3rd Sunday of Easter, Cycle B - April 14, 2024

 3rd Sunday of Easter – B  

April 14, 2024           8:30 and 11am

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 

 

The Disciples Feelings

 

The setting of the gospel that we just heard is probably just days or a week after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

 

The disciples seem to be feeling afraid, confused, and empty. We can pick up these feelings in a number of passages that we hear in these weeks after Easter.

 

So, in today’s gospel, the disciples feel afraid. 

 

It says, “They were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost.” Last week, we heard that they had locked the doors of the place where they were because they were afraid.

 

They also seem to feel confused.

 

Again, today’s gospel says that they are “incredulous” – they can’t believe that they are seeing the risen Jesus. Other passages tell us that they just do not understand what is happening.

 

And then the disciples also seem to feel empty.

 

They have looked into Jesus’ tomb and found it empty. And they seem to realize that the tomb is a mirror of themselves because they feel empty, alone, and without purpose. 

 

Our Feelings 

 

Now, I am thinking that at times, we have feelings similar to what the first disciples had.

 

We are probably afraid at times. Our fear may be about a doctor’s report or about having enough money for the future.

 

Like the early disciples, we probably also feel confused at times. We may wonder if we have chosen the right path in life, or we may question whether God really hears our prayers.

 

And we probably also feel empty at times. We can feel alone and without purpose, and we can have these feelings whether we are in high school or in our senior years of life. 

 

What to Do? 

 

The question is: what can we do with these feelings?

 

The early disciples turn to three sources of strength to deal with their feelings, and we can do the same. These three sources of strength are: 1) the Community, 2) the Word, and 3) the Eucharist.  

 

First, the disciples gather together as a community.

 

The gospels are clear that they are frequently together in these days and weeks after Jesus’ death. In fact, it is their sense of community that gives them some calm even with their fear.

 

That leads me to remember the tragic day of 9-11, twenty-three years ago, when I was pastor of Saint Francis de Sales Parish in Harford County, and we quickly put together a service of prayer for that evening and the church was full. That was a significant experience of being together as a community when we all had some degree of fear. 

 

Second, the early disciples consistently listen to the Word of God. 

 

In today’s gospel and in many of these Easter passages, Jesus is explaining the Scriptures to them. The Word of God helps them to deal with their confusion. 

 

For us, the Word opens up a fuller and fuller insight into who God is and what our relationship with God is to be like. It brings us some direction when we feel confused.   

 

And third, the early disciples consistently share the Eucharist. 

 

The gospel says that they recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread – that was their expression for this sacrament. The Eucharist fills their spiritual emptiness.

 

For us, the Eucharist helps us even physically to feel the presence and closeness of Jesus. It assures us that we are not alone and, in that way, fills the spiritual emptiness that we can feel. 

 

Conclusion 

 

So, we bring 1) our fear to a faith community.

 

We bring 2) our confusion to God’s Word and we bring 3) our emptiness to the Eucharist. If we tap these three sources, our faith and we ourselves will be strengthened.

 

And, of course, we find all three sources of strength – 1) Community, 2) Word, and 3) Eucharist – we find all three right here at Mass. This is why the Lord’s Day is one of God’s commandments and why Sunday Mass is so central to our Catholic Christian tradition. 

 

 

 

 

 

2nd Sunday of Easter, Cycle B - April 7, 2024

 2^nd Sunday of Easter – B  

April 7, 2024             5pm

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 

 

The Risen Christ 

 

What does the risen Christ say to us? And how are we to respond?

 

In today’s gospel, Saint John tells us that the risen Christ appears twice to the disciples when they were gathered together. The passage has several messages. 

 

“Peace be with you”

 

Notice the first thing that Jesus says is: “Peace be with you.”

 

The passage tells us that the disciples were afraid. I will come back to that in a minute.

 

My guess is that many of them were also feeling guilty. They had pretty much abandoned Jesus in his suffering and dying. 

 

So, Jesus addresses their fear and guilt and wants them to be at peace. Think about that.

 

He does not even mention what they had done. There is no recrimination, no judgment, no condemnation. 

 

Jesus simply takes them where they are and re-starts the relationship. He wants them and us to be to be at peace within ourselves and with him, and this peace is foundational for what follows. 

 

Fear of the Jews

 

We see this as we now go back now to the disciples’ fear.

 

Saint John tells us that “the doors were locked…for fear of the Jews.” We have to carefully understand a couple things here.

 

First, there was tension between the Jewish people in general and this breakaway group following Jesus. So, John mentions the fear that the disciples had in this context. 

 

Also, and here is a key point, the “peace” that Jesus wants for the disciples is not just an inner thing. Instead, it is to affect every dimension of their lives, including their relationship with all Jews.

 

The result is that we cannot use the tension with the Jews or the fear of the Jews that we hear about in John’s Gospel as a basis for anti-Semitism. In fact, we cannot use it to justify prejudice toward persons of any other religious tradition.

 

We are to accept the peace that Jesus offers us. And we are to live out of that peace in all of our relationships.     

