Thursday in the Octave of Easter
(Acts 3:11-26; Luke 24:35-48)
When special prosecutor Kenneth Starr produced DNA evidence that President Bill Clinton was involved sexually with a White House intern, no one could deny it. Of course, such proof was not even dreamed about in biblical times. But Luke offers his own kind of circumstantial evidence that Jesus really rose from the dead.
Different people have seen the risen Jesus. The disciples on the way to Emmaus come back to Jerusalem saying that they identified him in the breaking of the bread. When they arrive, they are told that Simon Peter has also seen him. Then Luke writes of Jesus making an appearance to the eleven remaining apostles along with the disciples from Emmaus. On this occasion Jesus offers his hands and his feet where presumably witnesses could make positive identification from the nail marks. As if this were not enough, Jesus also eats with his disciples showing that they are not viewing a phantom.
Cynics may dismiss the gospel testimony and physical evidence for Jesus’ resurrection. However, St. Paul’s report puts the burden of proof on the doubter. By all indication Paul is a practical man with little patience for foolishness. He lists various witnesses and then mentions his own experience of the risen Lord (I Corinthians 15:5-8). In another letter he writes of that encounter (Galatians 1:16) which seems spiritual but so intensely real that it turns his life on end. We have not seen Jesus, but still we accept the Scriptural testimony because our own experience of goodness and truth corroborates everything else that is said about Jesus.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Wednesday in the Octave of Easter
(Acts 3:1-10; Luke 24:13-35)
Twenty years ago a devotional dialogue called “Footprints in the Sand” captured the Christian imagination. Preachers used it in homilies, printers drafted it on holy cards, and anthologists included it in contemporary prayer books. Few believers throughout the world failed to get its message of Jesus loyalty throughout life’s vagaries. We can find the prototype to that inspirational dialogue in today’s gospel.
Jesus’ two disciples seem to have a spirited conversation as they walk from Jerusalem. But when the Lord catches up to them, their deeper emotion is revealed. They look “downcast” as they explain to their new companion about their dashed hopes in Jesus. However, as Jesus breaks bread with the two, their enthusiasm returns without limit. They not only recognize that he is with them, but they hurry back to the place of their initial disappointment to proclaim his resurrection from the dead.
Most of all, the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus affirms Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist. There we hear the word of God, have it explained by the priest acting on behalf of Jesus, and experience his spiritual support in the consecrated bread and wine. Like the two disciples here, we are to go forth from mass to proclaim Jesus to the world.
(Acts 3:1-10; Luke 24:13-35)
Twenty years ago a devotional dialogue called “Footprints in the Sand” captured the Christian imagination. Preachers used it in homilies, printers drafted it on holy cards, and anthologists included it in contemporary prayer books. Few believers throughout the world failed to get its message of Jesus loyalty throughout life’s vagaries. We can find the prototype to that inspirational dialogue in today’s gospel.
Jesus’ two disciples seem to have a spirited conversation as they walk from Jerusalem. But when the Lord catches up to them, their deeper emotion is revealed. They look “downcast” as they explain to their new companion about their dashed hopes in Jesus. However, as Jesus breaks bread with the two, their enthusiasm returns without limit. They not only recognize that he is with them, but they hurry back to the place of their initial disappointment to proclaim his resurrection from the dead.
Most of all, the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus affirms Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist. There we hear the word of God, have it explained by the priest acting on behalf of Jesus, and experience his spiritual support in the consecrated bread and wine. Like the two disciples here, we are to go forth from mass to proclaim Jesus to the world.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Tuesday within the Octave of Easter Week
(Acts 2:36-41; John 20:11-18)
In coming to know God, most people go through a gradual process. They learn as children that God is a “Supreme Being who knows all things.” As they read Scripture, they conclude that God is the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of the universe. Some, perhaps at the end of their lives, come to the realization that God is an unfathomable mystery – Being itself that has been revealed in Jesus Christ as caring individually for each human person like a loving father. In today’s gospel we see Mary Magdalene going through a similar development in coming to know the resurrected Jesus.
