Experiencing God's Threefold Love

 

Deacon Dave · Experiencing God’s Threefold Love

Homily for Trinity Sunday, May 26, 2024. Readings: Romans 8:14-17, Gospel of St. Matthew 28:16-20. Theme: Experiencing God’s Threefold Love 

 The celebration of Trinity Sunday reminds us that as Christians we’ve received a revelation or insight into who God is and what he is like that sets us apart from all other world religions. The doctrine of the Most Blessed Trinity seeks to express the inexpressible mystery that the One True God exists as three distinct but co-equal Persons whom Jesus identified as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. How can this be? We’ll never really know this side of Heaven because it’s something that our human minds simply cannot comprehend. But we believe and profess this doctrine because it was revealed to us by the Son of God himself. We accept it on his word alone because we trust Jesus. His Resurrection affirms that he is worthy of this trust because it proved his divinity and put a stamp of approval on his credibility. And really, this is about all we can know with some certainty about God. 

 No matter how much time we spend thumbing through the pages of the Bible, we’ll never find any explanation of HOW God can be a Trinity of Persons. But what we will find is a hint as to WHY this can be true. You see, once we accept the word of Scripture that says, “God is love” (1 John 4:8) then we can begin to consider that there must be more than just one Person who is Divine. The reason for this is that love is by its very nature relational, that is, it only happens within a communion or fellowship of persons. Love can never be a solo affair! And so it can make some sense to say that the Father loves the Son, and the Son loves the Father, and that this mutual exchange of love is so perfect, so powerful and so unitive that it brings forth yet another Divine Person, the Holy Spirit. But even this is only a feeble attempt to try and understand an unfathomable mystery. 

 But you know, there is something even more wonderful, almost unbelievable that Scripture tells us about this divine love relationship of the Trinity. It informs us that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit do not just keep this love between themselves, but it spills out onto and over all of their creation and to each one of us individually and personally. This reaching out to us took place when, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God the Son was sent by the Father into our world as its Savior. He became man and extended to any and all who desire it the invitation to become adopted children of the Father and thus enter into the divine relationship. We see this beautifully proclaimed in today’s second reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, where he says: 

 "For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons and daughters of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a Spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, "Abba, my Father!" The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God our Father and joint heirs with Christ.” (Romans 8:14-16) 

 We can get a better idea of what St. Paul is saying here if we step back in time for a moment and look at what adoption meant to those Romans. You see, in their culture to be adopted meant to become as much a part of the father as were his natural children. There was absolutely no distinction allowed or even permitted by Roman law. As a matter of fact, it was easier to disinherit a biological child than it was an adopted one. The rationale behind this was that the adopted child was personally and intentionally chosen while the biological child was simply the natural result of human sexuality. Thus, a father knew exactly what he was doing and who he was choosing in the process of adoption. Another interesting and enlightening thing to know is that in ancient Rome people were not typically adopted as infants but as older children or adults. And they had an interesting ritual for doing this. First, a death certificate was issued listing the person’s old name. Then a new birth certificate was drawn up bearing their official adopted name. The idea behind this was that their old lives, their old selves were dead and gone. Now they had a new life, a new family, a new identity, a new beginning. 

 This is precisely what St. Paul is trying to express in the passage we just read, By accepting God’s invitation and entering into a new relationship with the Trinity through Baptism, our old sin-tainted selves die and we become a brand new creation! This is how those Roman Christians interpreted St. Paul’s words and so they thought to themselves, “My old life before knowing Christ is dead and gone. My old way of thinking and acting is over. This is the beginning of a new life. I have a new family now which is the Church, the community of God’s people. I am now a child of God the Father, a sibling of Christ the Son, and a temple of the Divine Spirit. All that rightfully belongs to Christ now also belongs to me and this includes Heaven, which is my birthright and my inheritance.” 

