Tuesday within the Octave of Easter, Cycle C - March 29, 2016

Tuesday within the Octave of Easter

March 29, 2016    6:30am

 

Readings:     Acts 2.36-41

                  John 20.111-18

In Chapter 1 of Saint John’s Gospel, the first disciples begin to follow Jesus.

Jesus asks them: “What are you looking for?”

Today’s passage is towards the very end of John’s Gospel.

Here the risen Jesus says to Mary Magdalene: “Whom are you looking for?”

These questions, or maybe this question, frame John’s Gospel.

It is almost as if John sees this as the central question posed by Jesus.

I wonder if Jesus’ advice to Mary Magdalen today is not the best advice for us in answering this question.

Jesus tells Mary “not to hold on to him.”

He wants her and us to realize, above all else, that he is the Son and is returning to the Father.

Jesus wants us to realize that it is the almighty God, the transcendent God beyond this earth for whom we are really looking.

All things on this earth are transitory and incomplete.

The comforts and gifts of the earth are good.

They are really gifts from God.

Relationships actually participate in the life and love of God and are mirrors of that love.

But still, Jesus wants us not to hold on to anything in this world, but to see everything in relation to what or whom we are looking for in the long run of life.

That is the answer or response that he tries to elicit from us in his questions: “What are you looking for?” and “Whom are you looking for?”

Easter Sunday, Cycle C - March 27, 2016

Easter Sunday

Cycle C

March 27, 2016   7:30pm (Vigil), 10:00 am and 12:00 noon

Saint Margaret Parish, Bel Air

 

We Are Afraid

This past Wednesday, two groups of students from the John Carroll high school left for Easter study trips – one to France and the other to Italy.

Naturally, these trips had been planned for a long time.  But on Wednesday, there was fear.

The terrorist attacks had happened in Brussels and all of Europe was on high alert.  So the campus ministers of the school asked for one of us priests to come over and pray with the students and the faculty members who were going.

Father Nicodemus went over and did this.  Now this kind of fear is fairly prevalent today. 

We are all horrified by terrorism and afraid of it.  We might also be afraid of other things, like our financial future or a doctor’s report and on it goes.

With these fears, we need to make appropriate responses.  For example, we as a country need to protect ourselves and we as individuals need to be prudent about our finances.

So some fear is appropriate.  And some response to fear is appropriate.

The Resurrection and Fear

Now, with that context, I notice that in many of the gospels about Jesus’ resurrection, we also see fear, but we hear the exhortation not to be afraid.

Tonight’s/today’s passage says that the women who go to Jesus’ tomb are terrified.   Another account of the resurrection says that the guards at the tomb are terrified and that Jesus’ disciples are afraid.

And repeatedly, in these stories, the response from an angel or from Jesus himself is: “Do not be frightened.”  “Do not be afraid.”

So, what is being communicated here?  What is being said to us here?

“Do Not Be Afraid”

I think that there are ways that we, here on Easter Sunday, need to listen to the words of Jesus: “Do not be afraid.”

First, do not be afraid to believe.  Believe that there is an Almighty One beyond this earth.

Believe that the continual yearning always for something more that is deep within us doesn’t just relate to more money or the latest iPhone.  Instead, believe that this yearning for more has been planted within us by our Creator and that this leads us to God who will completely satisfy this desire for more.

And then, do not be afraid to hope.  Dare to hope in the simple mystery of a seed going into the soil and then sprouting to produce plants.

Dare to hope in the mystery of dying to self – of saying “I am sorry” – a mystery of dying that leads to new life for me and for a relationship.  Dare to hope that life can in the end win out over death.

And finally, do not be afraid to love.  Be willing to love by giving of our time to family members or friends. 

Be willing to love by letting go of some of our preferences or comforts to help someone who is in need, even if we do not know them.  Be willing to love by sacrificing what is just for our own good for the sake of the common good of all.

The Message of Easter

So, I think that “Do not be afraid” is a core and helpful message of Easter.

Do not be afraid to believe, to hope and to love.  If we heed this, then we will experience an entirely different quality of life.

Appropriate fears will not dominate us or lead us to destructive behavior.  Doubts and questions will become secondary.

We will feel more and more alive.  We will experience a fullness of life that will make resurrection very real and almost natural.

This will happen if we are not afraid to believe, to hope and to love.  This for me is what Easter is all about. 

Happy Easter to all of you!