Mary has returned to the tomb where she earlier discovered Jesus missing. Remembering his goodness and perhaps saddened because she cannot see his dead body, she weeps. Then she turns to see a man whom she believes is a gardener. Jesus has shown himself to be just that when he told his disciples that he has pruned them with his word (John 15.3). Mary then recognizes Jesus for his earthly role as teacher or “Rabbouni” as Jesus demonstrated through the course of the gospel. Finally, in relating her experience to Jesus’ disciples, Mary comes to the insight that Jesus is “Lord,” not just their earthly master but he who reigns over all creation.
Jesus’ resurrection like his Incarnation and his participation in the threefold God is a mystery that humans will never plumb. But we can come to greater appreciation of its meaning if we humbly give ourselves to adoration every year. Easter for children is the wonder of a hunt for eggs. For the middle-aged it is the challenge of living the faith in a cynical world. For the elderly it is the hope that life is not receding but indeed coming to full flower.
(Acts 2:36-41; John 20:11-18)
In coming to know God, most people go through a gradual process. They learn as children that God is a “Supreme Being who knows all things.” As they read Scripture, they conclude that God is the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of the universe. Some, perhaps at the end of their lives, come to the realization that God is an unfathomable mystery – Being itself that has been revealed in Jesus Christ as caring individually for each human person like a loving father. In today’s gospel we see Mary Magdalene going through a similar development in coming to know the resurrected Jesus.
Mary has returned to the tomb where she earlier discovered Jesus missing. Remembering his goodness and perhaps saddened because she cannot see his dead body, she weeps. Then she turns to see a man whom she believes is a gardener. Jesus has shown himself to be just that when he told his disciples that he has pruned them with his word (John 15.3). Mary then recognizes Jesus for his earthly role as teacher or “Rabbouni” as Jesus demonstrated through the course of the gospel. Finally, in relating her experience to Jesus’ disciples, Mary comes to the insight that Jesus is “Lord,” not just their earthly master but he who reigns over all creation.
Jesus’ resurrection like his Incarnation and his participation in the threefold God is a mystery that humans will never plumb. But we can come to greater appreciation of its meaning if we humbly give ourselves to adoration every year. Easter for children is the wonder of a hunt for eggs. For the middle-aged it is the challenge of living the faith in a cynical world. For the elderly it is the hope that life is not receding but indeed coming to full flower.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Monday within the Octave of Easter
(Acts 2:14.22-33; Matthew 28:8-15)
In late December a young female factory worker in Mexico was abducted. She had been organizing for the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras. Her mother and father then began looking for her until they too were taken away. In February the bodies of the couple were dumped outside the city where their daughter worked. This terrible saga gives some perspective on why the women after seeing Jesus’ empty tomb of Jesus go away frightened.
Jesus is said to be raised. Perhaps the women try to comprehend what these words mean as they leave the tomb. They may be thinking that the message is a ruse such that those who contrived to have Jesus crucified will now follow them to get to Jesus’ disciples. The gospel tells us that the Jewish leaders pay off the guard so that they do not mention Jesus’ missing body. Are they now going to kill his disciples? Then Jesus intervenes telling the women not to fear and to relate the message to the eleven.
Just as for the women of today’s gospel, living the faith of the resurrection is often challenging. It means overcoming the fear that our sacrifices on behalf of Christ may be in vain. It means stating in face of the circumstantial evidence of decaying bodies that death is not the last of us but that our bodies will be reclaimed by the risen Christ to live with him in glory.
(Acts 2:14.22-33; Matthew 28:8-15)
In late December a young female factory worker in Mexico was abducted. She had been organizing for the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras. Her mother and father then began looking for her until they too were taken away. In February the bodies of the couple were dumped outside the city where their daughter worked. This terrible saga gives some perspective on why the women after seeing Jesus’ empty tomb of Jesus go away frightened.