 So you see, today’s Liturgy celebrates the wonderful truth that God binds himself to us in an interpersonal relationship as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And in doing so the Trinity becomes not so much a doctrine to be believed (which it is) but an experience of God to be lived. It enables us to know the protective care of the Father’s providence in our lives that provides for what we need and sustains our every heartbeat. It brings us the merciful and redemptive Presence of the Son who loved us to the point of even dying for us and who is with us always through his Word and Sacraments. It blesses us with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, our Bond of Connection with the Trinity, who is our Comforter and Companion throughout life. To no other religion that now exists or has ever existed on planet Earth has God extended such an awesome invitation and experience to human beings. This is the great gift and beauty of Christianity.

Living a Double-Life...in a Good Way!

 

Deacon Dave · Living a Double-Life...in a Good Way!

Homily for the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday, May 19, 2024. Readings: Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11, 1 Corinthians 12:3-13, Gospel of St. John 20:19-23. Living a Double-Life…But in a Good Way! 

 The Solemnity of Pentecost has always been a very special Sunday for me. I like the joy and hope that this feast brings into our lives as we celebrate the Great Arrival of the Holy Spirit which is also the birthday of the Church! Because Pentecost commemorates the sending of the Spirit whom in the Creed we call “the Lord and Giver of Life”, it reminds me that we are most fully alive and more surely reaching our potential when we are living his gift of life to the fullest in both of its forms. This means that in addition to the tender loving care that we show for our physical lives, we have to also give full and proper attention to our supernatural lives. 

 We all know that it’s by birth from a mother that we enter into our natural life and that we need to develop it and nurture this gift of our physical existence. But what about our supernatural life, our spiritual self, what we call our immortal soul? It also has needs that must be met if it is going to grow and prosper. As with natural birth, spiritual life also begins with a birth, the kind of birth that Jesus called “being born again of water and the Holy Spirit '' in Baptism. Just like our bodily health, the vitality of our souls also needs attention and development which we can provide for it through prayer, reading the Word of God and receiving the Sacraments, especially Holy Eucharist. And just like our natural lives, the supernatural life also needs the care and loving support of a family, and this is precisely why Christ gave us the Christian community, the spiritual family of the Church. 

 And this is where Pentecost comes into the picture. How so? Well, before Pentecost the Church was being formed by Jesus but it was very much inward-looking and kind of unseen, much like a child in the womb. But on that first Christian Pentecost, fueled by the fire-power and mighty wind of the Holy Spirit, the Church, like an unborn baby, burst out of its spiritual womb and spilled onto the streets of Jerusalem! Like a newly delivered child it had finally received the one last thing that it needed for an exuberant life: air…oxygen…breathing! You see, in the original languages of the Bible, the one same word that means “Spirit” also means “breath” or “air”. The Holy Spirit is the very “Breath of God” who gives us supernatural life. The Holy Spirit is the “Air We Breathe” to keep the divine life pulsating and circulating within us. This is why we call Pentecost the “birthday of the Catholic Church”. 

 St. Paul reminds us of this in today’ second reading that in addition to being a Life-giver, the Holy Spirit is also a Gift-giver. He intentionally places within each one of us gifts or abilities for the support of the family of the Church, for the building up of our spiritual lives. Such gifts might be singing or reading at Mass to enhance worship; it might be compassion to help relieve the sufferings of the needy poor; maybe it’s the ability to visit the sick or the capacity to support those who are struggling emotionally; perhaps it's teaching the Faith to others or exercising a gift of prayerful intercession. The list of gifts is really endless. Whatever it might be, each one of us has received a gift to contribute to the life of our parish and to the support of the whole spiritual family. 

 In our first reading from the Book of Acts we heard of how the Holy Spirit manifested himself in a rush of mighty wind. This got the attention of the disciples who were then pushed by his invisible hands out of the room and into the streets of Jerusalem where they needed to be seen and heard! The Spirit set them on fire with eagerness to bring the message of Jesus to others and maybe that’s what we need to ask for on this Pentecost. That the Holy Spirit gets our attention and sets our hearts on fire for Christ. That he pushes us out of ourselves and into the lives of others, so that they, too, can experience the Spirit’s gift of life, both natural and supernatural, and become most fully the people God created them to be!

