Easter

Good Shepherd Sunday – April 15, 2018

Frackville, From the Pastor /

During this Easter season we are reading the Acts of the Apostles, which describes what happened at the beginning of the Church. First came Pentecost. You could not have a more spiritual occasion. The Spirit comes with power in wind and fire to each of the apostles. In today’s reading from Acts, Peter speaks filled with the Holy Spirit. The healing he has performed was only possible in the name of Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified and whom God raised from the dead. But how do we share in the power of the risen Christ? Peter did not tell crowds at Pentecost just to enjoy themselves and let the Spirit take them over. No, he told them that they must be baptized. They must become a member of the body of Christ, join a community, a church. After baptism the early Christians shared their possessions with each other and broke bread together. It was a religious group. Jesus tells us in the Gospel today that we are called to be part of His flock. At the heart of this flock, this community, is a God who shows His face in Jesus the Good Shepherd. He respects our freedom and nourishes and cares for us. He is willing to lay down His life for us when the wolf comes to attack. Jesus will sacrifice His own life in order to bring His sheep together, united in the one faith.

Together we are part of the body of Christ. And in turn we are called to bear witness to that divine love of Christ in the way we care for each other, especially when it challenges our individual selfishness. We could ask ourselves whether we imitate Christ in our pastoral care for our neighbors. Are we good shepherds to our family and friends? We have many weaknesses and are in constant need of reform. We need it to give our spirituality a constant push in the right direction towards justice, charity, and strong witness.

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Low Sunday – April 8, 2018

Frackville, From the Pastor /

The Gospel reading about the appearance of our Lord to St. Thomas can lead us to focus more on the apostle’s doubt. “Doubting Thomas”, we often call him. We tend to think of Thomas as a rationalist, who carefully weighs evidence. But is this a real basis of his doubt? Perhaps Thomas doesn’t in fact doubt that Christ could rise from the dead; but he can’t believe that he would. He had seen Jesus’ miracles. He had seen Lazarus raised from the dead, as we are told in this same Gospel. Thomas also seems to be the one who recognizes that Jesus is truly God. Why would Jesus return to them? Why would He return to a world that not only rejected Him but put Him to death? To believe that Jesus is risen is to believe that He has forgiven us. Thomas doubts the resurrection because he doubts God’s mercy. To accept mercy requires faith, which is why it is so hard to forgive by human powers. Thomas finally understands that God is too great to be merciless. How do you convince someone that they are forgiven, when you and they are not really sure? To truly forgive and to truly accept forgiveness requires faith, as Jesus points out.

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Resurrection of the Lord – April 1, 2018

Frackville, From the Pastor /

Today is the great Christian feast. We may be tempted to think that Christmas is the feast of feasts because it captures our imagination, and it is so much easier to relate to a vulnerable little child than to enter into, let alone understand, the mystery of a God who, having died a horrendous death as a public criminal, should be raised again to life. The apostles were struggling to understand what was happening. St. John describes the drama in the early morning of Easter Sunday when Mary of Magdala reports that the tomb is empty. He let us know that he was in on the act and ran with Peter to check for himself. It is worth remembering that John was writing his Gospel with the benefit of having been able to piece the story together after a lifetime of meditating on it. He notes that this was the moment that he began to see the connections and the fulfillment of what had been prophesied in the scriptures. He is not afraid to go on and tell us what happened in the evening of Easter Sunday when Jesus came to the apostles who were hiding behind locked doors. It is not insignificant that Thomas, who was absent, refused to accept the evidence of the others. We will hear more about this next Sunday. In the Acts of the Apostles, the disciples return to the key elements of the faith. We see them in Peter’s address to Cornelius and his household: Jesus is the awaited Messiah; He was crucified for us, He was raised from the dead; He is now appointed to judge everyone.

Today is enough for you and me to realize that we are being asked to accept our call to be faithful witnesses of the resurrection. Now, as heralds of this good news – we are proclaiming not only that Christ was brought back to life, but that we too have been brought back to life with Him. There is a temptation to think that we must wait until our earthly life comes to an end before we will experience this new life, if we deserve it. But it is clear from the writings of St. Paul that this is not so. We have already been brought back to life and freed from the sin that held us bound.

