The Third Sunday of Easter

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April 15, 2018

Acts 3:13-15, 17-19; Psalm 4; 1 John 2:1-5; Luke 24:35-48

The disciples who met Jesus on the road to Emmaus return to Jerusalem to report to the Eleven Disciples what they experienced. We remember that after blessing the meal and breaking the bread Jesus vanished from their presence. Now, as they gather with the other disciples, they tell their story of meeting Jesus and he appears before them once again. Jesus makes sure they realize they are not seeing a ghost. Jesus is not a supernatural presence but appears as a real man in a physical body before them. He invites them to touch his wounds and then he eats the fish offered him.

I want to point out two items from these readings: One, Faith is never a solitary action. We encounter Christ when we share our stories of faith with others, and Two, like the Gospels, we have to wrestle with our understanding of the risen Lord.

Point One: The Disciples heading toward Emmaus encounter Jesus as they are talking about the events of his Passion and death. They encounter him again when they tell the Eleven their account of meeting him on the road. The lesson is that we cannot see our faith life as only private moments that we need to bring into silent prayer, but that we are to talk about our experiences of faith with our doubts and questions. That is what the disciples did because they had no idea what was happening.

Today people do not talk about their faith for a number of reasons. We have to move beyond our timidity and insecurity or whatever holds us back, so we can talk more freely because we always can use the help and insights from others. Talking about Christ in the midst of our discernment can provide us with the signposts we need to make better faith-based choices. Besides, it is far more joyful to share encouraging aspects of our faith to someone who wants to celebrate with us.

Point Two: Pope Francis just wrote a letter on holiness for a Catholic in a complex moral world. He asked Christians to avoid two temptations that puts Christ into a category. The first is Gnosticism, where people value what they know intellectually as a supreme good and they do not need to be charitable or do good works. Pope Francis writes, “When somebody has an answer for every question, it is a sign that they are not on the right path.”

The second viewpoint is Pelagianism that says we can achieve salvation through our own efforts. In this scenario, people trust in their own abilities and they don’t feel like they need God’s grace, nor do they have to follow certain rules. The Pope says that some people today have “an obsession with the law, an absorption with social and political advantages,” with an overly meticulous concern for the church’s liturgy, doctrine, and prestige.

Therefore, I invite you to get together with a friend or two to discuss what you believe about the risen Christ. The disciples did it because it was confusing and still is. Discuss what it means that the risen Jesus really had a physical body and walked in this world after his resurrection. Do not be afraid to have those questions and be less afraid to not have the answers. Remember the first words Jesus spoke to his disciples: “Peace be with you,” and “Why are you afraid?” Get together and enjoy where your discussion may lead you. You might find Christ appearing in your midst.

Scripture for Daily Mass

First Reading: 

Monday: (Acts 6) Stephen worked great signs and wonders in the name of Jesus.

Tuesday: (Acts 7) False testimony is lodged against him but he stands angelic before them. Angry opponents stone him, including Saul, who consents to execute him. 

Wednesday: (Acts 8) A severe persecution breaks out in Jerusalem and the believers are displaced to Judea and Samaria. Saul, trying to destroy the Church, enters house after house to arrest them.

Thursday: (Acts 8) Philip’s testimony and miracles in Samaria emboldens the believers. Philip heads out to Gaza and meets an Ethiopian eunuch who is reading Isaiah’s texts. Philip interprets the scripture and the eunuch begs to be baptized.  

Friday (Acts 9) Meanwhile, Saul is carrying out hateful acts against the believers and is struck blind as he beholds a manifestation of Jesus. The beginning of his call and conversion takes place. 

Saturday (1 Peter 6 – Mark the Evangelist) Clothe yourself in humility; be sober and vigilant and resist the devil. The God of grace will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little. 

Gospel: 

Monday: (John 6) Jesus feeds the 5000 as a flashback to the Eucharistic memory of the believers with the Bread of Life discourse.

Tuesday: (John 6) Jesus instructs them, “It was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven; my heavenly father gives the true bread.” Jesus proclaims, “I am the bread of life.”

Wednesday (John 6) God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but that the world might be saved through him.

Thursday (John 6) Jesus states that all that is required is belief in him. Belief is not given to all. The way to the way is through the Son.

Friday (John 6) The Jews quarreled and opposition to the cannibalistic references of Jesus rises because his sayings are hard to accept. He tells the people, “my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” If you eat of Jesus, you will live forever.  

Saturday (Mark 16) Jesus appeared to the Eleven giving them instructions to proclaim the Gospel to every creature.

Saints of the Week

April 21: Anselm, bishop and doctor (1033-1109), was a monastic abbot in Normandy who became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093 after the Norman conquest of England in 1066 when the English hierarchy was displaced. Church-state relations peppered his term, but he became known to the church because of his theological and philosophical treatises, mostly for his assertion about the existence of God – an idea greater than that which no other idea can be thought. His method of theology is summed up in “faith seeking understanding.”

This Week in Jesuit History

·      Apr 15, 1610. The death of Fr. Robert Parsons, the most active and indefatigable of all the leaders of the English Catholics during the reign of Elizabeth I.

·      Apr 16, 1767. Pope Clement XIII wrote to Charles III of Spain imploring him to cancel the decree of expulsion of the Society from Spain, issued on April 2nd. The Pope's letter nobly defends the innocence of the Society.

·      Apr 17, 1540. The arrival in Lisbon of St Francis Xavier and Fr. Simon Rodriguez. Both were destined for India, but the King retained the latter in Portugal.

·      Apr 18, 1906. At Rome, the death of Rev Fr. Luis Martin, twenty-fourth General of the Society. Pope Pius X spoke of him as a saint, a martyr, a man of extraordinary ability and prudence.

·      Apr 19, 1602. At Tyburn, Ven. James Ducket, a layman, suffered death for publishing a work written by Robert Southwell.

·      Apr 20, 1864. Father Peter de Smet left St Louis to evangelize the Sioux Indians.

·      Apr 21, 1926. Fr. General Ledochowski sent out a letter De Usu Machinae Photographicae. It stated that cameras should belong to the house, not the individual. Further, they should not be used for recreation or time spent on trifles rather than for the greater glory of God.