Easter Sunday 2020 ***

                                    Easter Sunday 

                                   

The Church uses many different readings on Easter. The Vigil Mass has seven readings from the Old Testament: St. Paul's famous letter to the Romans--"Christ raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over Him:" and St. Matthew's account of  the angel at the empty tomb, "go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead'." In the afternoon Mass we have St. Luke's account of the risen Lord's appearance to the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

This morning's Mass, however, begins with a reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Peter is preaching. Remember how prominently Peter appeared in the readings during Holy Week. Last Sunday he told Jesus that he would follow Him to prison, even to death. But our Lord predicted that Peter would deny Him three times before the cock crows. Peter's subsequent denial is one of the few things reported in all four gospels. 

Today it's a different Peter. He gives as good an account of the life and work of Jesus as you will find anywhere. Then he bears witness to the Resurrection,

            This man God raised on the third day and granted 

            that He be visible...to us,...

            who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead.

Finally, he makes the claim "that everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins through His name." 

However, it's easy to imagine that Peter might have felt differently after the death of Jesus. He didn't know how the story was going to come out. What was there to believe? As St. John says in today's gospel, "they did not yet understand the Scripture that He had to rise from the dead." Not only had his Lord been brutally tortured and killed, but Peter had also turned his back on Jesus. He especially could have no hope of a resurrection or new day.  Wouldn't Peter think that his own sin, his own lack of faith could never be forgiven?

Then Mary Magdalene comes rushing in on the first Easter Sunday morning to tell them that the tomb is empty. Fearing that the Lord's body had been stolen Peter and John race to the tomb only to find the burial cloths neatly rolled up with no evidence of foul play. St. John tells us that "he saw and believed." St. Luke tells us that Peter was "amazed."  

Is this why we're all here today on this Easter Sunday morning? Are we all here today to peer inside the empty tomb? The empty tomb itself means nothing. We will not find our Lord among the dead. His appearances among the living are what matter. Over the next fifty days we'll hear about all of His appearances. He'll appear to Mary Magdalene in the garden; to the disciples on the road to Emmaus; to the Apostles in the upper room; to doubting Thomas; to the fishermen in Galilee; and to countless other witnesses. Finally, His Holy Spirit will come upon them at Pentecost.. 

As we listen to these witnesses we'll have to examine our own belief. After all, St. Paul said that "if Christ is not risen, our faith is in vain." In other words if Christ is not risen, there will be no resurrection for us. However, maybe some of us feel like we're in the same position as Peter. Maybe doubts have crept in, maybe we're too secure, maybe something has caused us to deny our Lord and turn our backs on Him. 

The only way to rekindle our faith is to act differently. We have to realize that like the Apostles we are called to be witnesses of the Risen Christ. St. Paul calls us the "yeast" that leavens the dough. In our own little way each of us is called to bring Christ to each other. Last week during the reading of the Passion, our Lord said to Peter:

            Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded 

            to sift all of you like wheat,

            but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail;

            and once you have turned back,

            you must strengthen your brothers.

The Albanian nun who became Mother Teresa did not wait for someone else to pick up that little deserted child in the street and bathe his sores. She saw the Risen Christ in him and in all the others she helped. Did the young Polish priest who became John Paul II ever imagine when he took his first vows that he would bring the Risen Christ to more people than all the previous Popes put together? 

The word "Easter" comes from a Germanic goddess of spring. Latin peoples use the word pasqua from the Jewish pasch or passover. When the Germanic peoples were converted the Church wisely associated the word for Springtime with the feast of the Risen Lord. All around us new life is springing from the dead of winter. And so, as St. Paul says,

            let us celebrate the feast,

            not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness,

            but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

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Reading 1. Acts 10:34a, 37-43

Reading II. Colossians 3: 1-4 or 

1 Corinthians 5: 6b-8

Gospel. John 20: 1-9 (Easter).

***Note: I received the message below in an email this week and thought it particularly appropriate this year when all the churches are closed due to the coronavirus.

 The very first Easter was not in a crowded worship space with singing and praising. On the very first Easter the disciples were locked in their house. It was dangerous for them to come out. They were afraid. They wanted to believe the good news they heard from the women, that Jesus had risen. But it seemed too good to be true. They were living a time of such despair and such fear. If they left their homes, their lives and the lives of their loved ones might be at risk. Could a miracle really have happened? Could life really have won out over death? Could this time of terror and fear really be coming to an end?

 Alone in their homes they dared to believe that hope was possible, that the long night was over and morning had broken, that God's love was the most powerful of all, even though it didn't seem quite real yet. Eventually, they were able to leave their homes, when the fear and danger had subsided, they went around celebrating and spreading the good news that Jesus was risen and love was the most powerful force on the earth.

This year, we might get to experience a taste of what that first Easter was like, still in our homes daring to believe that hope is on the horizon. Then, after a while, when it is safe for all people, when it is the most loving choice, we will come out, gathering together, singing and shouting the good news that God brings life even out of death, that love always has the final say!

