Parish Bulletin for Sunday, April 4, 2010

Easter

Acts 10:34, 36-43   1Cor. 5:6-8   Luke 24:1-12

Jesus Lives

The resurrection of Jesus was so significant that it became a pivotal point in human history. Historians began to record all dates prior to this event as happening B. C., before Christ, or B. C. E., before the Christian (some now say the common) era. They placed all that occurred since that moment in the realm of A.D. (Anno Domini) or C. E. (Christian or common era).

Author James Burns cites other differences brought about by faith in the risen Lord. Before Christ's coming, he writes, the Tuscans made their tombs face west because death meant the close of life's day and the passage into everlasting night. After Christ, they buried their dead facing east, the direction of the rising sun and the risen Son (quoted in A Treasury of Quips, Quotes and Anecdotes - Anthony Castle, ed.., Twenty Third Publications, Mystic, Conn.: 1998).

Observers can see this same vivid contrast in the Roman catacombs. In one chamber that dates back to the time of Julius Caesar, the tombs are marked with signs of hopelessness. Cynical inscriptions and embittered complaints against the gods are common. However, the chambers that hold the remains of those who suffered persecution for their faith in Jesus – the martyrs who were burned, crucified, torn asunder or thrown to the beasts – are quite different. They are adorned with lilies, symbols of immortality; the inscriptions are serenely joyful; and the chamber is decorated as if for a wedding rather than a funeral.

The reason for this gladness is the person's conviction in the living, risen Christ in whose resurrection every believer may share. Jesus Christ, who was dead and is risen, is the reason for all our celebrations this Easter day and all throughout the coming weeks.

In the first reading from Acts, a profoundly different Peter is featured as preaching in the home of Cornelius. Prior to the Christ-event, Peter would not have agreed to enter the home of a gentile and accept the hospitality he offered. But the barriers that had formerly separated Jew from gentile were rendered unnecessary by the universal and saving embrace of the crucified and risen Jesus.

Peter beckons us to follow his example and have the good sense to appropriate the grace of transformation. Who have we shut out of our lives? Have we written anyone off as unsalvageable? The reality of Easter compels us to look at others with God's eyes and accept them.

In today's second reading, Paul compares the challenge of living as Easter people to the traditional preparations for Jewish Passover. Clear out the old yeast of malice and wickedness, he says, to make room for sincerity and truth. This is the sort of transformation that will witness eloquently to the power of grace to bring about conversion. What should we sweep out of our hearts to make more room for God and goodness? What might we surrender to make ourselves more sensitive to others' needs and burdens?

The Gospel reading from Luke cited here is one suggested by the liturgical calendar as an alternate to the traditional Johannine Easter Gospel. This narrative from Luke invites us to stand before the empty tomb and remember that the Christ-event did not end on the cross or in the grave. Death was not God's final word. It was the penultimate syllable that would be hushed as God's power replaced it with cries of glory and new life.

While the earliest witnesses to the empty tomb grappled with its meaning, the appearances of the risen Jesus helped to clarify the mystery. "Jesus is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you …" (Luke 24:6). We spend so much of the celebration of this Easter season in remembering the words and works of Jesus so we may enter yet again into the mystery. We also remember those first believers whose faithful testimony concerning Jesus has opened the way for us to believe.

As we mark the resurrection of Jesus, a war-weary world awaits our testimony as well. Our lives should reflect the joy and hopefulness we have in Christ, where there would otherwise be only sadness and despair. Jesus lives! That pronouncement does not immunize the believer from evil, but it beckons us into the future, blesses us with strength for the present, and enables us to find the impetus in our shared history to live faithfully and passionately, devoted to Jesus until he comes again.

That all our beloved dead, especially

TUESDAY, April 6

Weekday 8:30 a.m. - † Edward Mullen

WEDNESDAY, April 7

Weekday 8:30 a.m. - † Francis Xavier

THURSDAY, April 8

Weekday 8:30 a.m. - † Pat McDonagh

FRIDAY, April 9

Weekday 8:30 a.m. - † Elena Guintu

may know the refreshment, rest, and peace of God's heavenly kingdom . . .Lord, hear our prayer.

