Claire Smith

Scripture:

Acts 4:1-12
John 21:1-14

Reflection:

Experiencing someone coming back to life after you clearly knew they were dead has got to rock your world.  A week earlier you were walking to Jerusalem with visions of triumphalism in your mind. You didn’t know exactly what was going to unfold, but you were with Jesus, which gave you and the whole group confidence.  And then the bottom fell out.  Jesus was murdered.  This event shattered your hopes and expectations and left you asking, “Now what?”   The grieving has gone on for a couple of days and you are dealing with deep emotions, confusion and perplexity. 

The readings today are two snapshots taken at two different times after the resurrection.   The Gospel of John would be an account between the crucifixion and Pentecost.  The disciples are no longer in Jerusalem.  Instead, they are back north fishing in the Sea of Tiberius also known as the Sea of Galilee.  We find Peter, James, and John back doing what they grew up doing, fishing.  It makes sense that a person who experiences absolute chaos or trauma would go back to doing what they have known so well.  They would seek comfort. Getting back to something familiar, and into a familiar routine helps this discombobulation. Grounding this behavior in the serenity of nature can only help to settle the turbulence within.  So now they are on the shores, right back to the beginning where they originally met Jesus, fishing in the waters of familiarity.

What a contrast the account from Acts of the Apostles is from the Gospel.  The disciples are no longer confused or frightened.  Transformed by the glory of the resurrection and filled with the Holy Spirit they are challenging people to believe in the Resurrected Christ.  It is yet another classic Lukan narrative.  No one can deny the miraculous healing of the crippled man who everyone knew as he sat by the Beautiful Gate leading out from the city of Jerusalem. And Peter takes no credit. He is quick to give the credit for the healing not to themselves but to the Resurrected One.  This miraculous event doesn’t have a happy ending for everyone. Recall Jesus had promised his disciples as he has promised us, that persecutions will come if we are true to his name.   

In my overview of the resurrection stories this Easter Season, one of the things that stands out is the theme of believing.  Starting first with the disciples, Mark, Luke, and John highlight the disciples’ initial inability to believe.  Jesus will actually call them “Slow to believe.” The tension builds in Acts of the Apostles between those who believe and those who will not believe, as seen in today’s first reading.  This tension will continue to escalate in the early church, and years later, when John the Evangelist writes his Gospel, he will include it as a major theme in the expression of his account.   

My takaways from these readings are threefold:

• Because every day is unique and different, not every day do I walk past the Beautiful Gate; therefore, not every day am I asked to heal the man who was crippled.  But I do need to be attentive to the invitations of the Spirit and the presence of the resurrected Christ.  And this starts by not letting selfishness take the lead in my life.  There will be those days when the Spirit is certainly willing to do something extraordinary.  Am I attentive?
  
• In my daily attentiveness, I see acts of the Resurrected Christ in day-to-day life.  It may look like forgiveness, kindness, compassion or any of the fruits of the Spirit.  Recognizing them and realizing that Christ is present in those moments verifies the reality of the resurrection.  Certainly, this strengthens our faith as we indeed are believers. 
  
• The kindness of Jesus continues to seek us out and bring us back when we have traveled far. And the tenderness in Christ’s demeanor as he persistently connects with the fragility of humanity is highly reflective of the truth of who God is.

May God’s abundant goodness be yours in this Easter Season.

Fr. David Colhour, C.P. is the Provincial Superior of Holy Cross Province. He resides in Chicago, Illinois.

Scripture:

Acts 2:14, 22-23
Matthew 28:8-15

Reflection:

You know how when you have an amazing experience, you must share that story with your friends and family, telling it over and over? Well, the Resurrection story is so exciting and life changing that the Gospels for Easter Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday each tell part of the story.

When I hear a story repeated, I usually discover something that had not previously occurred to me. That is the case with today’s Gospel. Two opposing thoughts stand out in Matthew’s account of the Resurrection: everything has changed, yet nothing has changed.

Everything has changed. Jesus fulfilled his promise that in three days he would rise again. He defeated death with the promise of Resurrection. As the Christ, Jesus, and not the temple, is the center of worship. Within a few weeks, the disciples will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and, as we see in the first reading, will bravely preach the Good News of the Resurrection. 