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VII Sunday of Easter (“A”) – May 28, 2017

From the Pastor /

The part of St. John’s Gospel from which we read today gives us an imtimate insight into how Jesus speaks with His Father. Very few places have thie beautiful unity so magnificently displayed. It is our privilege to stand by Jesus and listen to all He has to say. We hear Him speak of glory, of eternal life, of His own pre-existence, of prayer and of our own good selves. This is the essence of Jesus’ mission and ministry, and we are being given this opportunity to hear it all from His own mouth as the words fall from His lips. If we use our hearts wisely to begin to understand all of what Jesus says, then we have a very good chance of being the followers He really wants. Being inspired to pray or asking how to pray is a very good position to be in as a result of today’s Gospel. Jesus speaks to the Father about us.

Listening is one thing; however, to do it with reverence is the key that will surely enable us to hear the message. Today let us think about how well we listen. There are many different ways in which we listen. But what we get from the words may depend on how well we listen.

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IV Sunday of Easter (“A”) – May 7, 2017

From the Pastor /

In today’s Gospel Jesus gives us warning about people who have no care for others except to take advantage of them and to exploit them for their own selfish purposes. He says anyone who gets into the sheepfold and does not use the gate is up to no good. The gate is the open entrance into the fold where sheep safely graze. The gate is the pathway of honest approach. If you approach people in a sly or sideways manne you are up to mischief and people will have every reason to mistrust you. A true shepherd uses the gate. The sheep see the shepherd and know they are safe. The shepherd’s voice is familiar and to be trusted and the sheep feel secure. Every good parent or guardian knows this. Children look to those who care for them. The story Jesus tells is especially suited for people in positions of pastoral care. What applies to priests and pastors in the Church equally applies to any of us who have roles of responsibility towards others in life.

Jesus, who is the great shepherd of our souls, is also the innocent lamb who was led to the slaughter. Speaking about this, Peter describes to us how the Lord in His suffering left us an example to follow. He never lied. He never threatened, even when He was being tortured. The Lam of God went to His death teaching us to be wise and gentle with one another. His wounds heal our ills. Peter’s call to us today is stark in its message: „Save yourselves from this perverse generation.” Every age has its evils and the exploitation of the innocents has raised its ugly features inour time, in the world and in the Church. „What must we do?” Peter told them straight. Repent of your sins and be converted to the Lord once more. The Spirit helps us to become like Christ Jesus in our own world. It is a most magnificent vocation, to love and to care for others.

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III Sunday of Easter (“A”) – April 30, 2017

From the Pastor /

Jesus always has to reveal himself to His disciples in His risen appearances. They never identify Him through their own powers. On most occasions He appears in their midst and offers them peace. Mary Magdalene mistakes Him for gardener, but He only has to say her name for her to recognize Him. In today’s story of His encounter with two disciples on the road to Emmaus, there is a much slower process. The story is like a program of catechesis. The disciples are first asked to give their account of what is preoccupying them, and with their telling of the story there is a sense of disappointment and frustration. Their hopes had been dashed, both in the events of the crucifixion and the puzzling aftermath of the empty tomb. Jesus picks up their story and reframes it. By this time their hearts are beginning to burn with the experience of the truths He is unfolding to them. But the act of full recognition only comes after they have persuaded Him to stay with them. He accepts their invitation and it is in His disciples and breaking of bread that the disciple’s eyes are finally opened and they recognize Him.

Each stage of the celebration, the offering of the bread and wine, the consecration of the elements and our receiving them in communion, helps our understanding of the mystery of God’s presence among us. We become the body of Christ whose sacrifice we have been both witnessed and made our own.

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Low Sunday (“A”) – April 23, 2017

Frackville, From the Pastor /

Thomas is often called “Doubting” Thomas because he refused to believe the other disciples when they told him they had seen the risen Lord. We cannot always accept without question what a group of people tell us about something they say has happened even if they are all in the same place at the same time. Thomas wanted to verify with his own eyes what they said had happened. His doubts were reasonable. He was not left in uncertainty. Jesus appears again to the disciples when Thomas was with them. Because he can see the risen Lord, Thomas believes and his response is the fullest expression of faith found anywhere in the Gospels: “My Lord and my God!” Jesus then declares blessed “those who have not seen and yet believe”. This gives us assurance that faith does not depend on what we ase but on what is in our hearts or, as we read in the letter to the Hebrews, “Only faith can…prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen.”

