Year A

Jan 08 2025

Aha!

Loss. Heaviness. Heartache. Jesus is dead. Two despondent disciples are going home. All their expectations and joys are gone. The mission is over. Their eyes are downcast. There is an ache in the pit of their stomach. Can you feel how disheartened they are? To understand the Resurrection as the first disciples did, we must first get inside their agony. And not just any death: Jesus’ death. Have you ever felt that low?

Jesus doesn’t pop in and say, “Hey, look, I’m here! There’s a happy ending!” They’re too dispirited for that. No, Jesus has mercy. He engages them in quiet conversation. Jesus is gentle. Each time he appears in the resurrection stories, he looks different somehow. They had known him before. They do not recognize him now.

They walked a long way together. Jesus gradually brought them out of their funk by recasting the story that they had been telling themselves. He gave them a fresh understanding of who the Redeemer was to be. Their hearts started to burn within them.

Then in the breaking of the bread, suddenly their eyes are opened. Aha! They see! Awakened to joy, they turn and dash back to Jerusalem to tell the apostles! (Remember, if you want to see jubilation, watch the feet.) The resurrection of Jesus is an earthquake-causing “Aha!” Death has no more power. Life is the final answer!

We may sometimes think that we are headed home. But our true homeland does not look like this one. The Word who became flesh transforms our despair into hope, our weariness into refreshment, our wanting to quit into perseverance, and our heartache into splendor. This is the meaning of the Paschal Mystery. This is the core of the Resurrection. This is the heart of the Christian story. This is the “Aha!” of Easter!

Consider/Discuss

The psalmist says, “You will show me the path to life, abounding joy in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever.” How have I been shown? When have my eyes been opened and my heart set on fire?
The “Aha!” of understanding enlivens the mind. The “Aha!” of feeling burns in the heart. The “Aha!” of seeing invigorates the imagination. Though it may not compare to the immensity of the Resurrection, have you encountered an “Aha!” moment of clarity like that?

Living and Praying with the Word

Lord, sometimes we just want to go home. Life can weigh us down. The world can be discouraging. Our struggles are nothing compared to the grief from your crucifixion, but you can see that our eyes also can grow downcast. In this moment, walk with us on this road. We could use an “Aha!” moment. Reveal yourself to us! Make our hearts burn within us at your Presence. Let me delight at your right hand forever, risen Lord, for you are the joy of my life.

Jan 08 2025

Scripture Study for

Peter’s speech at the beginning of Acts explains the meaning of the coming of the Spirit, the effects of which his audience has just witnessed. Despite doing good deeds, Jesus was put to death, yet resurrected, a sure sign that he was not under God’s judgment but was, on the contrary, God’s Messiah. The citation from Psalm 16 demonstrates that this resurrection was part of a divine plan foretold long ago. This same resurrected Christ is the source of the Holy Spirit, whose coming they have witnessed. Jesus himself, his works, his death, his resurrection and exaltation, and the coming of the Spirit are all the fulfillment of God’s “set plan.”

Peter reminds his audience of persecuted Christians that their permanent home is with God in Christ. They are sojourners who must not put their hope or faith in this world, but in Christ alone. Only in this way can they receive their eternal inheritance, which has been “bought” for them by Christ’s blood. Christ came so that those who believe in him might draw closer to God. By believing in the gospel, these new Christians (many of whom, as Gentiles, had not known the God of Israel) have come to believe in the God who brought it about. It is this God, and not the world or its many gods, in whom Christians are called to hope and have faith.

One of the chief obstacles to accepting that Jesus was the Christ was his crucifixion. Jews especially would find such an apparently failed Messiah incredible. As Jesus reveals through his opening of the Scriptures that the Messiah was indeed “supposed” to “suffer these things,” his listeners shed their despondency, realize that Jesus could have been the Messiah, and now find his resurrection credible. This lesson comes home to the disciples when they see Jesus “breaking the bread,” recalling to them the night he told his apostles that his body and blood were being given up for them. In light of the scriptures and his own words, the death of Jesus is seen not as an “accident” but ordained as a gift.

Jan 08 2025

Show Me!

We don’t know the day-to-day occupation of Thomas the apostle. He asked a lot of questions. His may have been the first-century equivalent of a scientific mind: He’s looking for evidence. He wants to be shown. He is not content to take the word of the others. He wants to see. He wants to understand.

The beautiful thing about this story is Jesus’ divine mercy. He doesn’t condemn Thomas’s request. He offers to show him his hands and his side. He respects the intellectual grasping of the “scientist.” Yet commentary after commentary deprecates Thomas’ questions, even though Jesus did not. “Just believe on the apostles’ word,” they interpret as today’s message. They must not live in the same world that I live in.

You can tell your scientifically-minded sixteen-year-old, “Just believe that God loves you” until you are blue in the face. She is not going to believe it on your word. She wants to see. Yet we have not seen God. With our limited minds, we cannot comprehend the Trinity; both St. Augustine and history’s agnostics agree on that. The difference between a Christian and an agnostic, then, is revelation— we believe that by the mercy of God, we have been shown. The Lord has breathed on us and because of that, we have seen his glory.

