Easter

Jan 27 2025

Glimpses of Resurrection

My grandpa had a hard childhood. My aunt, with whom he lived in his last decade, said that he never said, “Thank you.” He was a good man, but not one who smiled often.

The day before my brother’s wedding in Los Angeles, our extended family went to Disneyland. My three-year-old daughter and my grandpa and I went to the merry-go-round. Grandpa said that he would stand next to my daughter, Maria. I got on the horse in front of them. An announcement came over the PA: no standing allowed. The music began to play. The horses started to move. I turned around to see how they were doing. My grandpa sat on the dappled gray, going up and down, his arm around that little girl. His face beamed with childlike joy.

A few days after my grandpa died, I was driving our van down a hill. For a brief flash, I sensed him jumping up and down, beaming with that same innocent joy and shouting, “Thank you, thank you, thank you, God!” It was totally unlike the somber grandpa I had known. Was that a glimpse of how heaven had healed him of his earthly sorrows and invigorated him with new life? I don’t know. But if so, how radiantly glorious is the Resurrection!

Mary of Magdala and Peter and John also told of what they had seen and heard. Did they understand exactly what had happened? No. But they saw and believed.

We can gaze at a newborn baby at Christmas. We can stare at the cross on Good Friday. But can we gaze on the Resurrection? It is too bright, like staring at the sun immediately after coming outside from a darkened room. But God gives us glimpses, flashes of resurrection in everyday life.

Consider/Discuss

One glimpse of the Resurrection is a greater jubilation than any earthly thing. Have you ever had glints or sparkles of the brightness of the Resurrection?
It takes a lifetime to learn to say, “I too will rise.” And though we do not fully understand it, each day we get closer. Throw your whole self into celebrating Easter today and let God work miracles in you. Hear the deafening alleluias of heaven! Jesus is risen!

Living and Praying with the Word

Jesus, you lay in the darkness of the tomb. Sometimes it feels as though we live in a drab basement with only a nightlight by which to see. The darkness of death threatens to engulf us. But this day, you have taken upon yourself all the wounds of earth. You have risen from the dead! Like the apostles, we don’t really understand that. But today, you are alive! You give us hints of your glory, of the alleluias of heaven. The brilliance of your everlasting day surrounds us. Give us eyes to see! Give us voices to sing your praise!

Jan 27 2025

Scripture Study for

Peter’s speech is a response to the request of the Gentile Cornelius to meet with him. Peter himself has had a vision in which it has now become clear to him that the work God has done in Christ is meant to extend beyond the ethnic boundaries of Israel (10:9–17). The emphasis in the speech is on what Jesus did (“doing good and healing”) and on to Jesus’ fate, which is in stark contrast to the good he did. Yet the good Jesus was doing did not end with his death. Now those who knew him have been sent to continue “doing good and healing,” specifically by calling people to believe in Jesus as God’s Messiah and to receive the gift of forgiveness, of deliverance and release from evil forces.

Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians about clearing out the old yeast has a simple point: Things have changed for you, since you are now new people in Christ, so act like it. The metaphor of yeast is connected with the image of Christ as the Paschal (or Passover) Lamb. In preparation for Passover, all yeast and leavened bread is cleared out of the house; after the feast new leavened bread is prepared. The Corinthians have failed to do the necessary “house cleaning,” both in their own hearts and within their community, and are therefore not properly celebrating the Paschal feast, begun with the sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb.

The report of the empty tomb proceeds in three stages that represent a progression of belief. First, Mary discovers that the stone has been rolled away from the tomb and assumes that Jesus’ body has been stolen. The second stage is the discovery by the Beloved Disciple, who enters the tomb and spies the burial cloths. The third stage is the entrance into the tomb by Peter, who not only sees the burial cloths but notes the detail that the head covering has been neatly rolled up and is separate from the others, an observation that suggests the body was not stolen, but rather that Jesus himself has removed them. We are told that the Beloved Disciple “saw and believed,” but that none of them yet understood that he had been raised from the dead. What the disciple believes at this point is that Jesus has conquered death. Only with the appearance of the risen Lord will he and the others come to believe in the Resurrection itself.

Jan 14 2025

Giving God Glory

There are moments of life that we call “glorious,” special times beyond ordinary experience, that give us a hint of transcendence, a glimpse of glory, whether it is a “glorious day” in spring or a “glorious occasion” like a wedding. Such times lift our spirits and hearts, and we feel transported to a different level of awareness and know a joy beyond words. Such are moments of glory.