Readings:     Acts 10.34a,37-43

                  I Corinthians 5.6b-9

                  Luke 24.1-12

Wednesday of the Holy Week, Cycle C - March 23, 2016

Wednesday of Holy Week

March 23, 2016    8:30am

Readings:   Isaiah 50.4-9a

                  Matthew 26.14-25

I want to highlight just one detail in today’s gospel.

Jesus says, “My appointed time draws near.”

Jesus is aware that he will soon be betrayed and that soon he will suffer and die.

And yet, he is resolute and resolved to move on.

In this, Jesus shows himself as being the suffering servant described in the first reading from the prophet Isaiah.

The servant says: “I have not turned back.

I gave my back to those who beat me.”

Jesus is willing to embrace the suffering that is part of his mission on this earth.

He is very intentional - attentive to his purpose or mission and willing to embrace the suffering that comes with it.

For us, the lesson is that we also need to be willing to embrace the suffering that comes with our purpose or mission on this earth.

For us, the suffering may usually be sacrificing our preferences or conveniences or plans.

We may be called upon to do this as part of our vocation in life.

We, like Jesus, may be called upon to do this for the well-being of others – family members, friends, members of the parish.

And, at some point, we very likely will also have to endure physical or emotional suffering over which we have no choice.

And we embrace this too as part of the total earthly mission we have from God.

Each time we embrace a suffering, we can say as Jesus does: “My appointed time has come.”

And we can say as the servant does in the Isaiah passage: “The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced.”

On this Wednesday of Holy Week, I find this a good reminder and lesson for us.

Tuesday of the Holy Week, Cycle C - March 22, 2016

Tuesday of Holy Week

March 22, 2016    6:30am

Readings:   Isaiah 49.1-6

                  John 13.21-33, 36-38

I am struck by the words at the beginning of today’s gospel: “Jesus was deeply troubled.’

So Jesus is saddened, upset, and maybe very down.

I am thinking that there are two things that may be troubling Jesus.

First, he knows that his end is near, that he will suffer and die.

Second, he knows that Peter will deny that he even knows Jesus, probably out of fear of having to suffer himself, and that Judas will outrightly betray him, maybe just for some money.

No wonder “Jesus is deeply troubled.”

I see two lessons here for us.

First, let’s make sure that we are there for a family member or a friend who is sick and suffering and maybe even dying.

It is not always easy to be there in these situations, but it is so important for the one who is suffering.

Not being alone and having someone there makes a world of difference.

I think each of us would want want that for ourselves and we are called to offer our presence to one another at these times.

Second, each of us can deny or even betray Jesus.

The important thing is to respond as Peter does and not as Judas does.

Judas, so sadly, does not trust in Jesus, in the power of forgiveness and the power to pick up and move on and begin again.

Peter does trust.

In a similar way, our trust in Jesus enables his grace and power to help us time after time to pick up and move on and keep on growing spiritually.

That is the wonder and hope of our faith and our relationship with Jesus.

Monday of the Holy Week, Cycle C - March 21, 2016

Monday of Holy Week

March 21, 2016    8:30am

Readings:   Isaiah 42.1-7

John 12.1-11

 

There is one detail that I want to comment on in today’s gospel.

Jesus’ friend Mary anoints his feet with some expensive perfumed oil.

This is an act of courtesy and of respect in that culture.

Judas complains that the money spent on the oil should have been given to the poor.

Jesus responds: “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

The first part of his response -- “You always have the poor with you” – is really a quote from the Book of Deuteronomy.

At first glance we might interpret Jesus’ words as meaning that praying or even building expensive churches is more important than caring for the poor.

However, the very next sentence of the passage from Deuteronomy that Jesus quotes is: “That is why I command you to open your hand to your poor and needy.”

So, Jesus has already made our care of the poor and hurting the number one priority.

He says this in chapter 25 of Matthew when he teaches that whatever we do for the least among us, we actually do for him, and those who care for the least among us will enter his kingdom.

So this previous teaching and the context of today’s quote help us to understand what Jesus really means.

He is saying that our faith in him and love for him must lead us to care for those in need.

And, in turn, our care for those in need leads us to Jesus because we are to see him in them.

This is also the message conveyed a few days after today’s incident when Jesus’ washes the feet of the apostles’ at the Last Supper.

So, Jesus’ statement here needs to be understood carefully in all its richness.