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Resurrection Day (“A”) – April 16, 2017

From the Pastor /

​The mystery of Jesus’ empty tomb has continued to fascinate throughout the centuries. Mary Magdalene is the first to discover that it is empty. When Peter and John get to the tomb, John hesitates. He stands on the threshold of the tomb. Peter goes straight in and also sees the evidence, though we are not told what he makes of it. However, when John symbolically crosses the threshold of the tomb, something happens within him. Even without seeing the risen Jesus, it suddenly makes sense for him: he sees and he believes. It’s not the risen Lord that he sees, just the clues of His resurrection. Mary had seen those same clues and naturally assumed the body had been taken away – it’s only when she actually meets the risen Lord that she comes to believe. But John is able to intuit this awesome truth simply from the fact of the empty tomb, from the fragments of Jesus’ burial cloths – and so surely from the fragments of his memory of Jesus’ teaching on the resurrection from the dead.

“They have taken my Lord and I don’t know where they have taken Him.” Mary is every woman, every man. There are inevitebly times in our life when we feel the desolation of loss – loss of loved ones, loss of hope, even loss of faith, when the Lord himself does indeed seem to have been the dynamics of how we come to faith. Peter sees the empty tomb, but says nothing. He needs more time, more experience before he can come to full faith. But he remains open to the possibility. John is able to cross the threshold of faith by holding his sense of loss and his experience of the emptiness of the tomb on the one hand, and bringing it into connection with his memory of the Lord on the other. An empty tomb is not proof of resurrection. Religious scholars may argue over it, like archeologists quarreling over king Tut’s tomb, but our faith does not rest on physical proof. „The time life you have is hidden with Christ in God,” St. Paul tells the Colossians. It’s not the tomb, but our faith does not rest on physical proof. „The life you have is hidden with Christ in God,” Paul tells the Colossians. It’s not in the tomb that we will find the proof we seek. The resurrection – our encounter with the risen Lord – can actually happen within the hidden chamber of our own hearts. That is where we meet Him today – in our searching, in our prayer, in our pain and in our persevering love.

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Seventh Sunday of Easter (“C”) – May 8, 2016

From the Pastor /

Christian communities are not always the most united of groups. Yet Jesus asks us to go out preaching the need to be one with others as well as ourselves. Can we do this without being hypocritical? We can reassure ourselves by looking at the early disciples. The were often at odds with each other both before and after their experience of the risen Lord and His gift of the Holy Spirit. However, they do appear to have been better at sorting out their differences after Pentecost than before. It is as though they recognized in each other that gift of God’s love and so gave each other the space to explore what that love was saying.

Our ability to be one and to live, believe and work together in harmony is ultimately the gift of God’s own love within us. It will always be a challenge to express this fully. We will try shortcuts, make assumptions, identify God’s will too quickly with our own. We will be afraid. But like the sunflower constantly turning its face to find the sun, so we are asked to turn our faces again and again to God, that it may be God’s love that truly enlightens us and helps us to choose the right path.

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Sixth Sunday of Easter (“C”) – May 1, 2016

From the Pastor /

In today’s Gospel, Jesus assures us that we are more than any earthly group can make us, and we are interior led by more than any human code or sense of honor. Through the giving of the Spirit, we become dwelling places of the Holy Spirit, and if the Holy Spirit, then the whole of the Blessed Trinity. This teaching of Christ on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is absolutely central to the New Testament.

Like any adventure in living together, allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell within us requires certain things. First of all, spending time with God in prayer. Not only do we raise our minds to God, but our hearts become aware of God’s presence within us and in the Church. Secondly, living together with friends requires communication. We need both to speak and to listen. The time we spend in prayer helps us reveal our joys and sorrows, our hopes for this world and our desire for eternity.

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