God’s Final Word:
The Second Sunday of Easter 2024
April 7, 2024
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Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22; Philippians 2:6-11; Mark 14:1-15:47
The Acts of the Apostles give us a picture of the ideal Christian community that was able to discern their new way of proceeding guided by the Holy Spirit. Scripture says that they were of one mind and one heart. This is an evolution of the community of the Disciples that we read about in the Gospel when Thomas doubted the Resurrection accounts about Jesus. We recall that all the Disciples had doubts about Jesus after his arrest in the Garden because they deserted, denied, and betrayed him. Jesus was able to bring most of them back together, but the Resurrection event is done one person at a time. When the Apostles gathered in the Upper Room, they were confronted with Thomas’s doubts. We have to see doubting is a good thing.
Doubting is essential for a mature faith. It is necessary to ask hard questions about church doctrine and basic beliefs if one is going to be secure in one’s wholehearted commitment to the community. No one enters marriage lightly or buys a house without inspections or makes a foundational career commitment without asking questions that give one assurance. This is what Thomas was doing that night in the Upper Room. There are many aspects of the faith that do not always make sense, and we need to have solid answers to settle our minds. We need a better answer than, “It is just a mystery.” No, we must give an account of our hope, of our faith.
The world today is more complex than when we were children and in our age of discovery, we will call more things into question. In this age of rapid, explosive change, it is only natural to ask questions about the faith. We wonder if the faith has modernized when we have certain knowledge of the sciences and other academic disciplines. It is fine to wonder whether 13th century doctrines are still viable and applicable to today’s challenges. It is permissible and expected to have questions. Questions are you friends because they will lead you to a more assured answer. No one could answer the question for Thomas. He has to ask Jesus himself.
The Resurrection was not an event that was universally understood by all peoples at all times. The Resurrection was revealed one person at a time. It entailed the openness of the disciple, and Jesus needed to console and teach. Each person has to experience the Resurrection – even today. When someone is grieving, she may not experience the Resurrection on Easter morning. It could happen in August. It is an individual encounter with the Risen Jesus, who invites us into the community of believers. This is what Thomas experienced. It is what we experience. The questions, the doubting, are essential parts of faith.
What are we called to today? We are called into a community of collegiality and discernment, called a Synod, just like the early disciples, who come together to share stories of their faith and to face challenges together. We may present questions that lead to a new point of view to ask about meaning, truth, and God. With each other, we ask questions, we worship, we bring our conflicts and doubts forward. Mostly, we allow ourselves to experience the Resurrection and remain open for Jesus to give us the Resurrection, a life of new possibilities, of newness, of promise. Our proper response to this event is to stand back in amazement and speak these words: My Lord and My God.
Scripture for Daily Mass
Monday: (Acts 4) Peter and John return to their people after being released from the religious authorities. They prayed about their ordeal and the whole house shook and all were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Tuesday: (Acts 4) The community of believers was of one heart and mind and together they bore witness to the Resurrection. Joseph, called Barnabas, sold a property and give money to the Apostles.
Wednesday: (Acts 5) The high priest with the Sadducees jailed the Apostles but during the night the Lord opened the prison doors and the Apostles returned to the Temple area to preach.
Thursday: (Acts 5) The Apostles were brought forth again during their arrest and they were reminded that they were forbidden to preach. Peter said on behalf of the Apostles that they are to obey God, and not men.
Friday (Acts 5) Gamaliel, the Pharisee, urges wisdom for the Sanhedrin declaring that if this is of God, it cannot be stopped, but if it is of men, it will certainly die out.
Saturday (Acts 6) The number of disciples grew. The Hellenists complained to the Hebrews that their widows were being neglected. The Twelve decided it was right to select seven reputable men (deacons) to take care of the daily distribution while they continued with prayer and the ministry of the word. Meanwhile the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly. Even a large group of priests were becoming obedient to the faith.
Gospel:
Monday: (John 3) Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews comes to Jesus wondering about where he is able to do the great miracles and teachings. He tries to understand.
Tuesday: (John 3) Jesus answered Nicodemus saying, “you must be born from above” to accept this testimony.
Wednesday (John 3) God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but that the world might be saved through him.
Thursday (John 3) Jesus explains that he was come from above and speaks of the things that are from above. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.
Friday (John 6) Near a Passover feast, Jesus miraculously feeds the hungry crowds as a good shepherd would. He reminds the people that the actions in his earthly life were precursors of the meal that they are to share. They are to eat his body and drink his blood.
Saturday (John 6) Jesus then departs to the other side of the sea. When a storm picks up, he walks on the turbulent waves and instructs them not to be afraid. He is with them. He has power over the natural and supernatural world.
Saints of the Week
April 11: Stanislaus, bishop and martyr (1030-1079), was born near Krakow, Poland and studied canon law and theology before he renounced his family fortunes and became a priest. Elected bishop, he oppose the bellicose and immoral King Boleslaus II who often oppressed the peasantry. He excommunicated the king who ordered his murder but the soldiers refused to carry it out. The king murdered him by his own hands, but then had to flee into exile.
April 13: Martin I, pope, (6th century – 655), an Umbrian was elected pope during the Byzantine papacy. One of his earliest acts was to convene the Lateran Council that dealt with the heretical Monothelitism. Martin was abducted by Emperor Constans II and died in the Crimean peninsula.
This Week in Jesuit History
- April 7, 1541. Ignatius was unanimously elected general, but he declined to accept the results.
- April 8, 1762. The French Parliament issued a decree of expulsion of the Jesuits from all their colleges and houses.
- April 9, 1615. The death of William Weston, minister to persecuted Catholics in England and later an author who wrote about his interior life during that period.
- April 10, 1585. At Rome, the death of Pope Gregory XIII, founder of the Gregorian University and the German College, whose memory will ever be cherished as that of one of the Society's greatest benefactors.
- April 11, 1573. Pope Gregory XIII suggested to the Fathers who were assembling for the Third General Congregation that it might be well for them to choose a General of some nationality other than Spanish. Later he expressed his satisfaction that they had elected Everard Mercurian, a Belgian.
- April 12, 1671. Pope Clement X canonized Francis Borgia, the 3rd general of the Society.
- April 13, 1541. Ignatius was elected general in a second election, after having declined the results of the first election several days earlier.
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