Jesus is said to be raised. Perhaps the women try to comprehend what these words mean as they leave the tomb. They may be thinking that the message is a ruse such that those who contrived to have Jesus crucified will now follow them to get to Jesus’ disciples. The gospel tells us that the Jewish leaders pay off the guard so that they do not mention Jesus’ missing body. Are they now going to kill his disciples? Then Jesus intervenes telling the women not to fear and to relate the message to the eleven.
Just as for the women of today’s gospel, living the faith of the resurrection is often challenging. It means overcoming the fear that our sacrifices on behalf of Christ may be in vain. It means stating in face of the circumstantial evidence of decaying bodies that death is not the last of us but that our bodies will be reclaimed by the risen Christ to live with him in glory.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Good Friday: Celebration of the Lord’s Passion
(Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16.5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42)
As was mentioned yesterday, this year the Jewish Passover begins this evening. John’s gospel, unlike the other three, likewise records Jesus dying on the day immediate to Passover. In fact, John makes a point in saying that Jesus is handed over to be crucified at noon, the hour when the priests in the Temple sacrifice the lambs for the feast. Early in the gospel John the Baptist called Jesus “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” The prophecy is being completed at this moment.
There are many divergences between the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke and that of John. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus asks his Father to remove the cup of suffering he is about to take; in John he dismisses the idea of such a request. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke Jesus is condemned in a hearing before the assembly of Jewish leaders after his arrest; in John only the high priest Annas interrogates Jesus, and no one condemns him (although a council of Jewish leaders has previously decided that Jesus must die). In the first three gospels Jesus says nothing to Pilate except that he is the king of the Jews; in the fourth gospel there is a lively dialogue between the two in which Pilate is given an opportunity to accept “the light of the world.” Finally (for now), in Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus’ disciples do not come near the cross; in John his beloved disciple stands by him along with Jesus’ mother and two other women.
People worry about which version of the gospel is most accurate and even if any can be believed. Such uneasiness, however, is unnecessary. Like the Blessed Trinity, the mystery of Jesus death and resurrection transcends our understanding. The different descriptions of what takes place suggest this incomprehensibility. But all four gospels do converge in telling us that Jesus’ death on the cross reconciles humanity with God. Further, all claim that by taking the Eucharistic bread and wine, we participate fully in Jesus meritorious death so that we might share his glorious resurrection.
(Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16.5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42)
As was mentioned yesterday, this year the Jewish Passover begins this evening. John’s gospel, unlike the other three, likewise records Jesus dying on the day immediate to Passover. In fact, John makes a point in saying that Jesus is handed over to be crucified at noon, the hour when the priests in the Temple sacrifice the lambs for the feast. Early in the gospel John the Baptist called Jesus “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” The prophecy is being completed at this moment.
There are many divergences between the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke and that of John. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus asks his Father to remove the cup of suffering he is about to take; in John he dismisses the idea of such a request. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke Jesus is condemned in a hearing before the assembly of Jewish leaders after his arrest; in John only the high priest Annas interrogates Jesus, and no one condemns him (although a council of Jewish leaders has previously decided that Jesus must die). In the first three gospels Jesus says nothing to Pilate except that he is the king of the Jews; in the fourth gospel there is a lively dialogue between the two in which Pilate is given an opportunity to accept “the light of the world.” Finally (for now), in Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus’ disciples do not come near the cross; in John his beloved disciple stands by him along with Jesus’ mother and two other women.
People worry about which version of the gospel is most accurate and even if any can be believed. Such uneasiness, however, is unnecessary. Like the Blessed Trinity, the mystery of Jesus death and resurrection transcends our understanding. The different descriptions of what takes place suggest this incomprehensibility. But all four gospels do converge in telling us that Jesus’ death on the cross reconciles humanity with God. Further, all claim that by taking the Eucharistic bread and wine, we participate fully in Jesus meritorious death so that we might share his glorious resurrection.
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