Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Wednesday of the Octave of Easter

(Acts 3:1-10; Luke 24:13-35)

Jesus’ resurrection from the dead gives us the hope of victory over our natural end.  It also provides a model for a new way of living.  Instead of focusing on our own needs it turns us to others in thanksgiving and joy.  We see this transformation clearly in today’s first reading.

The crippled man sits at the temple gate waiting for passers-by to notice him.  When Peter and John come, he looks at them for an offering.  Instead he receives a share in the grace of Jesus’ resurrection.  His life is immediately changed.  He is enabled to leap up and walk around.  He is healed not only physically but spiritually.  He no longer thinks of himself but praises God.

We might ask ourselves whether the story is told as a metaphor to record only a spiritual change.  Did divine grace strengthen the ankles of the paralytic as well as his soul?  There has been such an abundance of evidence of physical healings through prayer that we should not deny the possibility.  Still those all who have recovered from ailments of the flesh eventually die.  Their cures are meant to sustain our hope in the victory over death and to live giving praise to God for it.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Tuesday of the Octave of Easter

Acts 2:36-41; John 20:11-18)

Most Catholics come to know God gradually.  As children they learn that God is a “Supreme Being who knows all things.”  Reading Scripture when older, they conclude that God is the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of creation.  Some, perhaps at the end of their lives, come to realize that God really can’t be known.  He is an unfathomable mystery – Being itself who is revealed in Jesus Christ as caring individually for each human person with the tenderness of 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.  It is not a foolish guess.  Not only is it likely that a caretaker of the area around the tombs would be present, but – more poetically -- Jesus described himself to be a gardener of sorts 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 (“Rabbouni”) that 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 Godhead comprises an unfathomable mystery.  But we can come to greater appreciation of its meaning if we contemplate what is expressed in the gospel accounts.  There is wonder which is most vividly seen in children on the hunt for Easter eggs.  There is challenge for adults in accepting manifold graces in a world still ordered to power and pleasure.  Finally, there is hope for the aged that life is not receding but indeed coming to full flower.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Monday of the Octave of Easter

(Acts 2:14.22-33; Matthew28:8-15)

Cardinal Walter Kasper used to head the Vatican’s Secretariat for Christian Unity.  Many times he dialogued with Orthodox and Protestant churches to increase the understanding between them and Catholicism.  He tried to begin these meetings by listing the many values and practices which the disparate churches hold in common.  He said that the differences would eventually surface but in the beginning all need to appreciate the many similarities.  Peter uses the same tact in the first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles.

The disciples have just been inundated with the Holy Spirit.  Neither fear nor confusion will now keep them from proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus.  But how can they make the message credible to the people in Jerusalem?  Peter appeals to their knowledge of the Scriptures to show that Jesus’ rising from the dead can be traced in the Jewish tradition.  He cites a psalm attributed to King David that says God will not allow His holy one to suffer corruption in the grave. 

Like the women at Jesus’ empty tomb we also must tell others of Jesus’ resurrection.  But how can we make the message credible today?  There is no common knowledge of the Scriptures, but there is universal approval of works of charity. When we listen to the person who is hurting and share with those who lack necessities, people will eventually ask what makes us do it.  Pope Francis proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus never more eloquently that when he took the face of that horribly disfigured man in his hands and blessed it. 

Friday, April 3, 2015

Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord

(Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16.5:7-9; John 18:1-42)

There is a fantasy about two kidnappers who take a child from a rich family and demand a huge ransom.  The child, however, is extremely mischievous and the parents make a counter-offer.  They say that they will take the child back if the kidnappers give a ransom.  The child proves to be so troublesome that the kidnappers concede to the parents' demand.  In the Passion of Jesus according to John a similar turning of a situation on its head is seen.

John's gospel is the most theological of the four.  It is also quite historical, but John describes events with more concern about their deeper significance than about literal accuracy.  The trial of Jesus before Pilate is a good example of this method.  Apparently Jesus is on trial.  The Jewish leaders have brought him to Pilate with the demand that he be executed.  It does not take Pilate long to discern that Jesus is innocent.  The real question then becomes whether Pilate will incriminate himself by ceding to the Jewish demand.  He is the one who is really on trial not Jesus. 

Pilate attempts to escape judgment.  He tries to release Jesus as a Passover gift to the Jews.  They, of course, refuse the offer.  Then he has Jesus beaten and presented to the Jews as one who has already suffered for any crime he might have committed.  But the Jews, saying that Jesus made himself to be the Son of God, won't budge from their demand.  Now Pilate becomes afraid which makes him susceptible to the Jewish threat that if he does not execute Jesus, he would not be a friend of Caesar.  Out of fear then Pilate orders Jesus’ execution.  He is guilty not just of the death of an innocent man but also of one whom he has come to know as having divine origins.

But Pilate is not the only one on trial in the Passion according to John.  Jesus said earlier in the gospel that judgment will come to the world when he is lifted up on the cross.  That moment has arrived.  Because he shows himself as the true Lord when he dies on the cross, each of us must ask whether we will follow his authority.  When we look at him raised up on the cross, do we pledge to love others as he loved?  Or, much like Pilate, will we give in to the fears and wants of our hearts?

Thursday, Aprilo 2, 2015

Holy Thursday

(Exodus 12:1-8.11-14; I Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-15)

Few things capture more concern these days than food.  There has always been interest in how to prepare delicious meals but today’s preoccupation is with the raw contents of those dishes.  Experts tell us to buy organic whenever possible.  They say that foods of different colors make the most wholesome diet.  They strongly advise blueberries and walnuts for their anti-oxidants which ward off disease.  In today’s second reading St. Paul prescribes a traditional food that has infinitely greater consequences than the fare placed on the dining table.

Paul has just described to the Corinthians the necessity for church unity.  Now he emphasizes the source of that unity.  He tells them that the Eucharist which they share is really the body and blood of Christ.  Therefore, he concludes, when they look down upon one another, they abuse the real presence of the Lord.  The gospel passage from John, magnifies the truth.  In coming together for the Lord’s Supper, it advises, people should be prepared to help one another.  As Jesus says, “If I, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.”

This evening’s celebration prepares us in a simple way for the powerful events that we are to experience tomorrow and Saturday.  It dramatically shows how love is the motive of the paschal mystery.  For love Jesus died on the cross to save us from becoming casualties of our sins.  He rises from the dead to provide us with a share in his love that we might assist in the work of salvation.