Year A

Jan 14 2025

Scripture Study for

Peter’s speech today proclaiming Jesus as Lord and Messiah follows the pattern of early missionary preaching: announcement of the arrival of the age of fulfillment; summary of events in the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus; recourse to the Old Testament showing Jesus as fulfillment of the promises. Only the call to repentance is absent. It is clear from the text that Peter is speaking to a Jewish community. This should be remembered lest we understand his accusation as anti-Judaic. This speech also proclaims Jesus’ resurrection and ascension and the descent of the Spirit. Finally, it provides us with an early statement about the inner workings of the Trinity.

The author of 1 Peter speaks of the cost of salvation and the responsibilities that accompany it. He reminds the audience that calling God “father” is comparable to asking God to act as disciplinarian. This presents a picture different from that of a tender parent. It points to our obligation to live the new life in Christ with integrity. The author insists that the death and resurrection of Christ have ransomed believers from the futile manner of living they inherited from their ancestors, patterns of living into which they had been socialized. Christians must now live differently.

The disciples on the road to Emmaus are probably returning from the celebration of Passover, and they doubtless assume that the unrecognized Jesus is on the road for the same reason. Although Cleopas’ companion is not named, several clues suggest it is his wife. As Jesus shows how the scriptures point to him, the hearts of the disciples burn within them. Their religious tradition is being interpreted in an exciting new way. Finally, it is in the breaking of the bread that their eyes are opened, and they recognize him. The account underscores several important issues: glory comes by way of suffering; remembering the tradition is not enough—in new situations it must be reinterpreted; and we come to know Christ in the breaking of the bread.

Jan 14 2025

Thomas, Our Twin

It is easy to feel superior to Thomas until you realize that he represents just about every person who has ever paused a moment to ask him or herself: do I really believe? Do I still believe as I used to? And some combination of your heart and mind responds: I’m not sure. Be assured, this is not the end of the world.

Thomas stood there and told the rest of the apostles, “I don’t, won’t, can’t accept this wild tale you are telling me.” When Jesus appeared again, he didn’t yell or get all bent out of shape about Thomas’ doubts. He invited Thomas to touch his wounds and then asked him to believe (perhaps indicating that even touching the wounds might not be enough). Then he had a word for all others who would be disciples in the future: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (John 20:29).

Everyone since that select group in the beginning has come to believe on the strength of another’s word. Perhaps it was a parent or friend or teacher or some religious figure. Perhaps it was a book, a movie, or even a television show. Sometimes the invitation to believe comes out of the blue—a soul-shattering event, an unexpected experience; sometimes, from within—an inner restlessness, a seeking after answers to life’s questions. But when the invitation to believe comes, it calls for a leap. It comes down to an act of trust in the word of another, ultimately in the word of God.

Consider/Discuss

Who or what called you to faith in Jesus as your Lord and God?
How have you called others to faith? Are you being asked to do so at this time?

Responding to the Word

We need to remember that faith is a gift. We do not earn it and we do not receive it as a matter of a birthright. So it is good to pray for faith: that the Lord increase it; that it not be tested beyond what we, with God’s grace, can bear; and that we persevere in faith.

Jan 14 2025

Scripture Study for

Our glimpse of the Christian community in today’s first reading is an idealized picture, a kind of utopian dream. It depicts the primitive church more in its eschatological fulfillment than as it probably really was. Four characteristics of that community are given: apostolic teaching, community, Eucharist, and prayer. The signs and wonders that were performed by the apostles were primarily cures, evidence that the eschatological age of fulfillment had dawned. This miraculous activity filled the bystanders with awe, the conventional response of human beings who have witnessed the extraordinary power of God. The risen Lord brought others into their midst and made their numbers increase.