We hear the words “glory” and “glorify” five times in the opening verses of to day’s Gospel as Jesus prays to his Father. In John’s Gospel this is the last recorded prayer of Jesus, since John does not have Jesus praying in the garden. Jesus begins his prayer by telling the Father the “hour” has come, that is, the hour of revelation, the time when the Father will give glory to the Son and the Son will glorify the Father. It is the moment when the Son is “lifted up,” which refers to both the lifting up on the cross and the Resurrection. Jesus has said: “And when I am lifted up, I will draw all things to myself” (John 12:32).

This mutual glorifying that characterizes the relationship between the Father and the Son also embraces the disciples. Jesus says at the end of today’s reading that he prays “for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine and I have been glorified in them” (John 17:10).

Consider/Discuss

Do you see your life as one that gives glory to God by what you say and do?
Do you follow the example of Jesus by encouraging others to glorify God?

Responding to the Word

We pray this final Sunday in the Easter season that the prayer of Jesus can also be ours: Father, give glory to your children, so that your children may glorify you. Help us to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. Alleluia. Amen.

Jan 14 2025

Scripture Study for

Those who were with Jesus as he ascended return to the city and devote themselves to prayer. The list of apostles in the first reading corresponds with other lists found in the Gospel accounts, with the exception of Judas Iscariot. Simon is identified as a member of the Zealots, a militant wing of the Jewish independence movement. The women who accompany these men might be their wives or women followers of Jesus who came with him from Galilee and who attended to his burial. His mother was there along with his brothers. These latter no longer questioned the authenticity of Jesus’ ministry. They now join his disciples in prayer, open to the unfolding of God’s plan.

The author of the Letter of Peter is very clear about the reason for the suffering of the Christians. They are either defamed for the name of Christ or persecuted for being Christians. Since their religious teaching and values frequently prevent them from engaging in behavior that is part of pagan culture, they often have to endure misunderstanding, mistrust, and resentment. Their way of living is considered antisocial at best, treasonable at worst. The author of the letter tells them to bear the name “Christian” proudly, and to endure any misfortune that might befall them because of it.

This passage from John’s Gospel is commonly known as the High Priestly prayer. Jesus speaks of having accomplished his work and of returning to his Father. It is clearly a farewell message in which Jesus prays for himself and for his disciples. The theme upon which most other themes depend is the unparalleled relationship between Jesus and God. The glorification for which Jesus prays can now be seen within the context of this unique relationship. While on earth, Jesus revealed the name of his Father through the life that he lived and the ministry that he performed. Finally, in leaving the world, Jesus prays for his disciples who remain within it.

Jan 14 2025

The Work Goes On

We can get caught up in the details and miss the heart of the message today. Where did Jesus go? Is heaven “up there”? Why doesn’t Matthew’s Gospel have Jesus being taken up? Doesn’t this feast remove Jesus from us, to some place where he “sits at the right hand of the Father”? Sound a little disengaged?

In his introduction to the writings of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Jean Leclercq writes that the mystery of the Ascension fulfilled the mystery of love in which Jesus returns to the glory of the Father. The Son then sends this Spirit to unite us with the Father in love. Thus, in Bernard’s thought, the Ascension is a symbol for the passage of Christ from his life in mortal flesh to glorious life in the Spirit. This same transition from flesh to Spirit can also be accomplished in us, since it has already taken place in Christ.

But we are not simply passive recipients. There is work to be done. Luke’s angels bluntly tell the apostles to get moving. Matthew’s final scene spells out the work: “Go forth and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching others to observe all that I have commanded you.” Witness to Jesus, in word and deed.

The task of spreading the good news that is Jesus Christ, teaching others about him, can seem daunting. But we are not alone. We have the promise that the Holy Spirit will work with us; in Matthew, Jesus’ final words are reassuring: “I am with you always.” That is reason enough to work with confidence.

Consider/Discuss

Does the image of Jesus ascending to sit at the right hand of the Father comfort you? Challenge you?
When is the last time you witnessed to Christ, sharing what he means to you?

Responding to the Word

We pray: Loving Father, give us your Spirit of wisdom and revelation to enlighten the eyes of our hearts, so we may have the hope that accompanies your call and come to the glory that is our inheritance. May your great power be at work in us, raising us to new life as it did your Son Jesus. Amen.