and the Beloved Disciple did not know.  We know that the Lord has been raised from the dead.  But in professing our faith in the resurrection, we also bring our share of darkness.  We live in the darkness of a world where wars are claiming innocent lives.  Social media and twenty-four-hour news coverage reveal the darkness of a deeply divided nation and the challenge to distinguish between fake news and news that is accurate and factual.  In our Church, we suffer the darkness of division.  We struggle with our own individual forms of darkness – illness, the death of loved ones, the breaking up of relationships, the loss of trust, and much more.

Once we admit the many ways we dwell in darkness, we can take comfort in the witness of Mary Magdalene, Peter, the Beloved Disciple, and all the other eyewitnesses.  They did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ because they saw an empty tomb.  They believed when they had personal experiences of the risen Christ, receiving his forgiveness, seeing his body transformed by the resurrection, and eating and drinking with him.  Those encounters moved them beyond their darkness.  We trust that what they experienced was true.  The news of the resurrection is not fake news.  These witnesses are credible.  Their lives were profoundly changed by their encounter with the risen Christ.  Most of them gave up their lives, because they were absolutely convinced that the Lord had been raised from the dead, never to die again.

Last night at the Easter Vigil, five people entered the baptismal font and emerged, one with Christ and his Church, with all their sins forgiven.  In the words of Saint Paul to the Colossians, they were raised with Christ.  They were sealed by the Holy Spirit in Confirmation and fed with the Body and Blood of Christ for the first time in the Eucharist.  That is why we renew our baptismal promises today.  In Baptism, we died with Christ and rose with him to new life.  We encounter his risen presence in this Eucharist.  We renounce those temptations to slip back into the darkness of unbelief three times.  We renounce sin, so we can live in the freedom of the children of God.  We renounce the lure of evil, so that sin may have no mastery over us.  We renounce Satan, the author and prince of sin and fake news. 

On Easter Sunday, we turn our backs on the lies of the Devil and renew our intention to share the life of the risen Christ, who is above.  Just as the light of a tiny candle dispels the total darkness of night, we can live in the light of the resurrection to give hope to those we love, to those we encounter, and to ourselves.  The Lord is truly risen from the dead.  He will never die again.  He will share his rising with us every time we share in his suffering and dying. 

 

EASTER VIGIL

30 MARCH 2024

 

            Very early when the sun had risen on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome come to the tomb to complete the anointing of the dead body of Jesus.  Those same three women had stood at the foot of the cross on that dark day before the Sabbath and witnessed the death of the one they loved.  But when they arrive at the tomb, they find that the stone had been moved away.  The tomb is empty.  A man dressed in white announces that the one whose crucifixion they had witnessed has been raised from the dead.  They are to go to Galilee to tell the disciples and Peter.  The risen Lord will go before them.

            This is the eighth day of a new creation.  In their journey to Galilee, they will encounter the risen Lord.  In that encounter, they will become convinced that he had been raised from the dead.  Their lives and the life of the entire world has been changed.  We are here tonight, because these women and the other disciples were credible witnesses.  Death is not the end for Jesus Christ.  They told the truth.  It was not fake news. 

            Gathered here in this Great Vigil, we are about to encounter his risen presence in the Sacramental life of the Church.  The Lord has just spoken to us in his Word (actually in lots of words!).  We now call forward the Elect.  They will encounter the risen Lord when they enter into the watery tomb.  They will be raised completely one with him in the Sacrament of Baptism.  Along with those who will be received into full Communion, they  will be sealed by the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation.  Then they and all of us will encounter his real presence in the Eucharist – in bread transformed into his Body and Wine transformed into his blood.

            Those earliest witnesses were correct.  Death is not the end.  He’s been raised from the dead and promises that we will share in his rising every time we share in his dying! 

 

 

PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD’S PASSION

23 MARCH 2024

 

            Palm Sunday introduces us to a week filled with contrasts.  Those who shouted “Hosanna to the Son of David” today will yell “Crucify him” on Friday.  At the beginning of the Passion according to Saint Mark, the woman of Bethany empties the entire jar of expensive perfumed  oil on the head of Jesus.  On Friday, he will empty his entire life on the cross.  At the meal, he is surrounded by his disciples.  When taken away to a mock trial, Jesus is abandoned by all, signified by the man who runs away naked.  When he comes to Calvary, Jesus is stripped of his clothing and embraces the pain, nakedness, and horror of being crucified.  He completely empties himself, as Saint Paul reports in his Philippian hymn. 