> This year, we might get the closest taste we have had yet to what that first Easter was like.

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Palm Sunday

                                    Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion

                                   

Jesus Takes up His Cross
Second Station of the Cross
Assumption, Church, Fairfield CT

Today's  reading of the Passion of our Lord is the highlight of the Church year. This year we heard St. Matthew's account of the Passion. Next year we will hear St. Mark's account and the year after we will have St. Luke's account. Of course, on Good Friday we always have the Passion according to St. John. Although each of the Evangelists approaches the life of Christ in a different way, they draw very close to each other when it comes to the Passion.

The narrative of the Passion which we have just heard seems like a great drama with a cast of characters with whom we can all identify. If we could be in the drama, what role would we play? Would we be like the disciples who fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane? or would we be part of the crowd who mocked and taunted Jesus only a short time after cheering Him and waiving palm branches. 

Maybe we would like a more important role. We could be Pontius Pilate who condemned Jesus, or Peter who denied Him, or even Judas who betrayed Him. Still, it is clear from today's readings that we are supposed to play the part of Jesus, Himself. The Church has always recognized that in His Passion and Death our Lord gave us an example which we must follow. Many times during His time on Earth Jesus said, "Follow Me”. Many times He urged us to take up our cross and follow Him.

Today's readings show that it is through the practice of humility and self sacrifice that we come to follow the Lord. Matthew begins his account of the Passion at the Last Supper. There Jesus told the disciples that He would give up His body and blood for us all, and that they should share in this sacrifice. When He asks us at every Mass to eat His Body and drink His Blood, he is also asking us to share in His sacrifice on Calvary.

Today's first reading is about humility and self sacrifice.

            I gave my back to those who beat me,

            my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;

            my face I did not shield

            from buffets and spitting.

St. Paul in the letter to the Philippians says that Jesus "humbled Himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

This is the point of all of our little sacrifices during Lent. Everything that we gave up or did was to remind ourselves that we do not live just for ourselves.  Humility means giving up our own pride and ambition for the sake of others. Didn't our Lord say that we must deny ourselves in order to save ourselves? that we must lose our life in order to find it? 

Our Lord was a great teacher but the Passion shows us that He taught by example. Even though most of us will not be able to attend Mass today because of the coronavirus, we are still followers of Jesus and we can certainly demonstrate our faith in the practice of humility.

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Reading 1. Isaiah 50: 4-7

Reading II. Philippians 2: 6-11

Gospel. Matthew 26: 14--27: 66 (the Passion).

Raising of Lazarus

                                    5th Sunday of Lent

                                    

Giotto: Raising of Lazarus

Today’s first reading is from the book of the prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel is an unusual prophet because his words are spoken in a land far away from Jerusalem or Judea. He along with the remains of the Jewish nation had been taken captive and enslaved after their homeland had been conquered and destroyed by foreigners. In a way Ezekiel and his fellow captives were the lucky ones since many of their people had died in the invasion.

Today’s reading is part of one of the most famous passages in the Hebrew Scriptures. The prophet has a vision of a vast, dry, desert valley filled with bones. Suddenly at the word of the Lord the bones arise and are covered with flesh, and the Spirit of the Lord breathes life into them. Scholars tell us that Ezekiel is speaking of a future time when his people as a nation will rise and return to their homeland. The Lord says, “I will put my spirit in you that you may live.’

Is it any wonder that the Church uses this prophecy to introduce today’s gospel account of the raising of Lazarus from the dead? The gospel of St. John is filled with signs. Last week we saw that our Lord gave sight to the beggar, blind from birth, to indicate that He was the Light of the world. We saw how as a result of this great miracle, the leaders of the people began to plot against Jesus. He was forced to leave Jerusalem.

Nevertheless, when Jesus hears that his dear friend, Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, is ill, He decides to return to Judea. On the way He realizes that Lazarus has died, but resolves to perform the greatest of His signs.

He said this, and then told them,“Our friend Lazarus is asleep,but I am going to awaken him.”

As they say, the rest of the story is history. Not only did Jesus come to bring ‘light’ to the world, the raising of Lazarus was a sign that He came to bring ‘life’ to the world.

I am the resurrection and the life;whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.

He went to the tomb and cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” St. John tells us that after this incredible sign many came to believe but when Jesus gave new life to Lazarus, he sealed His own death warrant. He came to give life but now those who cannot believe plot to kill Him. Next week on Palm Sunday we will hear the story of His Passion and Death.

In this last week of Lent it might be good for us to consider the words of St. Paul in today’s second reading. He says, “Those who are “in the flesh cannot please God.” By “in the flesh,” St. Paul means living in a kind of captivity such as experienced by those Israelites who had been enslaved along with Ezekiel. In another place Paul describes the works of the flesh as ‘immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like.”