The short reading from 1 Peter contains a variety of themes: praise of God, Christology, soteriology, eschatology. It opens with a doxology patterned after a Jewish hymn of praise of God. Out of this theocentric perspective, the author develops his Christology, declaring that Jesus is the mediator of the salvation that comes from God. The new life that believers receive from God is eschatological in nature, looking to the future for the fulfillment of God’s promise. The hope to which the new life looks is eschatological, the inheritance that accompanies it is eschatological, and the salvation that it guarantees is eschatological. This is the living hope to which Christians are born.

Thomas is the hinge that connects the two Resurrection appearances in the Gospel. Absent for the first event, he is the central character of the second. Thomas represents the second generation of Christians who are called to believe on the testimony of others. The faith required of him is, in a way, more demanding than that required of those who actually encountered the risen Lord. Jesus states that Thomas’ ultimate faith does not compare with the faith of those who do not enjoy any sensible experience of the Lord. Thomas should be remembered, not because he was absent or because he doubted, but because like us he was called to believe on the word of others.

Jan 14 2025

Resurrection Happens Now

Some say we are only a series of neurons that come together for a little while and eventually decompose; in the meantime, the purpose of life is to have as pleasant a time as possible. A rather limiting vision, no? Easter is my starting point for rebuttal.

Easter calls us to include resurrection in our vision of life. This is not always easy. It wasn’t when it first happened. You can see why Mary Magdalene, seeing that the stone had been removed, would conclude that the body had been stolen. And you can understand how Peter never got beyond seeing a bunch of burial cloths over in the corner without concluding Jesus was raised. Only the beloved disciple “saw and believed” (John 20:8).

We are never told what the tipping point was for the beloved disciple. Was it all those times resting his head near Jesus, watching, listening . . . and knowing? Resurrection experiences have a long history. If you have had a relationship that you thought was totally over come back to life, you know that resurrection happens. If you have had an experience of going nowhere with a project, then it suddenly kicks in, you know that resurrection happens. If you know someone held captive by an addiction and see them break free and begin the process of recovery, you know resurrection happens.

Easter invites us to consider our experiences of resurrection and move to the conclusion: resurrections have been happening for a long time. It’s just a matter of seeing and believing.

Consider/Discuss

Have you had any resurrection experiences lately?
What does it mean to you that you share in resurrection life even now?

Responding to the Word

We pray through Jesus, God’s Son, whose resurrection was the Father’s answer to death and violence. Jesus is the Word of God, the last word of God’s unconditional love for us. There is one very simple response to this: Alleluia! Praise God!

Jan 14 2025

Scripture Study for

In today’s first reading, Peter announces that the story of Jesus from his baptism, through his ministry, to his death and resurrection has been reported all over the land. He explains the mystery of Jesus in terms of prophetic expectation, at once both reinterpreting earlier prophetic tradition and developing new theological insight. With just a few words, Peter places Jesus at the heart of both the prophetic and the apocalyptic traditions of Israel. He insists that the power of the Resurrection is not circumscribed by ethnic or religious origin. It is open to all who believe in Jesus. This is truly good news to the Gentiles.

The passage from Colossians contains the fundamental teaching about the Resurrection and how it transforms the lives of Christians. It is set against the backdrop of ancient cosmology. Two different realms are delineated: the world above and the world below. Christ rose from the dead and is now in the realm of heaven, seated at God’s right hand. Christians believe that they are joined to Christ. Having died with him, they have also risen with him. Here is an example of the complex eschatological view, “already, but not yet.” Joined to Christ, Christians are living in the final age already, but this age of fulfillment is not yet complete.

The Resurrection stories begin with a report of Mary Magdalene’s visit to the tomb. The stone had been moved, but she does not entertain the possibility of Jesus’ resurrection, only the removal of his body. She runs off to tell Peter and “the other disciple” (John 20:2). The choice of this reading for Easter Sunday highlights the incomprehensibility of the event. The fact that neither Mary, probably Jesus’ closest female disciple, nor Peter, the leader of the Christian community, was prepared spontaneously to embrace the truth of the Resurrection should caution us lest we too glibly presume to grasp it. There is much in the reality of the Resurrection that continues to challenge us.