Claire Smith

Scripture:

Acts 4:32-37
John 3:7b-15

Reflection:

Hello Nicodemus!

We are with Nicodemus, the man who first came to Jesus at night. He moves from darkness to the light, faith in Jesus. He will grow to accept a “gift from above”; he will look upon the Son of Man lifted up; with Joseph of Arimathea he places Jesus in a tomb sealing in its darkness, a darkness chosen by men because of wicked deeds.  Nicodemus’ faith grew. As a follower of Jesus he touched the Cross and was enveloped by the light, the light that burst forth Easter morning.

‘No one has gone up to heaven except the One who came down from there…who must be lifted up, so that all who believe may have eternal life in him.’

We can identify with Nicodemus as we grow in faith, navigating ourselves through times of darkness, touching the Cross before the victory of the cross touches us.

But we are also already men and women of faith. We are blessed because without seeing the Lord we believe.

If we find ourself thinking, ‘I have faith but I know my faith can grow’ and ‘can I really celebrate the light and glory and joy of the Risen One? Maybe I’m not quite there yet..’. How our liturgy wants to teach us! On Pentecost Sunday we hear the Easter Gospel of Jesus appearing to those locked in for fear, and how Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit upon the hearts of these fearful friends. Acts tells us all of these Easter days the powerful work of the Holy Spirit a work among us, it is ours – to use the words of Emily Dickinson – we who are ‘the meek members of the Resurrection’ – or the ones hesitant to let out, !alleluia!, The Spirit will surprise us and guide us and un-fear us.

Let us get to know Nicodemus much better, that is to say, the Nicodemus of the Resurrection, the one whose house is always lit up!

The invitation to pray Eucharistic Prayer these days tells us: we are overcome with Paschal joy! This is the time to acclaim more gloriously our ransom from death and the time of eternal life! The sacrifices of old are fulfilled in the raising up of the Cross! Angels gaze in wonder and we share in His destiny! ….there will always be new words to remind us to celebrate with joy.

A church father has said the apostles did not see Jesus, rather Jesus showed himself to them. Hummm. He seems to be saying that Jesus, the risen one is always with us, but Jesus chooses when and how to show himself that we can see. We need never be disappointed that we did not ‘see Jesus’ like the apostles or women who were at the tomb. Always we have the opportunity of recognizing Jesus in the faces of our brothers and sisters. In them the risen Lord chooses to show himself to us. We see Jesus revealed now in those bearing his wounds. Jesus even invites us to touch them. Or as Matthew 25, puts it when he lists those on the margins, saying that to touch their wounds is to touch those of Jesus.

We have so many reasons to continue to celebrate. Our Risen Lord is that close to us!

Fr. William Murphy, CP is a member of Immaculate Conception Community in Jamaica, New York.

Scripture:

Acts 4:32-35
1 John 5:1-6
John 20:19-31

Reflection:

There was no needy person among them,
for those who owned property or houses would sell them,
bring the proceeds of the sale,
and put them at the feet of the apostles,
and they were distributed to each according to need.  -Acts 4:34-35

My all-time favorite song is “To Dream the Impossible Dream” from the 1965 Broadway Hit Musical, “The Man of La Mancha” which tells of a man who sees the world differently than most of his contemporaries. Relatedly, reading the Book “Don Quixote” (1605) by Miguel de Cervantes as a college student is the first classic I remember reading and thoroughly enjoying, even laughing out loud in the library where I often studied.

Growing up on the northwest corner of Chicago in the early 1950’s my mother decided we needed our own “summer home”. She talked my hard-working father into believing this was a good idea. I believe their ultimately realized dream, leading to building, and owning a second residence, did more for bringing our family of six children, soon to be seven, together than any other experience that we shared as a family. It also has served as the cement that sixty to seventy years later, continues keeping us together, loving and supporting each other.

Jesus, your followers as witnessed in the above scripture, were willing to dream and take you seriously (Go, sell all that you have and come, follow me) as many professed religious and lay people do today, living life supporting each other in every way. Often, you and today’s dreamers and doers are marginalized and ridiculed. Thank you for their witness and help me today to continue to dream and follow yours and their examples, no matter what the cost.    

Dan O’Donnell is a Passionist Partner and a longtime friend of the Passionists.  He lives in Chicago.  

Scripture:

Acts 4:13-21
Mark: 16:9-15

Reflection:

Tucked away in a grove of trees on the campus of St Anselm College in New Hampshire is a small cemetery where dozens of Benedictine monks are buried. It is a quiet spot with uneven grass on sandy soil. The headstones are identical, lined in orderly rows under tall, soft evergreens. Above the name of each monk is the inscription “Here Will Rise,” a stark reminder of our central belief as disciples of Jesus Christ.

During Easter season the readings are filled with provoking reminders of this foundational creed, including today’s readings.

The ugly scene on Calvary left Jesus’ followers deeply depressed and overwhelmed by despair. Who among us has not had such feelings when a terminal sickness, fatal accident, suicide, divorce, murder, addiction, bankruptcy, a house fire, a natural disaster, war or a myriad of any number of other tragedies befall us?

During such moments, when our discipleship pilgrimage with Christ aborts, we can sink into seemingly unending anguish and hopelessness, feeling alone and passive before the forces of darkness. We may well wonder if our faith has been little more than a well-meaning delusion all along.

The temptation in such pain-filled moments is to give up faith entirely, to manage our own lives on our own terms, licking our wounds, and finding our own way, perhaps returning to selfish lives of pleasure and accumulation of honors and possessions.

Or we might re-imagine our faith as an after-life hope with a triumphant Christ, limiting Him to our individual hearts in a comforting Jesus-and-me-alone spirituality.

The deeper challenge is to let Christ use our pain to be in solidarity with people who are also in the shadows of life . . . the sick, the grieving, the lonely, the mentally ill, the addicted, the shunned. I can ask Christ for the grace to lift me out of the tomb to a resurrection, to live differently, in deep trust and deep surrender to Christ. It is a call to follow a radical Jesus, carrying into us a radical hope that, in partnership with Him, we rise above our sorrows to confront the evils of our collective idolatries that cause so much human misery: possessions, competition, militarism, selfish pride, and social esteem.

We pray to the living Christ, our life partner in resisting evil and building a reign of love. He is a partner who is ready to take charge of our wills, our feelings, our talents, our intellects, all that we possess in order to conform us to the will of God.

Isn’t this deep spiritual response to life’s harshest sufferings what resurrection is all about? The resurrection isn’t just the top-of-the-tombstone inscription above those monks’ names. It is a radical transformation of a limited, superficial, self-focused life here and now into a loving union with a loving Christ. In fully surrendering to this risen Christ, all our sufferings are transformed into goodness, and, over time, by God’s grace, into inner peace and joy. Not fearing death any longer, we are truly liberated to fall into the loving arms of Christ, letting him guide our everyday choices, feeling his presence in our hearts and in the events and people that are part of our pilgrimage.

Jim Wayne is a board member of the Passionist Solidarity Network (PSN), and author of The Unfinished Man. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.