A Promise & A Power

 

Deacon Dave · A Promise & A Power

Homily for the Sunday of the Ascension of Our Lord, May 19, 2024. Acts 1:1-11, Mark 16:15-20. Theme: A Promise and A Power 

 Today’s Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven is the crowning event of the whole story of the Incarnation, that is, of God becoming human. Having successfully completed his rescue and restore mission of salvation Christ goes back to where he came from. He takes up once again the divine powers he had left behind when he came to planet Earth and resumes his rightful place in the full glory and majesty of the Kingdom! 

 However, Jesus still remains 100% a man and so this makes the Ascension kind of like a supernatural gold medal award ceremony for the human race! You see, many people just assume that once Jesus returned to Heaven then his gig as a human being was up and he didn’t need to be a man any more. And on the surface you can’t blame people for thinking like this. But it’s important to know that becoming human in every way that we are except for sin wasn’t just play-acting or a practicality for God the Son. It was at the very heart of his redeeming and sanctifying mission. The mission of rescuing us from sin and restoring us to life with God had to be an inside job, so to speak. He accomplished this by blessing our humanity with the presence of his divinity and so healing us from the inside out became possible. And now Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God and Man, lives and reigns along with the Father and the Holy Spirit. And for the first and only time in our history a human being is enthroned in Heaven, sharing in the very honor and authority of God! 

 And so we see that the Ascension isn’t just telling us something wonderful about Jesus. It’s also saying something incredible about us - about you and me! The Ascension proclaims that we who are united with Jesus by Baptism are also destined like him, to be raised up to a place of glory and honor. We can confidently say this and look forward to it because Jesus himself said, “Where I am going you also will be.” (Jn 14:3) But also like him, we must first do our part in spreading his rescue and restore mission on planet Earth! Christ speaks to us about this in today’s readings telling us to spread his Message and be his witnesses in the world. He assures us that great and unbelievable signs will sometimes accompany our spreading of the Gospel and that we will be enabled to do wondrous things because of the Holy Spirit, whom he refers to as the “Promise of the Father” and the “Power from on high”. 

 The Holy Spirit is called the “Promise of the Father” because in the Old Testament God promised to pour out his Spirit upon his people through the instrumentality of his Messiah. Both Jesus and St. John the Baptist called the fulfillment of this promise a “baptism in the Holy Spirit.” Baptism means “immersion” and so to be baptized in the Holy Spirit means that we will be drenched, soaked to the bone, with the Spirit of God and become consciously aware of his love and presence in our lives. It’s a spiritual experience that can change and transform those who receive it from the inside out. Being baptized in the Holy Spirit means a spiritual awakening or a renewal in our hearts that results in a firm personal decision to make and to keep Christ as the center of our lives. Sometimes we Catholics call this personal religious revival among adults a return to the faith or a conversion experience. 

 Jesus also calls the Holy Spirit the “Power from on high”. In our readings we heard him say, “you will be clothed with power from on high…” and “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses…” We all know that power means the ability, energy and strength to do something that needs to be done, even if it’s beyond our normal capacity. The Power that is the Holy Spirit infuses within us the ability to do things that we do not think we are capable of doing. He also enables us to give credible witness to Jesus among those with whom we live, work and socialize. This Divine Power from on high manifests himself in different and various ways in our lives depending upon what our personal situation is and what our needs, or those of others around us, might be. 

 Both the New Testament and the lives of believers throughout the centuries show us that the Power of the Spirit can work great signs and wonders through us ordinary everyday Christians. Why does the Spirit do this through us? Well, it’s so that we can give credible and tangible witness to the truth of Christ and the power of his Gospel to change and transform those who believe. The Power-from-on-high that we are given can enable us to do such things as obtain physical healings from God and speak the right words that people need to hear and that touch the listener’s hearts. But the greatest of all the Spirit’s power-gifts is the supernatural ability to love others as Jesus has loved us. The Church has always been adamant that it isn’t just the apostles or the saints who work such wonders. The Bible makes it very clear that ordinary everyday Christians like us - just like you and me - can do extraordinary things if we trust in the Power of the Spirit within us. 

