Rev. James A. Wallace, C.Ss.R.

Dec 16 2024

Profile of an Easter People

Each reading today calls us to live out our faith in the risen Lord in a particular way. Acts calls us to be courageous witnesses to Christ the Lord. The apostles have been hauled into court before the high priest and the other religious leaders of the Sanhedrin, the supreme religious council in Jerusalem. Peter argues that the Sanhedrin’s command to cease teaching about Jesus must yield to a higher call to witness in the Spirit whom the living God has given to them. In that same spirit, Pope Paul VI reminded us that the modern person listens more willingly to witnesses more than to teachers, and if he or she listens to teachers it is because they are witnesses.

Revelation affirms that the proper response to Easter is to give glory and praise to the Lamb and to God who sits on the throne. Augustine told us that we are an Easter people and alleluia is our song. Each Sunday we gather as worshipers. Worship of the Lamb leads to witness, which then leads to worship.

The final encounter in John’s Gospel is between Jesus and Peter. Jesus comes to Peter asking, “Do you love me?” then “Feed my lambs.” The witness of the Lord and worshiper of the Lamb is also to be a lover of the Lord’s little ones. All three of these activities flow from our baptism. All three are to be done not as solo activities but as part of the body of Christ.

Consider/Discuss

Do you see your call to be a disciple as including the call to witness, worship, and watch out for the lowly and the least?
How does your faith community help you to live out your calling?

Responding to the Word

Strengthen us, Jesus, to witness with conviction to our faith in you as Lord and Savior. May the Holy Spirit lead us to praise and honor the Father through you all our days, and find clear expression in caring for your people by working for justice and peace for all.

Dec 16 2024

Risen Lord, Gift Giver

One of the nicest things about the Easter season is that it has escaped much of the commercialization of Christmas. For most, the urge to shop is not part of this great feast. And when you think of Easter music, hymns, and hallelujahs come to mind; there are only a few Easter songs. Is there something about this feast so sacred that even the merchandisers have refrained from exploiting it?

At the same time, today’s Gospel reminds us that while we do not get caught up with gift-giving, Easter is still a season to remember the gifts unique to it, those the risen Lord brought when he appeared to the apostles hiding in the upper room behind locked doors. The crippling fear they suffered was released by these gifts.

First, he gives them peace (shalom), which stands for all God’s blessings that can enrich human life. Then he breathes the Holy Spirit on them—the great gift of the risen Lord, allowing them to offer God’s forgiveness to all who seek it. Finally, there is the gift of faith, the ability to believe without seeing, to read the signs God so generously scatters throughout our world. All these gifts are manifestations of the Spirit.

In our first reading, we witness the gift of the Spirit found at work in Peter healing the sick and delivering those “disturbed by unclean spirits.” And the Spirit is found in the visions given to John the Seer in Revelation, so we might have hope in God who has overturned the power of death.

Consider/Discuss

Have any of the Easter gifts mentioned helped you to see with the eyes of faith?
Have you known Easter’s gifts—peace, forgiveness, healing, and hope—as able to free you from fear?

Responding to the Word

Risen Lord, you continue to come to us when we lock ourselves away from the world out of fear. Breathe upon us and send your Spirit to give us the courage to go forth and bring your gifts to others. We thank you for the gifts of the Easter season.

Dec 16 2024

A Day to Believe In

Peter traces the scope and the spread of the gospel. He states that the power of Jesus’ ministry flowed from his having been anointed by God with the Holy Spirit. It was in and through this power that he performed good works. Peter himself was a witness to all of these wonders. Although Jesus’ ministry began with his baptism by John, it continues through people like Peter who are commissioned to preach the gospel and to bear witness to it. The power of the Resurrection is open to all who believe in Jesus. This is truly good news to the Gentiles.

