 |
| “Christ Taking Leave of the Apostles” by Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1308-11 |
Reading 1: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
Peter said to the people:
"The God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus,
whom you handed over and denied in Pilate's presence
when he had decided to release him.
You denied the Holy and Righteous One
and asked that a murderer be released to you.
The author of life you put to death,
but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.
Now I know, brothers,
that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did;
but God has thus brought to fulfillment
what he had announced beforehand
through the mouth of all the prophets,
that his Christ would suffer.
Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
Following the earlier cure of the lame beggar, a crowd gathers in the temple area and Peter launches into the second kerygmatic discourse or proclamations about the nature of Christ. Peter uses a new title for the Savior, “The Author of Life.” He concludes this discourse with a call for conversion.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 4:2, 4, 7-8, 9
R. (7a) Lord, let your face shine on us.
or:
R. Alleluia.
When I call, answer me, O my just God,
you who relieve me when I am in distress;
have pity on me, and hear my prayer!
R. Lord, let your face shine on us.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Know that the LORD does wonders for his faithful one;
the LORD will hear me when I call upon him.
R. Lord, let your face shine on us.
or:
R. Alleluia.
O LORD, let the light of your countenance shine upon us!
You put gladness into my heart.
R. Lord, let your face shine on us.
or:
R. Alleluia.
As soon as I lie down, I fall peacefully asleep,
for you alone, O LORD,
bring security to my dwelling.
R. Lord, let your face shine on us.
or:
R. Alleluia.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 4:2, 4, 7-8, 9
Psalm 4 is an individual lament. In these strophes we hear the trust the psalmist has in God whose saving works cause the faithful to tremble in awe of God’s mercy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading II: 1 John 2:1-5a
My children, I am writing this to you
so that you may not commit sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous one.
He is expiation for our sins,
and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.
The way we may be sure that we know him is to keep
his commandments.
Those who say, "I know him," but do not keep his commandments
are liars, and the truth is not in them.
But whoever keeps his word,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on 1 Jn 2:1-5a
This selection provides a principle teaching of St. John
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Luke 24:35-48
The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way,
and how Jesus was made known to them
in the breaking of bread.
While they were still speaking about this,
he stood in their midst and said to them,
"Peace be with you."
But they were startled and terrified
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
Then he said to them, "Why are you troubled?
And why do questions arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have."
And as he said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed,
he asked them, "Have you anything here to eat?"
They gave him a piece of baked fish;
he took it and ate it in front of them.
He said to them,
"These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the law of Moses
and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled."
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And he said to them,
"Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem
You are witnesses of these things."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lk 24:35-48
This is the first appearance of the Risen Christ to the disciples immediately following his appearance on the road to Emmaus, the account of which is referenced at the beginning of this selection. No mention is made of St. Thomas ’ presence or absence as in the account from St. John (see John 20:19-31). He shows the disciples his wounds and then to prove he is corporeal, he asks for food and eats in front of them.
As with the disciples of Emmaus, Jesus “opened their minds” so they could see how the Law and Prophets were fulfilled in Him. Then, satisfied that they believe, the Lord brings them to understand the prophetic significance of what had taken place. He concludes pointedly by saying; “You are witnesses to these things.” This statement is important since later in St. Luke’s narrative in the Acts of Apostles, their witness becomes the foundation of faith for others.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter (B)
As we listened to the Gospel just proclaimed – did you happen to notice it started with the reference: “The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of bread.” The two disciples were the ones that were traveling to Emmaus when the risen Lord joined them. If we read that story again, we notice in v.18, one of those disciples is Cleophas.
In a recent article by a scholar of Church history, I was surprised to find that, according to St. Jerome and Hegesippus a Jewish convert to Christianity in the 2nd century, Cleophas was a very important person for all of us. If we look at the genealogy provided in our tradition and Sacred Scripture we find the following:
1. Cleophas was the brother of St Joseph and the brother-in-law of the Holy Mother of God (so says St Jerome).
2. Cleophas was the father of St James the Less, St Jude, and Mary Salome (one of the three Marys at the empty tomb).
3. Cleophas was the grandfather of St James the Greater and St John since Cleophas' daughter Mary Salome was the mother of St James the Greater and St John.
How rich is our history; and full of wondrous surprises.