 So, let’s spend the coming week between today and Pentecost Sunday next weekend praying for a reinvigorated baptism, outpouring and manifestation of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let’s pray for the grace to truly embrace the “Promise of the Father” who was first given to us at Baptism. Let’s pray for the grace to allow this “Power from on high” that was bestowed on us at Confirmation to become a living reality in our lives. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit in our prayers during the coming week to renew his wonders among us and through us in our times as if by a new Pentecost!

Loving Above and Beyond...

 

Deacon Dave · Loving Above and Beyond...

Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter, May 5, 2024. Readings: Gospel of St. John 15:9-17. Theme: Loving Above and Beyond… 

 In today’s Gospel, Jesus declares that he is giving us a new commandment about love which goes beyond his original teaching which was, “to love your neighbor as yourself,” that is, to treat others as we would want to be treated. We know this was really nothing unique to Christianity because we find this original commandment in the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures. Mahatma Gandhi also advocated this kind of love in his Hindu-based promotion of peace. And Muslims, too, have a reflection of it in their sacred duty of extending hospitality to strangers. However, Jesus is calling us to rise above the old and strive to aim higher by living his new commandment. 

You know, some people don’t like that word “commandment”. It conjures up for them a legalistic form of religion filled with lots of “do this” and “don’t do that”. You see, they tend to think of commandments as restrictive moral laws or as a way for the Church to control our behavior. But that’s not the viewpoint that Jesus or the authors of the New Testament had when they used this word. To them a commandment was something very different and more personal than simply a rule or regulation. It was seen in a positive light, as a way of helping us to become what we were each created to be: reflections and images of God in a broken world. 

 The reasoning behind this was as follows: if people saw the way we lived and the choices we made in life because of our faith, then they would be curious about our religion and be able to get a glimpse or an idea of what our God is like and would be attracted to him. So, the commandments were far from being a restriction on our freedom but were meant to give us a plan of life that has a very noble purpose. Living the commandments of God is a tangible way to evangelize, that is, to spread the Gospel message of and about Jesus to others by our behavior more than our words. 

 The plan and purpose, the aim and goal of the New Commandment is to help us become an extension of Christ’s life-giving love. And to do so it begins where the old commandment leaves off and pushes us to go beyond it. The New Commandment urges us on to love others more than we love ourselves, and to prove or show this love by the choices we make and the way we act towards others. This means that we are to strive to love in a way that is self-emptying, self-forgetful, and self-giving, without concern as to what it will cost us as the lovers, the givers. It’s a call to place our personal freedom at the service of love which expresses itself in a willingness to accept even inconvenience to oneself in order to bring convenience into the life of another. And to be honest, it’s a kind of love that can seem like crazy love, like foolish love, because our human nature on its own, without the help of God’s grace, seeks to love with a “me-centered” heart. 

 It’s really important to realize that Jesus gave us his New Commandment at the Last Supper because he wanted us to link it with the Eucharist. By means of this Blessed Sacrament the Risen Lord makes us his living tabernacles who carry him to those with whom we live, work and socialize and then, because of his presence within us, we can find it possible to love them with his love. And the more often we intentionally do this, the more powerful his Presence becomes within us and the more we can love others as he has loved us. 

 This is why at the end of every Mass we are sent out to carry his love into the world. We are reminded of this divine commission at the dismissal when we are told to “go and announce the gospel of the Lord” or to “go in peace, glorifying the Lord by our lives”. These parting words of the Liturgy remind us that the Gospel is best announced and God is best glorified when we go out and “be Jesus” for others by loving the way he loves. This is a way more powerful and influential form of evangelization than just speaking about Jesus. It definitely isn’t easy and we know full well that we won’t always be successful, but that doesn’t stop us from trying. 

 And you know, a very beautiful thing about the New Commandment of Love is that it enables us to live life with God and find deep meaning in our daily existence because, as St. John wrote in today’s second reading, God is love, and those who live in love, live in God and God lives in them.