The short passage from Colossians contains the fundamental teaching about the Resurrection and the way the death and resurrection of Christ transform the lives of Christians. It contrasts the world above (heaven) and the world below (earth). Having risen from the dead, Christ is now in the realm of heaven. True Christian behavior flows from belief in this reality. Joined with Christ, believers are already with Christ in God. This is not merely a dimension of Christians’ future expectation, it is an already-accomplished fact. They have not left this world, but they are summoned to be attentive to the things of another world.

The Gospel reading’s reference to darkness rather than the dawn of a new day may be the author’s way of incorporating the light/darkness symbolism. The stone had been moved from Jesus’ tomb and Mary of Magdala presumed that his body had been taken away. She seems to have entertained no thought of his resurrection. She ran off to tell Peter and “the other disciple,” an example of how Jesus’ disciples did not understand the scriptures concerning his resurrection. They would need both a Resurrection experience and the opening of their minds to the meaning of the scriptures. Neither Mary, probably Jesus’ closest female disciple, nor Peter, the leader of the Christian community, nor “the other disciple” grasped the truth of the Resurrection.

Dec 16 2024

Serving Till His Last Breath

That last night could not have been easy. At supper, Jesus knows his end is approaching, with much suffering, after being betrayed by someone he has loved, now sitting at the table. He knows Simon will deny him three times. And he has to face an argument that breaks out among the disciples—again!—over who is the greatest. But Jesus patiently reminds them that service will win them a place in the kingdom. It will take a visit from the Spirit for this message to sink in.

From the cross we see how faithful Jesus himself is to this call to serve all. Only in Luke’s Passion does Jesus speak these words we hear this Palm Sunday. His first word is a prayer of forgiveness. Looking around at those mocking him and jeering at him, he prays: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” His second word comforts, responding to the request of the thief on his right: “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” And his final word, addressed to God, serves us: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit,” teaching us how to die trusting God.

Three times Pilate declares Jesus innocent. This judgment is further reinforced by the Roman centurion saying: “This man was innocent beyond doubt.” The word innocent literally means one who does no harm. More than that, until his last breath, Jesus is the savior who does only good, who serves, bringing forgiveness, replacing fear with the promise of paradise, and showing all that God can truly be trusted.

Consider/Discuss

Which of the three “words” that Jesus speaks from the cross serve you most?
Does the Passion of Luke call you to serve in any way?

Responding to the Word

Lord, even in your last hours, you teach us to serve those whom God brings into our lives, even those who do not treat us well. May we be quick to forgive, quick to respond to those in great need, and quick to entrust our lives to the Father. May your prayers be ours.

Dec 16 2024

Back to Life

For God who spoke through the prophet Ezekiel, the people of Israel, carried off into Babylon, had become dead inside. They had lost hope during the decades spent in exile. So God raised up a prophet, Ezekiel—one of the strangest of the prophets—who not only had strange visions but did strange things. Ezekiel certainly got their attention. In this vision of dry bones lying in the valley, returning to life is a gradual process: first the sinews, then the flesh, then the skin, and, finally, the breath that is the spirit of life. God will bring the people back to life and bring them back home.

The promise of Lent is that God’s spirit can bring us back to life, to fullness of life that is available to us because of the saving death and resurrection of Jesus. Addressing her hurt and loss, Jesus says to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” Then, the challenging question: “Do you believe this?”

Lent leads us to professing a faith that is life-giving. Do you believe in God the Father almighty? Do you believe in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord? Do you believe in the Holy Spirit? Are you ready to answer? The good thing is that we answer as a community, as a body, supporting each other in faith. We hold each other up by our faith.

Consider/Discuss

Have you ever experienced a time where you felt dried up, all inner life gone, all spirit sapped?
What does it mean to say: I believe that you, Lord Jesus, are the resurrection and the life? How does it make a difference in your life?

Responding to the Word

Lord Jesus Christ, we approach the end of Lent, preparing to celebrate the new life you will pour into those being baptized. Stir up in them and in all of your people the fire of faith that we might proclaim you as our resurrection and our life at the Easter feast.