Paul contrasts those works with the fruits of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Only an apple tree can produce apples. If we exhibit the fruits of the Spirit, then the Spirit is in us. Paul is certain that it is the Spirit that will free us from the captivity of the flesh and raise us from the dead. 

If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,

The One who raised Christ from the dead

Will give life to your mortal bodies also,

Through his spirit dwelling in you.

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Reading 1. Ezekiel 37: 12-14

Reading II. Romans 8: 8-11

Gospel. John 11: 1-45 (raising of Lazarus).  

Healing the Blind Man

                                    4th Sunday of Lent

                               

Stained Glass Window
St. Joseph's Basilica
Alameda, CA*

Since Lent began the first reading for each Sunday has presented us with great figures from the Old Testament. First, there was the story of Adam and Eve. Then we heard the story of the calling of Abraham, the father of Israel. Last week"s reading was about Moses, the deliverer of his people from captivity. Today's reading is about David, the greatest of the kings of Israel.  

But David was not always a great king. Today we see him as the youngest and the least of the many sons of Jesse. Nevertheless, David is chosen over his brothers because, 

            Not as man sees does God see,

            because man sees the appearance

            but the Lord looks into the heart.

Today's gospel also deals with a nobody, the poor beggar, blind from birth. I would love to see a film depicting this incident. It would take a great comic actor to portray the role of the blind beggar. In my mind I can visualize Roberto Benigni, the greatest Italian comic actor of our time, in the role. Who can forget his exuberant performance in the Academy Award winner, Life Is Beautiful, or his even more exuberant performance at the ceremony when he won the award.

It is not hard to understand the emotional roller coaster of the blind beggar in today’s gospel.  A man he cannot even see has made a paste of clay and spittle and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. He washes and miraculously begins to see for the first time in his life. What’s the result? People can’t believe their own eyes. They can’t even believe that he is the same person. Then he is dragged into court and interrogated by officials who also refuse to believe their own eyes. 

The officials next question the beggar’s parents who testify that their son had indeed been blind from birth. In a way, they are also on trial since it was believed that their son’s blindness was also the result of their sin. We may think that blaming the parents for the son’s blindness is an outmoded and superstitious concept. Yet, still today many people blame their parents for what has gone wrong with their lives. Even worse, many counsellors and psychologists will encourage disturbed people to look back and blame others for their plight and not consider their own responsibility.

Even before he had healed the blind man, Jesus had emphatically denied that physical blindness was the result of sin. He continually insisted that sickness or accidents were not caused by sin but that sin was the result of turning away from the spiritual truth that had been implanted in all our hearts. Wherever he went, Jesus was a healer.

The real sin of the Pharisees was in refusing to see what God had done for the blind man. It was as if they would have preferred him to remain in darkness instead of rejoicing at his miraculous gift of sight. Today’s readings are all about seeing and not seeing, about light and darkness. As St. Paul says in the second reading,

Live as children of light,

For light produces every kind of goodness

And righteousness and truth

The Pharisees are still among us. In fact, we are all prone to see things as they did and to ignore the evidence of our own two eyes. I would like to end with a statement by Anna Jameson, a very great lady of the nineteenth century, who suffered much in her own life. She refliected on a sermon that she had heard in church by a preacher whose preaching sounded like the Pharisees.

.

He is really sublime, this man! with his faith in “the religion of pain,” and “the deification of sorrow!” But is he therefore right? What has he preached to us to-day with all the force of eloquence, all the earnestness of conviction? that “pain is the life of God as shown forth in Christ;”—“that we are to be crucified to the world and the world to us.” This perpetual presence of a crucified God between us and a pitying redeeming Christ, leads many a mourner to the belief that this world is all a Golgotha of pain, and that we are here to crucify each other. Is this the law under which we are to live and strive? 

Surely there is a great difference between the resignation or the endurance of a truthful, faithful, loving, hopeful spirit, and this dreadful theology of suffering as the necessary and appointed state of things! I, for one, will not accept it. Even while most miserable, I will believe in happiness; even while I do or suffer evil, I will believe in goodness; even while my eyes see not through tears, I will believe in the existence of what I do not see—that God is benign, that nature is fair, that the world is not made as a prison or a penance. While I stand lost in utter darkness, I will yet wait for the return of the unfailing dawn,—even though my soul be amazed into such a blind perplexity that I know not on which side to look for it, and ask “where is the East? and whence the dayspring?” For the East holds its wonted place, and the light is withheld only till its appointed time.

God so strengthen me that I may think of pain and sin only as accidental apparent discords in his great harmonious scheme of good! Then I am ready—I will take up the cross, and bear it bravely, while I must; but I will lay it down when I can, and in any case I will never lay it on another.

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*Image by Richard DeMarco. Click on image to enlarge.

Reading 1. 1 Samuel 16: 1b, 6-7, 10-13a

Reading II. Ephesians 5: 8-14

Gospel. John 4: 9: 1-41 (the man born blind).