Living As Fruitful Branches of Christ the Vine

 

Deacon Dave · Living as Fruitful Branches of Christ the Vine

Homily for the 5th Sunday of the Easter Season, April 28, 2024. Gospel of St. John 15:1-8. Theme: Living as Fruitful Branches of Christ the Vine 

 In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that just as branches cannot have life in them and bear fruit apart from the vine, so we cannot accomplish anything, that is anything of real eternal value, unless we are connected to him. He spoke these words at the Last Supper, knowing full well that he was about to leave this world and pass on his mission to his disciples and that includes us. This mission was first and foremost all about bringing God's tangible love into the world, a love that is outward reaching and sacrificial, a love that is forgiving and unifying, a love that heals wounds and gives life. This kind of love is what Jesus calls “fruit” in today’s parable. 

It’s the kind of love that we are supposed to bear as disciples and extensions of Christ in the world. But, Jesus cautions us that in order to keep loving in this way we must draw our power from him, just as branches draw their sustenance from the vine. So, at the Last Supper, in addition to speaking this parable, he also spoke of three ways in which we can abide in him, remain connected to him, and draw from him as from a powersource. These ways are the Word of God, the Eucharist, and the Holy Spirit. 

 The first way is through his Word. He told us that if his Word becomes part of us, that is if we obey it and put it into practice, then he will come to dwell within us. He also said that his Word prunes us, which means that it helps us identify and cut away the dead branches of sin in our lives and trim back any growth of selfishness that gets in the way of our connection to the Vine. For these reasons Pope Francis often says that it’s a good idea for us to have the Word of God handy, perhaps by carrying a small pocket New Testament with us or downloading it into our phones. This makes it easier to reflect on it when we have some free time in our day, allowing the Word to repeatedly fall upon our hearts and soften them, just as rain beats down on the earth making it more fertile ground, These showers of the Word will enable the seeds of God’s love that he has planted within us to sprout and grow. 

 The second way we remain connected to Jesus is through the Eucharist. Just as a vine provides its branches with life-giving sap so Jesus gives us a share in his divine life through the Eucharist. He emphatically declared that if we eat his Flesh and drink his Blood then the divine life that is in him will flow into us and, by being infused with this divine life, we become one with him, sharing a kind of supernatural DNA with him, so to speak. Through this Eucharistic relationship we become stronger and healthier branches of Christ the Vine, enabling us to produce a more fruitful harvest of love in our lives. There’s no better way to abide in Christ than by receiving him in Holy Communion often, even daily if our schedules allow, because the more we consume his Body and Blood with mindfulness and devotion, and not simply out of habit or routine, the more easily and more quickly we can become like him. 

 The third way we abide with Jesus is through the Holy Spirit who is our Bond of Connection with him. Today’s second reading makes reference to this truth, when it says that the Spirit dwelling in us is the proof that we are linked with Christ. In addition to this, it’s the Holy Spirit who makes the other two ways of connecting with Christ possible. For he is the one and same Spirit who makes the Scriptures jump off the page and come alive for us so that Christ can dwell by faith in our hearts. And he is the one and same Spirit who transforms the bread and wine at Mass into the Body and Blood of Christ so that Jesus can live in us and we in him. I think this tells us how important it is to develop a vibrant and personal devotion to the Holy Spirit in order to become more aware of his Presence within us as he helps us to grow and develop as branches of Jesus that bear the fruit of love. 

 Today’s Gospel of the vine and branches reminds us that we aren’t meant to have a kind of “Jesus & Me Only” spirituality. In other words, as Christians we don't isolate our personal relationship with Christ from our relationships with others; we don’t seek union with Jesus just for ourselves and for our own personal good. We strive to deepen our relationship with Christ and bear his fruit of love because others in our lives and those around us need us to do so; because the world itself desperately needs us to do so. This is our common vocation, our common mission as Christians! 

 And you know, when you think about it, this parable describes a mutual relationship between Jesus and all of us who form his branches. We’re all supposed to work together to bear this crop of love. There are billions of Christians on planet Earth today, about 32% of the world population actually. Now, imagine if we each took our mission to bear this fruit seriously, or if at least a good number of us did so. Imagine the potential that this combined effect could have across the entire globe! 