 

Forgive

 

And then, with that peace, the Risen Christ commissions the disciples to be ministers of forgiveness.

 

Notice the wording he uses. “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” 

 

Interesting wording! Jesus doesn’t say in the second part “whose sins you don’t forgive are not forgiven,” but he says “whose sins you retain are retained.”

 

When we “retain” the sins or offenses of another, we make them hold onto their sins or offenses and we ourselves are still holding on. This is burdensome for others and for us.

 

It freezes the other person and doesn’t set them free to grow and move on. And it freezes us and keeps us from moving out of feelings of hurt and vengeance.

 

So, Jesus doesn’t intend the retaining of sins to be an alternative to forgiving. Instead, he sees this as the unfortunate result of not forgiving.

 

“My Lord and my God”

 

The last thing in this passage that I want to note is Thomas.

 

Thomas struggles with believing in the risen Christ. He wants to see and even touch the wounds in Jesus’ hands and feet.

 

Jesus offers this opportunity but interestingly, Saint John doesn’t say that Thomas ever touches Jesus. He simply says that Thomas, through this encounter with Jesus, immediately comes to believe.

 

And Thomas utters the most profound and personal act of faith in all of Scripture: “My Lord and my God!” Thomas has come to faith through this encounter.

 

So, it is the encounter with the person of Jesus, the Risen Christ – that’s what counts! Today, we encounter Jesus by reading the gospels and making them a central part of our prayer life. 

 

And, of course, we encounter Jesus every time we receive Communion. In fact, I suggest that right after we receive Communion, as we are consuming the host, we silently pray the magnificent words of Thomas: “My Lord and my God.”

 

This may bring us to the same passionate faith that Thomas has. And it may help to open us to the peace that the Risen Christ wants for us. 

 

 

Easter Sunday, Cycle B - March 31, 2024

 Easter Sunday – B 

March 31, 2024       11am 

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton

 

Our Town

 

When I was in high school, I remember reading the play Our Town.

 

Our Town was written by the American playwright Thornton Wilder, and it was required reading in our English class. The setting is a small town called Grovers Corners in New Hampshire in the 1930s.

 

The final act of the play is especially moving. The narrator walks through the town cemetery and tells the story of each person who is buried there.

 

When the narrator finishes all the stories, he walks to the front of the stage and looks directly at the audience. He pauses, and then he says this.

 

“Now there are some things we all know. We all know that something is eternal, and it ain’t the earth, and it ain’t the stars…

 

“Everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings. There’s something way down deep that’s eternal about every human being.

 

“They’re waitin’. They’re waitin’ for something that they feel is comin’.

 

“Something important, and great. Aren’t they waitin’ for the eternal part in them to come out clear?”

 

The Eternal -- Resurrection

 

Well, the narrator in Our Town makes quite a point.

 

Deep down in our heart, something tells us that this life is not all there is. Deep down in our heart, something tells us that there is life beyond this earth.

 

Our Scripture readings this morning confirm this intuition of our hearts. Easter tells us that there is a resurrected life with God. 

 

Signals of Transcendence

 

Some theologians say that our life experiences give us hints of this and they call these hints “signals of transcendence.” 

 

Maybe we have never heard this expression before. It’s one of those lofty sounding expressions that has a very simple meaning.

 

A signal of transcendence is something in this life that puts us in touch with something beyond this life. It is something like the sound on my cell phone.

 

When the sound goes off and I hit the answer button, I can talk with the person calling me. The sound puts me in touch with the other person.

 

Well, a signal of transcendence is something in this life that tells us that there is a life beyond. It can be something right inside us, or something outside us that connects us with something beyond. 

 

Signals 

 

For example, I hope we all have some degree and even a high degree of happiness. We might have a loving family and friends, a good job, and a comfortable lifestyle.

 

And yet, even with all of this, isn’t it true that sometimes we still hunger for more and find ourselves saying if only we had this or if only he would be like that or if only we could do whatever? Even our experience of happiness leaves us hungering at times for something more.

 

I also imagine many of us have had the experience of seeing a newborn baby or of noticing the stars in the sky on a dark night or of being mesmerized by the power and rhythm of the ocean. These experiences can touch us deeply.

 

And don’t we sometimes find ourselves caught up in them to the point of wonder – wonder at what lies behind and beyond them? These experiences can leave us wondering – standing in awe!

 

And then there is simply this desire within us for life. We want to live, and we resist the thought that life may end with physical death.

 

Don’t we have to ask: where does this desire come from? Where does our desire for life and living and for more and more of it come from?

 

Conclusion

 

I see these experiences as signals of transcendence. 

 

They point to something beyond this life and tell us we are made for another world. And today, Easter confirms our intuition and experience.

 

The risen Christ tells us that death is a passage to another life.  He tells us that there is a resurrected life with God that will satisfy the deepest hunger and wildest wonder and most persistent desire in our human spirit.

 

They are my Easter thoughts this year. Happy Easter!