When I teach my undergraduate prayer class at Notre Dame, I get a mix of believers and non-believers. Early in the course, I offer them what I call The Atheist’s Prayer: “God, if you’re real, show me.” I cannot harangue them into belief. If God is real and they keep praying, they will be shown. I have seen it happen. God comes, not because we pray, but out of a deep desire to be with us. In every generation, age and after age, God shows up.

Consider/Discuss

Faith is a gift that we have been given. We have been shown. We have responded, but it was first a gift given. On this Divine Mercy Sunday, how can we have greater mercy for those who may not believe based on our word? What is one concrete thing that we can do to strengthen or mend a relationship with a family member who is far from faith?
In today’s story from the Acts of the Apostles, the early community “showed” the risen Lord by the way that they lived their lives. How can we build a faith community that is so loving that others are attracted? Together, how can we reveal that following Jesus is worth living for?

Living and Praying with the Word

Lord Jesus, thank you for offering to show your hands and your side to the apostle Thomas. As a result of your mercy, he came to faith and declared you “Lord and God.” Bless all those we know with scientific minds, especially those who do not now believe in you. Reveal yourself to them and show them that following you is the greatest adventure that they could ever undertake. For you are alive! You are here, now. Alleluia! Alleluia!

Jan 08 2025

Scripture Study for

The new life in Christ manifested itself in the lives of the disciples through learning the Christian proclamation, caring for each other, and prayer. The apostles themselves not only teach but heal and, as with Jesus, the crowds are amazed at what God accomplishes through them. Communal life is marked by simplicity and sharing, countering cultural tendencies toward selfishness. The prayer of the disciples involves traditional forms of Jewish liturgy but also specifically Christian prayer of “breaking bread.” In all they do followers of Christ present a powerful, positive witness to what it means to live the Way, and this evangelization in word, deed, and prayer draws many others to Christ.

Peter is writing to Christians who are struggling to remain faithful to their baptismal calling, which has alienated them from their society and perhaps their families. Thus his letter begins with encouragement: They have received an inheritance from God that can never be taken away from them against their will. This inheritance is an imperishable treasure that others cannot touch, steal, or destroy because it is not here on earth, but with God. Peter focuses on the necessity to have faith (mentioned three times) that Christ will see their souls through any persecution. Suffering is cause for joy because it strengthens faith. Suffering for Christ brings them closer to their goal, the inheritance waiting for them safely with Christ.

The fearful disciples have hidden from the world. Into their fear comes Christ, who twice proclaims peace and sends them back out into the world. Their mission is not only to forgive (or retain) sins, but to proclaim Jesus as God’s Messiah, proof of which claim is his resurrection. While the disciples have the advantage of actually seeing the resurrected Christ, those to whom they are sent will not. Thus the story of Thomas emphasizes the necessity for those who are not able to “see the mark of the nails in his hands” to believe on the strength of the witness of others that Jesus of Nazareth, crucified as a criminal, is in fact “Lord and God.”

Jan 08 2025

Christ is Risen! Let’s Dance!

In her grief and uncertainty, Mary of Magdala is heavy of heart and slow of foot: she “comes” to the tomb, looking. She does not understand. Jesus is dead. Gone. Dead. Truly dead.

On this early Easter morning, what are you and I looking for? Like Mary, we too can be heavy of heart and slow of foot. A twelve-year-old girl asked me recently, “If Jesus is really God, why doesn’t he just fix all the bad things?” In the pre-dawn uncertainties of our day, we too do not understand.

But then the Gospel begins to pick up speed as the sun rises: watch the feet. Mary of Magdala sees the stone rolled away from the tomb; she takes off running. Peter and the other disciple come running. The younger man runs faster. When his sandals come back out of the tomb, they are dancing and boogying, hopping and frolicking—you can see it in his feet—the young man sees and believes! He knows! Peter dashes in, too. He is amazed. Where could Jesus be?

Watch the feet of a toddler. At the wonder of the first crocus, her whole body gets involved—her arms flap, her back sways, and her eyes radiate delight. Even before she is able to talk, she experiences joy; full of life, full of wonder—look at her face, her smile, her feet.

Look at the natural world. A month ago, my yard looked dead— deep snow, bare twigs. Now the raspberry canes are popping with tiny green leaves. The soil is warming. Even the chickadees flit at the bird feeder—just watch their feet!

The beauty of the visible world leads us to the invisible One. Candles, music, lights, movement—even the liturgy itself is like a dance. We sing “Alleluia!” Easter is real. Jesus is alive!

Consider/Discuss

The tomb is empty. The Lord is alive. Lent is over. Death and darkness and despair and uncertainty are not the final answer. What are our feet going to do today? This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. Are you ready to dance?
On this Easter morning, you and I are also looking for the certainty of faith. The darkness cannot and must not be our final answer. We are looking for the Son. Even though we cannot totally comprehend resurrection, where do you find tastes of new life?

Living and Praying with the Word

Jesus our risen Lord, you have been set free! Open the tombs of our hearts so that we swell with your Easter joy. We thank you for transforming us from the plodding of pre-dawn heaviness to this moment when the sun comes up, when you are risen! Lighten our feet so that we too start to dance and boogie, hop and frolic, with the gift of certainty that you live. Glory to you forever and ever! Alleluia!