 Now to some this might sound like an impossible dream but we have solid proof that it’s not. Just look at what happened 2,000 years ago in Palestine when 12 ordinary socially-insignificant Jewish men, who were the first to hear today’s parable, chose to take it to heart and put it into practice. Their decision to do so changed the very trajectory of human history and the world has never been the same since, because nothing, nothing whatsoever, is impossible with God!

Is Jesus Your Solid Cornerstone?

 

Deacon Dave · Is Jesus Your Solid Cornerstone?

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter, April 21, 2024. Book of Acts 4:8-12. Theme: Is Jesus the Cornerstone of Your Life? 

 Twice in this Sunday’s Scriptures we hear Jesus called the cornerstone. Both Psalm 118 and our reading from the Book of Acts praise him saying, “the stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.” But, what does that mean? Perhaps it’s not immediately clear to us because we live in a time and place where stone buildings are not the architectural norm and so, unless you’re a stone mason, the analogy may be easily missed. 

 But the people of biblical times didn’t miss it. They knew firsthand that a cornerstone was the most important part of any structure because of the three vital things that it does: it provides a solid foundation; it acts as a reference point for the entire construction project; and it supports the weight of a building no matter what comes its way. With this in mind, let’s take a look at how these three factors can help us build a solid relationship with Jesus Christ who wants to be the Chief Cornerstone of our lives. 

 First, the cornerstone is laid down before anything can be built. The soundness and durability of a structure’s foundation depends upon the cornerstone being securely and properly put into place. If so, then the building will be solid; but if not, then the structure is doomed to eventually fall. If we build our lives on such unpredictable things as relationships, money, occupation, personal appearance or politics, then it’s the same thing as choosing a less-than-ideal foundation stone. We have countless examples in the news all the time of how building one’s life on material success, personal appearance, acclaim from others and social popularity fail to bring deep-down authentic happiness and security. Just look at the many celebrity lives that appear to be ideal but, more often than not, are really broken on the inside and so often end in tragedy. 

 And so, we need to honestly ask ourselves, “Is my knowledge about Jesus and my relationship with him solid? Is it built upon a proper and secure understanding of just who he is and why I can trust him? In today’s first reading, St. Peter helps us out here by reminding us that Jesus of Nazareth is the only one chosen by God to bring salvation to the human race; that there is no one else, no other Name (which means no other person) in whom we can find the forgiveness, healing and stability we need for our lives. 

 Second, the cornerstone provides the reference point for everything else. The whole structure is laid out in relation to that vital stone and out according to the blueprint designed for it. You know, so often people’s life-decisions and moral standards are based upon current popular opinion or on whatever propaganda is being promoted by social media. But as Christians, we’re called to make Jesus our Cornerstone and his teachings our reference point. This means that in building our lives we look to the blueprint that he has laid out for us in the Gospels and that are further explained for us in the various writings of the New Testament. These are the reference points that give us the balance and bearings we need to stand strong against the ups and downs that are sure to come our way. So, if we want to build and maintain a truly happy and meaningful life then we must begin by taking on Jesus’ manner of thinking, Jesus’ example of acting, Jesus’ rules for happy living and Jesus’ way of loving, which means God-first, others-second, and ourselves-last. 

 Finally, the cornerstone supports the entire structure. As construction progresses, the cornerstone not only provides strength to the walls, but it also holds everything else together. The total weight of a building rests completely on this particular stone, without which it would utterly collapse! This is precisely how our lives must be: founded upon a rock-solid faith relationship with Jesus that is firmly grounded in trust. When the burdens of health, the worry of finances or the stresses of relationships weigh upon us, there's only one Cornerstone capable of handling the pressure without cracking. When we are pulled one way or the other with the many cares and demands of work and family, there's only one Cornerstone that can keep our hope solid and our love strong. And that one and only sure foundation is, of course, Jesus Christ. 