In the trial before the Sanhedrin, Jesus testifies honestly about himself and is condemned to death.  A few yards below in the courtyard,  Peter testifies falsely about himself out of fear and is plunged into guilt and grief.  The Church is inviting us to admit the ways we imitate Peter and those who abandon him.  In humility and contrition, we can renew our trust in the power of Jesus Christ to forgive us and save us.  As a faithful Jew, Peter knows the custom of praying at certain hours – 9:00 in the morning, noon, and 3:00 in the afternoon to sanctify time itself.  In the Passion, Jesus is crucified at 9:00.  Darkness covers the land at noon.  At 3:00, he delivers over his Spirit.  We sign ourselves at 12, 6, 3, and 9.  Through the cross, Christ has entered and sanctified all eternity and every hour of our being.

Holy Mother Church invites us to observe sacred time during the Sacred Paschal Triduum to enter into these mysteries in a deeper way.  Please join us in this shortest and most important Liturgical Season, beginning on Holy Thursday evening and concluding on Easter Sunday evening.  Details are in the bulletin and online.  You will not be disappointed.

 

FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

17 MARCH 2024

 

            Saint Paul writes to the Romans to tell them that they are no longer in the flesh.  Those in the flesh cannot please God.  Those in the spirit are joined to the Body of Christ when they are baptized.  In contrasting flesh with spirit, Saint Paul is not saying that our bodies are bad and our souls are good.  Those in the flesh cannot recognize any reality beyond what they experience with their five senses.  Those in the spirit, on the other hand, have come to believe in what is beyond their senses:  God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit inviting them to put their trust in much more than they could ever experience with their senses.  Those in the spirit accept the Paschal Mystery and are confident that they too can share in the greatest Mystery:  the resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ.

            Today, Jesus works his seventh and greatest miracle in the Gospel of John.  Even though he loves his friend, Lazarus, he waits two more days before going to Bethany.  When he arrives, Martha, the sister of Lazarus, chides him for not being there.  Good friends can yell at another.  Her sister, Mary, joins her with the same rebuke.  When Jesus asks her, Martha says that she believes that Jesus is the resurrection and the life.  After grieving over the death of his friend, Jesus prays to the Father and calls Lazarus from the tomb.  Not too much later, Jesus will enter that same death.  Unlike Lazarus, who must die again, Jesus will have his trust in the Father rewarded by being raised from the dead, never to die again.

            At the 10:00 Mass today, we celebrate the third and last Scrutiny with our Elect.  We will lay hands on them and pray that they will be protected from the temptations of the devil. In their year-long formation, they have been preparing to die to the flesh when they enter into the watery tomb of baptism.  As they emerge, they will share fully in the person of Jesus Christ.  One with Christ through his Spirit given in Confirmation, they will share his promise of resurrection. 

            It is important for the rest of us to hear today’s readings and deepen our faith as we prepare to renew our baptismal promises at Easter. Saint Paul says that even though the promise of the resurrection is given to us in baptism, the effects of the promise are not guaranteed.  We can turn our backs on that promise and return to living in the flesh.  That is why we embrace the disciplines of Lent to turn our faith more completely to the One who was raised from the dead.

            When we pray the Nicene Creed, we reaffirm our faith in the promise of our bodily resurrection.  Father Alexander Schmemann helps us to clarify what Saint Paul is talking about and how to understand the importance of our bodies as we grow in faith.  “In the long and difficult effort of spiritual recovery, the Church does not separate the soul from the body.  The whole person has fallen away from God; the whole person is to be restored, the whole person is to return.  The catastrophe of sin lies precisely in the victory of the ‘flesh’ – the animal, irrational, the lust in us – over the spiritual and the divine.  But the body is glorious, the body is holy, so holy that God himself ‘became flesh.’  Salvation and repentance then are not contempt for the body or neglect of it, but restoration of the body to its real function as the expression and the life of the spirit, as the temple of the priceless human soul.”

            As members of the Body of Christ, we use our Lenten disciplines of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving to draw us away from the animal, irrational, and lust in us to embrace more fully the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Two weeks ago, the woman at the well taught us that Jesus Christ is the Way.  Last week, the man born blind showed us Christ as the Truth.  Today, Lazarus reveals Christ as the Life.  Jesus promises resurrection.  We must remain open to that promise.