For all who are ill, that the wounds of the Risen Lord may radiate healing and health to all who are suffering . . . Lord, hear our prayer.

For all of us who have been washed in the waters of life and have renewed our own baptismal promises, that we may continue to grow in God's life and bring God's presence to all that we meet . . . Lord, hear our prayer.

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

The Bonds of Love - An Easter Message for You

The promise of all ages has now been fulfilled in the Resurrection, and we rejoice. We sing by faith and trust about Jesus rising again. We say to one another what I now say to you. Happy Easter! Happy, happy Easter!

Even so, we have to wait for our slow selves to take it all in. We must bide our time. The very length of the Vigil Service makes us wait and wait. There are so many readings, together with a candle lighting ceremony ("Light of Christ"), and Baptisms and Confirmations and First Communions.

Patience is the name of the game, maybe for the same reason Jesus made Mary and Martha wait and makes our souls wait to believe. So very long, our tired backs say. But salvation history is long too.

The readings in sequence tell it, in the dark of Easter Vigil, lit only by candles, how God created us and blessed us, how he called on and counted on Abraham, how he rescued the Hebrew people as they ran from their captors in the desert journey (and ran from God too), how for a "brief moment" God lost patience and turned away, but then "with enduring love" took his people back, offering water to the thirsty and grain to the poor. Are you able to trust this? How much? "Be my people and I will be your God," he keeps saying.

At last the Gospel proclamation! Empty tomb! The women believe immediately, the men don't. Maybe each of us, man or woman, has cried out to God, "You could get rid of all this waiting if you wanted to. Why five weeks of Lenten delay? Why the eons of your seeming absence through history? How does an Easter celebration make up for all that?"

Peace. Remember how Jesus was so casual when he heard that his friend Lazarus was dying, in a place not far away? He stayed away for four days, or, in other words, "forever" in emotional time. Mary and Martha, his close friends, did without him as they buried their brother and grieved. When at last he arrived, each sister cried words of laceration to him, "You could have saved our brother!" Jesus wept. And then he replied, "I am the resurrection and the life."

Today we concentrate on that statement of his. We give ourselves quiet time, maybe years of it, maybe a lifetime, to let the meaning of Easter Resurrection sink in. What about you? Do you believe Jesus is risen from the dead? If not, how much further do you have to go? The greatest of all Easter truths is this: God's love is stronger than life itself, stronger than death. The Resurrection is molded out of love. If you know that, blessed are you as you come to believe.

Happy Easter! Alleluia!

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, April 11, 2010

Second Sunday of Easter

Acts 5:12-16   Rev. 1:9-11, 12-13, 17-19   John 20:19-31

The Christ Event

During every Easter season, as contemporary believers celebrate their faith in Jesus' resurrection, we also remember those pioneers by whose graced courage and creativity the Jesus movement began, expanded and evolved. We admire our living roots in the faith, and they inspire us to keep making a difference in this world.

For many of us the image of early Christianity is that of a seed planted in the ground. We imagine that Jesus placed the seed there, and then the trunk grew, and then the branches grew toward the sky - that it all progressed in one straight line. With this image, tracing our religious heritage would require that we begin at the top of the tree and work our way down until we come to the apostles (roots) and Jesus (the seed).

Obviously, this analogy needs work because it suggests strict uniformity of doctrine and structure from the beginning. Reality tells us a different story. A more accurate image might be that of a stone tossed into the middle of a pond. Immediately, ripples appear and configure themselves to the pond's varying edges and inlets when they reach its shoreline. One area might be even, another full of curves, another hemmed in by stones or weeds; one place is shallow, another deep.

This analogy pictures the Christ-event as the stone tossed into the great sea of humanity. Through the efforts of believers, that stone washed up all along the shores of the ancient Near Eastern world. Different peoples received it and responded to it in their various ways, preserving the traditions about Jesus in their own place and culture. Therefore, when we read the scriptural accounts of our beginnings, we see that from the start there was a wonderful diversity and inclusiveness within the one Jesus movement.

Last Sunday on Easter we listened as Peter's words washed up along the shore of a gentile's home. We listened as Peter preached to Cornelius and his entire household, and we were inspired when Peter described Jesus as one who went about doing good.

This Sunday, we watch and listen and are inspired as Peter and company continue to follow Jesus' lead. Their words and works reached out to others without discrimination; all who came to them were cured. They welcomed those who believed, and, as a result, "great numbers of men and women were added to them" (see Acts 5:14).

In today's reading from Revelation, John the Seer injects a harsher note into our glance back at our beginnings. The author of Revelation did his part to assure that the ripple effect of the Christ-event would find its way to as many shores as possible. For these efforts he was persecuted; then, as if to squelch the movement he encouraged, he was exiled to the Greek island of Patmos. But his message of hope and resistance to evil echoed forth even from there, and people in distant places heard and took heart. His vision of the living Lord, who was dead but is alive forever and ever, gave them the courage and hope they would need to persevere in the Jesus movement.

Like Revelation, today's Gospel was also preserved by the Johannine community. Here the evangelist offers his version of the tossing of the stone that initiated the Jesus movement. As with creation itself, the movement all began with the breath of God. Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on the disciples who were hiding behind locked doors in fear and trepidation. Jesus' Spirit instilled peace that cast out fear and empowered the disciples to go forth to continue his work of forgiveness.

In the interchange with Thomas, the evangelist acknowledges that many, many others would be touched by the ripples that began in Jerusalem and eventually configured themselves to all the peoples along all the shorelines of the then-known world. Speaking to Thomas, the Johannine Jesus insists that all these other potential believers are blessed.

We believers today are to extend this blessedness to as many people as we can, in as many ways as we can, for as long as we can until Jesus comes again to take us home.

Happy Easter Days - Alleluia! Alleluia!

For all those who have died, that they may know the refreshment, rest, and peace of God's heavenly kingdom . . . Lord, hear our prayer.

For all who are ill, that the wounds of the Risen Lord may radiate healing and health to all who are suffering . . . Lord, hear our prayer.

For the Church, that we may be transformed through our encounters with the living Christ and be instruments of healing and forgiveness in our broken world . . . Lord, hear our prayer.

Resurrection - Reconciliation!

The story of doubting Thomas will get most of the attention by homilists this Sunday, but the first part of today's Gospel describes what we could call the initiation of the disciples by Jesus into the sacrament of reconciliation. It is an account that offers the church, its ministers and all of us a model for the kind of forgiveness Jesus proclaims after his death and resurrection.

The scene occurs at the end of a momentous day. Early that same Easter morning, at first light, Mary Magdalene had discovered the empty tomb, the first glimmer of the resurrection, and had raced to summon Peter and the mysterious "beloved disciple" to come and see the tomb. Mary ran to tell the others that she had seen the Lord, but they were not convinced.

Now, as darkness falls, the apostles (minus Thomas) are huddling behind closed doors. Jesus is suddenly in their midst. We think of them as hiding from the authorities, but perhaps they are also fearful of the risen Christ, since nearly all the apostles failed him in his hour of need. Will he reproach them or even punish them for their lack of courage and faith?

The first thing Jesus says addresses their fear: "Peace be with you." Then, to prove that this glorified figure is Jesus, he shows them the wounds of his crucifixion and death. He is the risen, crucified Christ. They are overjoyed. He again says, "Peace be with you." Then he breathes on them, saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven . . . . "

Night is the time of doubt. Jesus comes to the disciples in their darkness and enlightens their minds and hearts to the new reality that sin and death have been defeated. Sin's hold on humanity has been broken. The Spirit that fills Jesus with eternal life is the Spirit of healing. Jesus' cry from the cross, "It is accomplished," was the last breath of his old life; the first breath of his new, risen life is the Spirit of forgiveness.

And just as the first Adam was brought to life by the breath of God, so the new creation is animated by the breath of the new Adam, the risen Christ. Jesus has passed through death to new life and opened the way for us. Christian forgiveness happens like this. When we have failed most miserably, when we hide from God for fear of being punished, Jesus comes to us in the darkness of sin and reassures us: "Be at peace."

Easter begins the moment we breathe in our risen Lord's gift of love.

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, April 18, 2010

Third Sunday of Easter

Acts 5:27-32, 40-41    Rev. 5:11-14    John 21:1-19

Do You Love Me?    What Is My Answer?

Jesus asks Peter a question in Sunday's Gospel. How would you feel if he asked the same question of you? Here is the story. With Jesus gone, the former disciples were milling around on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius. Actually, Jesus had appeared to disciples twice before, but they did not yet understand. They had not yet received the Holy Spirit and were left at loose ends.

Peter got tired of standing around so he said, I'm going fishing, anybody want to come? They joined him gladly and they fished all night. This is unreasonable from our point of view, but maybe not from theirs. Maybe it was a way to handle stress.

Dawn revealed a man standing on shore. In the boat, John, the mystic, the one Jesus loved especially well, whispered hoarsely, "It is the Lord!" Peter hurled himself into the water and wobbled the hundred yards to shore, leaving to someone else the job of bringing in the boat. It seems that Peter actually loved Jesus very much.

And that is the question. Can you say you love Jesus very much? He looks at your face and addresses you by your name. "Do you love me more than these?" Such a question! What will you say? Give the answer to the Lord when you are ready, even if it isn't perfect. Put it into words. Don't read further till you have done this.

When he hears you answer, listen to him say to you, "Feed my lambs." Phew. Thank God the trial is over and you don't have to deal with any more questions like that. But he asks you again by name, "Do you love me?" What does the repeated question do to you?

Peter came emotionally unglued and said loudly, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Our hearts go out to him, and also to you since you also have been asked a second time. What is your answer now? Take your time. "Tend my sheep," Jesus replies after you answer. Then, yet again, not just twice, but a third time, the tender but unnerving question, before you have had time to settle your mind and heart. He says your name and asks, "Do you love me?"

Let it echo inside you. Does he suspect that you really do not love him? Consider your daily attitude toward Jesus and toward God. Do not say your answer lightly. Give it quietly in prayer to Jesus, or out loud if you wish. Take your time. Pay attention to how it feels to say it. Maybe you will reply, "Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you," as Peter did. Or do you have another answer? Something like, "Lord, you know everything, you know that I want to love you, but also I want to have a good life. You see the fear and the running away and the distraction I live by-are you going to condemn me for them? I want to love you but maybe not yet."

Jesus answers, "Feed my lambs." Stay with it. Think about it. Pray about it. Doesn't it mean that we who are sinful can be part of Jesus' mission? We don't have to be perfect? We are forgiven? If the answer is yes, then let us act as the Body of Christ always does. Feed his lambs.

For all those who have died, that they may know the refreshment, rest, and peace of God's heavenly kingdom, especially . . .

Wednesday, Apr. 21

Weekday 8:30 a.m. - † Samuel Johns

Thursday, Apr. 22

Weekday 8:30 a.m. - † Anne Barbetta

Friday, Apr. 23

Weekday 8:30 a.m. - † Fred Locicero

Lord, hear our prayer…

For all who are ill, that the wounds of the Risen Lord may radiate healing and health to all who are suffering . . . Lord, hear our prayer.

For the Church, that we may be transformed through our encounters with the living Christ and be instruments of healing and forgiveness in our broken world . . . Lord, hear our prayer.

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, April 25, 2009

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Acts 11:1-18    John 10:1-10

An Invitation to Life

Jesus said: "The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice." (Jn 10:3). Where does God speak in our world? How does God speak? Whenever you hear a voice that sounds coercive, threatening, overbearing, that is somehow loud and in your face, you can be sure that, no matter how religious and holy it might claim to be, it is not God's voice.

God's voice in this world is never coercive or overbearing in any way, but is always an invitation and a beckoning that respects you and your freedom in a way that no human institution or person ever does. God's voice is thoroughly underwhelming, like a baby's presence.

Sadly whenever someone tries to teach this, immediately there are objections, often angry and bitter: What about God's judgment? What about God's condemnation of sin? What about God's anger?

Scripture does, on the surface, give us the impression that God is sometimes angry and full of condemnation and violence, but this is a way of speaking about God that reveals how we feel about God when we are unfaithful, sinful, and violent.

God's voice does judge and it does condemn, but it judges and condemns not by coercive force, but in the same way that the innocence of a baby judges false sophistication, in the way that generosity exposes selfishness, in the way that big-heartedness reveals pettiness, in the way that light makes darkness flee, and in the way that the truth shames lies. God's voice judges us not by overpowering us but by shining love and light into all those places where we find ourselves huddled in fear, shame, bitterness, hostility, and sin. But this is not something we learn easily.

Already way back, before the birth of Christ, sincere religious people were yearning for God to come into the world in power. What they wanted, and prayed for, was a physical superstar who would come into the world and cleanse it by overpowering sin and evil and rooting them out by force. What they wanted in the longed-for Messiah was a morally superior violence that would give evil no options, but force it literally to acquiesce. What we got instead was a helpless baby in the straw who overpowered no one.

Twenty centuries later, we are still struggling to accept this. Too often the Christ we try to incarnate and preach is still that ancient, longed-for, overpowering Messiah who aims to cleanse the world through flat-out coercion.

We see this most clearly of course in Islamic extremists who, like the well-intentioned Christians back in the time of the Inquisition, sincerely believe that error has no rights and that, in the name of God, we must use force, violence if necessary, to bring about God's will on earth.

In this view, murder and violence may be done to further God's purpose because God wants his will imposed upon this world, whether the world wants to accept it or not. But this is the opposite of true religion.

We need to view God, always, as non-coercive, offering us an invitation. This has immense implications for everything to do with church and religion, from how we preach, to how we catechize, to how we do liturgy, to how we reach out to those who don't share our beliefs, to how we approach divisive moral issues, to how loud we turn up the sound system in our churches.

God's voice is not a loud, coercive, overbearing, threatening voice, one that gets into your face whether you like it or not. Rather, God's voice invites us in, beckons to us, leaves us free, and is as non-threatening as the innocence and powerlessness of a baby-or a saint. We would do well to better understand this.

The voice we try to give to God is sometimes too-laden with coercion, threat, manipulation, violence, harshness, our own judgments, our own fears, our own wounds, and especially our own egos to bear enough resemblance to the free invitation that Jesus gave voice to in his birth, life, and message.

God's voice never overpowers, is never overbearing and never shouts at anyone.

For all those who have died, that they may know the refreshment, rest, and peace of God's heavenly kingdom, especially . . .

Tuesday, Apr. 27

Weekday 8:30 a.m. - † Saverio Giusti

Wednesday, Apr. 28

Weekday 8:30 a.m. - † Gary Kyle

Thursday, Apr. 29

Weekday 8:30 a.m. - † Nancy Fung

Friday, Apr. 30

Weekday 8:30 a.m. - † Mary Waychison

Lord, hear our prayer…

For all who are ill, that the wounds of the Risen Lord may radiate healing and health to all who are suffering . . . Lord, hear our prayer.

For all who have shepherded us, especially parents, pastors, teachers, and mentors, that God will continue to work through them with love and strength. . . Lord, hear our prayer.