Clophas, while not mentioned by name, must have been in that upper room with the disciples since we were told: “While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’" [Oh, and here’s another bit of tradition trivia for you. Notice the next time you attend Mass when a Bishop is the celebrant, at the very beginning of Mass, he will not say; “The Lord be with you.” as our priests do. He will say instead “Peace be with you.” This is done because the Bishops are the vicars of Christ. They stand always as visible symbols of the Keys to the Kingdom of God being passed from Christ to St. Peter and his successors.]
The Gospel tells us that when he appeared and stood before them, his closest friends were “terrified”. What must they have been thinking? We know what they were not thinking, don’t we? They were not thinking – “Ah, here is our Risen Lord who has been raised from the dead, just as he said he would.”
If they had been thinking that, they would not have been terrified, they would have been overjoyed, as we are at the Easter event we continue to celebrate.
Jesus will stand before us in the form of his risen body in just a few short minutes. He will come and be present on this table [the Altar]. He will rise before us and Father will say: “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.” And we will respond (correctly if we are not too enthralled at the moment to remember the new response). Then we will come forward and receive the gift that terrified the disciples in that locked room.
Saint Justin, martyr said in his first apology in defense of Christians: “No one may share the Eucharist with us unless he believes that what we teach is true, unless he is washed in the regenerating waters of Baptism for the remission of his sins, and unless he lives in accordance with the principles given us by Christ.” We come forward in joy to the risen Christ when we are disposed as St. Justin says; since we are living in accordance with what he taught us.
The question placed before us today, even as we still rejoice in the joy of Easter is this –
Do we believe, as we profess in our Creed, that Jesus rose from that tomb?
Do we believe that, after having been beaten, crucified, pierced with a spear and pronounced dead by the Roman soldiers in attendance, who were experts with death, that Jesus rose from the dead?
Do we believe that his human body that was wrapped in cloth and spices was physically raised and transformed into the glorified body that is given as gift and sacrifice to us?
It is this resurrection miracle that the disciples in that room in Jerusalem did not understand. Jesus had to prove it to them by physically eating in front of them to prove he was not an apparition – a ghost. Do we believe it? For many of is, there is doubt. It is only our trust on God and his unfathomable nature that allows us to accept what our human minds cannot understand. We must, in short, take this whole event on faith. If we try to apply human logic, it all falls apart. To our human minds, it is impossible.
Those who have fallen prey to secular thinking scoff and call us “superstitious”. Because they cannot understand, will not relax their hold on what they can see and touch, they think we are naïve. To them we must reply – “Thank God we do not have the wisdom of the wise.”
Having justified our faith and reaffirmed our creedal beliefs, we must now ask a far more difficult question. (Some may wonder; how can questions become more difficult than challenging our seemingly irrational belief in the Resurrection?) We are challenged by the Apostles asking; “Do we live as if we believed what we profess?”
St. John says in the second reading “Those who say, ‘I know him,’ but do not keep his commandments are liars, and the truth is not in them.”
Even if we struggle, not having the absolute faith of the Saints, we are called to live lives that proclaim us as followers of the Risen Christ. Even when it is not comfortable to do so; even when it is unpopular to follow the commandments we have received, we are called to live lives that bear witness to our Christian beliefs (St. Justin said this too in his call to the Eucharistic feast).
The time is here to stand up and be counted. We are being challenged by our Government and by the secularists and atheists who support it to roll over; to as one heckler at our recent march to the Federal Building shouted “Get over it.” We must not “get over it” we owe it to all the people of God not to “get over it.” We are challenged to tell the world, we will not negotiate our right to be true to our religious beliefs. (I won’t go further now but most of you know how I feel about this issue.)
In conclusion, sacred scripture reminds us how difficult it is to believe in the Easter Miracle and the Saints challenge us to have the faith necessary to embrace the love of God demonstrated by those events. We are also challenged to be true to our beliefs, standing against any who would dispute our identities as faithful Christians. We ask a merciful God that our test not be as great as the Lord’s (or that of Cleophas who was killed by the same Jewish leadership that killed his foster-nephew).
Pax
[2] The picture used is “Christ Taking Leave of the Apostles” by Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1308-11
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] hypocrite. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hypocrite
[5] liar. (n.d.). Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/liar
No comments:
Post a Comment