Nothing has changed. The chief priests refuse to believe that Jesus has risen. They bribe the soldiers to say that the disciples stole the body during the night and then spread that story among the Jewish population. They cannot admit the Resurrection without endangering their economy, authority, and lifestyle. Instead, they will continue to persecute, imprison, and execute Jesus’s disciples.

As we consider our world today, it is easy to conclude that nothing has changed. We have national and international conflicts, migration crises, street violence, terrorism, and significant economic disparities. Individually we still witness physical and mental health crises, separation and divorce, homelessness, disease, and death. Yes, if we stop right there, nothing has changed.

As Passionists we know that the story does not stop at suffering and death. Everything has changed because we have the gift and hope of the Resurrection. When we share our charism, we walk with those who are enduring pain, sorrow, and disappointment. We point to the cross where Jesus suffered, and then we show them the empty tomb and the glory of Him rising from the dead!

Mike Owens is the coordinator of the Passionist Formation Alumni Association and a member of the Province Commission on Migration.  He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord

Scripture:

Acts 10:34a, 37-43
Colossians 3:1-4 or 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8
John 20:1-9 or Matthew 28:1-10

Reflection:

Grace Filled Easter

What lovely words from the Easter sequence, “Yes, tell us again, Mary: what did you see on your journey? I saw the tomb of one who still lives and the glory of the risen one.” Tell us again, Mary, and tell us often today and all the days of Easter! Mary and the women tell us of an experience that we cannot have. They went to anoint the body of Jesus whom they saw die. They had no hope nor expectation to find Jesus alive. Their experience we can only claim in faith.

After Jesus is buried, Matthew tells us that Joseph rolled a large stone to the entrance of the tomb and left. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remain sitting across from the tomb. So ends the day of Jesus’ death. Could the two Marys have been anymore empty or exhausted? On their walk home they must have spoken of returning to anoint the body and giving their dearest friend the dignity of proper burial.

Matthew tells us when the women then went as day was dawning to do their difficult work of fulfilling their love, they found an empty tomb, the large stone rolled back. Sitting on the stone was an angel. There are reflections on the thoughts of the angel Gabriel as he waits for Mary’s response at the Annunciation. What is happening in the angelic mind of this angel? He gets to use words that Jesus once used, ‘not dead but alive’! This angel sees joy begin to well up in two empty hearts, two broken hearts begin to heal. ‘Jesus is alive go to tell the others they will see him in Galilee’.

We know the women are dismissed, unbelievable. What would you and I give to be in the room when the empty of tears, hopeless holy women return. Seeing their indescribable joy, would such a change alone convinced us to believe their word?  Would we have said to Mary, “Tell us again, what did you see on your journey!”

In John’s gospel Peter and John will race to the empty tomb when they hear that Jesus body is not there. They were men who set out perhaps ready to address vandalism or desecration, or were they drawn by the wild grace flowing around Jerusalem that early morning. They ran as men, competing who would be there first. John, the winner, perhaps respectful of Peter’s status and pain waits. But the women run differently. They aren’t used to this type of running. We could say they are running for their new lives, (maybe dancily running)? What Jesus said about life in him and with him is awakening in their thoughts. We hear though that they are ‘half over-joyed and half afraid’. Roller coasters cause such feelings! I’m sure the angel understood. But Jesus doesn’t want these good, loving women, dearest of friends, to be afraid. “Peace!” he says to them. They stop. They look. They embrace his feet and do him homage. “Do not be Afraid”, he says.

Remember Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. If we are empty and full of sorrow, Our Lord is with us to fill us. The bridegroom taken away, the one longed for and searched for has been found. When we are afraid Jesus himself takes away the half that is afraid, so we will be full of joy. Hear what Mary says once again, and again, and again on your journey “I saw the tomb of one who still lives and the glory of the risen one.”

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

Good Friday

Scripture:

Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12
Hebrews 4:14 -16; 5:7-9
John 18:1-19:42

Reflection:

Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice. -John 18:37

When I was a child, Good Friday was a very special and important day in our house. From
noon until three o’clock in the afternoon, there was no television, radio or record player playing.
It was still and quiet. My mother said it was to remember and respect the Passion and Death of
Jesus. We did not attend the communal worship in our parish, instead we read a book or colored.

Around two-thirty in the afternoon, our mother would retrieve her Life of Christ book from the
Catholic Library collection and read the Passion and Death of Jesus to us. As I listened, I
understood some of the story and other parts were not as clear. I remember how the sun shone in the living room as she read, and I felt the sacredness of the moment.

Today I still prefer to have a quiet house from noon until three o’clock and read the Passion of
Jesus from the Gospel. I do have my mother’s Life of Christ book and will read from it this year.

While communal celebration of the liturgy is an essential part of the Catholic faith and worship, on Good Friday I prefer to reflect in solitude and sit in the sacredness of the moment. I will also view Antonio Ciseri’s painting, Ecce Homo and spend time meditating on the moment that Pilate had the opportunity to change the injustice that was occurring but refused the grace of God and buckled under the political pressure of his time. In the painting Ecce Homo, Pilate’s own wife turns her back on the scene where Christ is presented to the people, Ecce Homo, refusing to take part in or give approval to the travesty.

In our busy and noisy world, it is good to take time to be quiet and reflect on those things which have meaning in our lives. May your Triduum embrace the elements of reflection, silence, and celebration, Providing a deeper experience of the love and peace of Christ.

Linda Schork is a theology teacher at Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky.

Holy Thursday

Scripture:

Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-15

Reflection:

LENT IS OVER!  For the past six weeks we have prayed, fasted and performed acts of kindness and service for God’s people.  We begin the Sacred Triduum tonight with the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper!  Holy Thursday celebrates the institution of the Eucharist as Jesus’ body and blood.  The Sacred oils of Catechumens, Sick, and Holy Chrism, blessed by the Bishop at the Chrism Mass will be brought forth in procession ready to be used for anointing of the sick, and anointing in the celebration of Baptism and Confirmation for the coming year.

One of the most important rituals of this liturgy will take place with the washing of one another’s feet.  During the Last Supper, Jesus demonstrated his love for his apostles and for us as he washed the feet of his disciples.  It is important to remember that this action of washing feet during Jesus’ time was a task that was typically reserved for slaves.  In performing this intimate and self-humbling act, Jesus showed just how and so deeply he loved his followers and us. 

Jesus’ unconditional love for us calls us to respond in like manner with our sisters and brothers.  He issued this clarion call to service with these words we hear in the Gospel of John.

“If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.  I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

For me, the Holy Thursday ritual of washing one another’s feet and having someone wash mine in return is profound and humbling. I feel I am on holy ground and feel that undeserved, unconditional and unifying love God has for each one of us.

In preparing this reflection, I came across a reflection by Sr. Joyce Roach, OP relating her experience of working with orphan children in Mexico City many years ago.  Her reflection is entitled; Orphan Feet:  The Story of Carlos.  During her two-week stay, six-year-old Carlos with a ready smile and infectious demeanor, wrapped himself around her heart!  Sr Joyce related how she and Carlos would take daily walks around this very poor area.  One day she noticed Carlos’ feet, covered with sand and dust as were most of the inhabitants of his village.  His feet spoke to her of peoples’ struggles with hardships and brokenness of life, especially the poor, the lonely and the forgotten!  Sr. Joyce took time that day to photograph Carlos’ feet and that picture was shared over the years in her ministry as teacher, counselor, nurse, spiritual director.  She shared with us that just as we have no clear icon of Jesus’ face, but only his words, so it is with Carlos.  His feet, not his face, live on!

I am reminded as I reflect on the story of Carlos and Sr. Joyce of how Pope Francis consistently heeds the call of Jesus as he washes the feet of the ‘Carlos’ in our world, the prisoner, the refugee, the sick and the forgotten on Holy Thursday each year.

Tonight, as we participate in the ritual of feet washing, may we do so with love for all members of the Body of Christ.  May we continue to seek out and serve the Carlos’ who come to our door, walk with dusty and sandy feet on our streets and who humbly remind us of the one who suffered and died so that we may have new life.  Amen.

Have a Blessed and Holy Triduum and Easter!

Theresa Secord is a retired Pastoral Associate at St. Agnes Parish, Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Isaiah 42:1-7
John 12:1-11

Reflection:

Mary Found Favor with God

Every Sunday when we proclaim the Creed, we remind ourselves that we believe in the “Communion of the Saints.”  But what does that mean?

Often when I feel down or caught in discouragement, I like to read the lives of those canonized icons from our rich history, like Teresa of Avila or John of the Cross, or Paul of the Cross, or sometimes I’ll have dinner with saints of today — like my good friend, Gabriel, a Benedictine monk and pastor in a nearby diocese. Like his eponym, the archangel, my generous and kind friend, Gabriel, is a remarkable bearer of Good News or Gospel. That’s what angels do — because they are “God’s messengers.”

In today’s Gospel, the Archangel Gabriel announces to Mary, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”  (Luke 1:30)

But have you ever pondered?

Abel found favor with God, and his brother killed him (Genesis 4:9)
Abraham found favor with God, and was told by God to sacrifice his son (Genesis 22:2)
Hebrew children found favor with God, and wandered for 40 years in loneliness, thirst (Numbers 21:5)
Moses found favor with God, listened to the daily complaints of his people, and never saw the promised land  (Numbers 20:12)
David found favor with God,and suffered bitterly the death of his son (2 Samuel 19:1)
Job found favor with God, and lost fortune, family, wealth & health  (Job 1:13ff)
Elijah found favor with God, and waited under a juniper tree, pondering suicide
(1 Kings 19)
Joseph found favor with God, and he was sold by his bothers into slavery  (Genesis 37:36)
Daniel found favor with God, and ended up in a lion’s den  (Daniel 6:10)
Jeremiah found favor with God, and felt the quiver of God’s arrows in his flesh
Hosea found favor with God, and his wife became a prostitute
John the Baptist found favor with God, and he was violently decapitated  (Matthew 14:10)
Stephen found favor with God, and he was stoned (Acts 7:59)
Paul found favor with God, and was shipwrecked, starved and in prison
Jesus found favor with God, and was beaten, spat upon, crucified

Maybe today is a good time to reflect also on that provocative passage (Isaiah 55:9), “Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.” Confident of God’s unconditional love, we, too, remember St. Teresa of Avila as she was bucked off her horse into a river on the way to visit one of her monasteries: “Dear Lord, if this is how You treat Your friends, it is no wonder You have so few!”

Fr. Jack Conley, CP, is the local superior of St. Vincent Strambi Community in Chicago, Illinois.

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

Scripture:

Mark 11:1-10 or John 12:12-16
Isaiah 50:4-7
Philippians 2:6-11
Mark 14:1-15:47

Reflection:

Todays’ liturgy begins with Christ’s entry into Jerusalem.  After 3 years of incredible healings, miracles and raising people from the dead Jesus finally receives well deserved public acknowledgement.  “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”Mt 21  The word hosana is of Hebrew origin having roots in the word saves Yahshah (Save) appearing some 206 times in OT.  

Jesus comes into Jerusalem riding on a donkey!   One would think He would chose to ride a white stallion!  I take great consolation after 59 years of being a priest that Jesus chose to use a donkey to ride into the hearts of His people.  This is not the last time by any means He used a lowly being to carry Him into the souls of His chosen ones. God does have a wonderful sense of humor!     

Jesus some 83 times in NT called Himself “son on man”.  The most wonderful thing in the history of the universe is that God in Jesus took on our human nature!  Not just a temporary surface appearance but the “Word become flesh”.   For all eternity we can experience the warm loving human face of God!  At the same experience we in awe contact the Divinity.  “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.” Heb 1:3

The rest of the Palm Sunday liturgy is treats of the sufferings of Christ.   “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Phil 2:8   God could not suffer till His incarnation in Jesus.  His ultimate act of love for us is the Passion of Christ.  Now to touch our hard hearts God experienced our excruciating pain in the sufferings of His Son Jesus.   “Greater love than this no man can have,”   

One of the most remarkable lines in the NT is: “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.” John 15:9   In the Palm Sunday Eucharist this whole mystery of God’s love is contained and experienced in an extraordinary way! Jesus said: “This is My Body, the one being given for you” Lk 22:19    “The Eucharist is indelibly marked by the event of the Lord’s passion and death, of which it is not only a reminder but the sacramental re-presentation. It is the sacrifice of the Cross perpetuated down the ages”.  Sacrosanctum Concilium, 47

Fr. Bob Weiss, C.P. preaches Parish Missions and is a member of the Passionist Community in Louisville, Kentucky.