 Just as construction workers need to have the proper equipment to get the job done, so we need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us skillfully use the tools of the spiritual trade that have been given for this very purpose. These include such things as developing a habit of personal prayer from the heart; of reading the Word of God and applying it to our lives; of receiving the Risen Christ in the Eucharist with faith and mindfulness and not simply out of routine or habit; and in trying to live as best we can guided by his Gospel teachings. Let’s ask for the grace and blessing to make Jesus the Cornerstone of our lives, to look to him as our Reference Point in all that we do, and to trust in him alone to be the Foundation we need to build a life that is both holy and happy, pleasing to God, to others, and to ourselves.

Wounds & Witness

 

Deacon Dave · Wounds & Witnesses

Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Easter, April 14, 2024. The Gospel of St. Luke 24:35-48. Theme: Wounds and Witnesses 

 In today’s Gospel we are brought back in time to Jerusalem where a small band of brothers, called the disciples of the Lord, find themselves struggling with doubt, disappointment and confusion. The One with whom they had lived and learned from over the past few years had been suddenly and violently snatched out of their lives. He in whom they had placed all their hopes for a better future had been arrested, tortured, crucified and buried. 

 But that very morning they began to hear strange stories about him. First, some women in their group who had gone to anoint his body came rushing back with talk about glorious angels at his empty tomb. One of them, Mary Magdalene, even asserted that she had actually seen and spoken with him. And then two other disciples arrived from a journey to Emmaus declaring that they had spent the morning in the company of Jesus, risen and alive. These stories only increased their confusion and toyed with their minds. 

 Then, suddenly, just as the Emmaus disciples were wrapping up their story, Jesus appeared right in the room! He bestowed a blessing of peace upon them and spoke words of reassurance to their incredulous minds. A growing joy begins to enter their hearts and they reach out to touch their beloved Lord and Master. The once horrible and bloody wounds of his hands, feet and side now seem glorious and radiant. These signs of his torture and death now stand out to them as five trophies of victory, five sources grace and blessing that fill them with confidence and restores their hope! 

 And it’s no coincidence that this revelation happened simultaneously with the Emmaus travelers saying how they recognized Jesus in “the breaking of the bread", which was the original name for the Eucharist. I think this reminds us that the Risen Jesus in that room and the Risen Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament are one and the same Lord, it is only the mode of his Presence that differentiates them. Before his death he was limited by the physicality of his humanity which confined him to the Holy Land in the first century. But his Resurrection into glory freed him from this limitation, freed him from the restrictions of earthly life and enabled him to become personally present and available to everyone of every time and in every place, of every century and every culture. 

 Walls cannot stop him now nor can distances curtail his Presence. Even when the Blessed Sacrament is placed in a tabernacle, the Risen Lord is not restrained by its golden doors nor limited by the walls of a parish church. The Power of his Presence bursts forth from wherever the Eucharist is reserved and shines out upon each one of us wherever we might be, as well as upon our neighborhoods and cities. I think this all-pervasive all-encompassing radiating Presence of Christ is what St. Padre Pio meant, when he said one day, “It would be easier for the earth to exist without the sun than without the Eucharist.” 

 An important lesson from this story is that just as the wounds of Jesus were a witness to the reality of his passing through death, so are we meant to be witnesses to the reality that he is now risen and alive. He clearly says this to us in the Gospel and gives us a mission of outreach to others. When we look around our parish church and see so many empty pews we shouldn’t just complain about it but rather ask ourselves if we have been doing what Jesus commanded. In other words, have we been willing to tell others what Jesus has done for humanity in general and what a difference he has made in our own lives in particular? And when we interact with non-believing or non-practicing family or friends, do we look for a natural chance to share faith or, if they are not open to speaking about Christ, have we been doing our best to reflect what Jesus is like by “being Christ” to them? 

 This personal witness is how the Faith has always been most powerfully spread ever since those first days in Jerusalem. St. Luke is reminding us today that as Christians we are meant to be, as Pope Francis puts it, “missionary disciples”. In the closing verses of his Gospel and in his Book of Acts he will tell us how we become empowered and enabled to carry out this great commission of witnessing to Jesus. We will be reading and hearing more about this as the Liturgies of the Easter Season bring us closer and closer to Pentecost Sunday, the feast of the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit.