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The Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year A)

Jesus is the Lord of his Church and the teacher of all: after his ascension into heaven, he teaches, sanctifies, and governs Christians through the ministry of the apostles initially, and after the apostles’ deaths, through the ministry of their successors, the bishops.

In the second reading taken from 1 Peter 2:4-9, St. Peter emphasizes the common priesthood of the laity. In baptism, every Christian is made a priest through an intimate union with Jesus Christ. Yet, this requires us to ask the question, “What exactly is a priest?” Well, priests are priests insofar as they offer sacrifice, which is the unique activity of priests that distinguishes them.

All Christians are to offer everything their lives entail back to God the Father through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit as a spiritual sacrifice. Every little work, every little suffering, every little problem in life may be offered to the Father in union with Jesus for the salvation of ourselves and others – for an increase in personal holiness. This continual priestly offering of our lives to God the Father culminates in the Mass when we unite ourselves with the sacrifice of Jesus. In fact, during the offertory when the bread and wine are carried to the sanctuary, we are to be silently offering ourselves spiritually in union with those gifts.

Our lay priestly role both needs and is supported by those ministerial priests who are ordained by the laying on of the hands. These men offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the person of Christ the Head and are assisted by the deacons. The first reading (Acts 6:1-7) tells of the appointment and ordination of the first seven deacons. “They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them.”

Today’s Gospel comes from John 14:1-12, wherein Jesus is shown to be the fullness of God’s revelation. Jesus proclaims: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” and “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” As our High Priest, Jesus offers himself as the perfect sacrifice acceptable to God the Father. It is only by way of Jesus that any human being will ever enter heaven and experience the eternal, divine life of God.

God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth: that is, of Christ Jesus. Christ must be proclaimed to all nations and individuals, so that this revelation may reach to the ends of the earth. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #74)

In the Old Testament, Israel had Aaron and his sons as its high priests, the Levites as ministerial priests, and yet all of Israel was called to be a royal priesthood. This threefold configuration prefigured the New Israel: the Catholic Church, which consists of (1) our High Priest, (2) the ministerial priesthood and (3) the common priesthood.

The Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year A)

Today is the Fourth Sunday of Easter, and we continue our reading of the Book of Acts of the Apostles, which we have been reading from since Easter Sunday. This book, placed in the Bible right after the Four Gospels (after John’s Gospel, specifically), is actually the second half of one book. Originally, the Gospel of Luke was attached to Acts of the Apostles. The Gospel of Luke came first and then Acts of the Apostles is the rest of the story from St. Luke’s point of view. So, when you’re at home reading your Bible (I know all of you are doing this, right?), read St. Luke’s Gospel then immediately read Acts of the Apostles. In our Bibles, John’s Gospel is placed between the two (in order to put the Gospels together), which artificially separates what was originally together: Luke & Acts.

What’s so interesting about Acts of the Apostles is that in it, Luke uses the same phrases and words for the Church that he used in his Gospel for Jesus. He does this intentionally, in order to show us that the Church is an extension of the Incarnation. That is, in the Catholic Church (which is the same Church as the Church in Acts of the Apostles – only our Church is that old with the pope succeeding St. Peter), the life of Jesus is continued. The Church is truly the Mystical Body of Christ. It is in the Church that Jesus continues to preach, teach, govern, heal, and sanctify.

Jesus established the Church in order to bring all men and women to eternal life: into communion with God the Father through Jesus, the Eternal Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Pope John Paul II put it this way: “God has entered human history so that through his Son, we might be drawn into his own divine life!” Did you catch that? The purpose of the Church is to bring the world to eternal life: the life of the Trinity!

Every year, the Gospel for this Fourth Sunday of Easter is taken from the 10th Chapter of the Gospel of John, which is where Jesus refers to himself as “the good shepherd” (10:11), so this Sunday is also known as Good Shepherd Sunday. Today, we listen to Jesus say: “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” (10:10). Jesus also tells us that the shepherd “walks ahead of [the sheep] and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice” (10:4). Jesus has walked ahead of us through suffering, through death, and into the new life of the resurrection!

The Church pairs John 10:1-10 with 1 Peter 2:20-25 because Peter speaks of how we are to “follow in his footsteps” by suffering for the good without complaint and living for righteousness. Finally, Peter calls Jesus “the shepherd and guardian of your souls” (v. 25). Our shepherd speaks to us daily in the divine Scriptures. Do we value that voice and adhere to it with our lives?

The Third Sunday of Easter (Year A)

Today’s Gospel was written for Christians who attend Sunday Mass, and while Saint Luke recorded his Gospel, he kept this in mind and planted various hints and clues in what he wrote that we can pick up on.

The account of the Appearance on the Road to Emmaus is structured upon the Mass. First of all, Luke records that this appearance took place on “the first day of the week” (24:1, 13), which is Sunday, the day that Christians gathered to celebrate the Eucharist because that is the day when Jesus rose from the dead in the Resurrection.

Secondly, Jesus “interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures” (v. 27), which is exactly what happens in the first half of the Mass: the Liturgy of the Word. First, we read from both the Old and the New Testaments, and the readings are correlated so that we see how the New fulfills the Old. Then, the priest gives a homily in order to show how this is the case, how the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ expressed in the Gospel and the New Testament readings is the fulfillment of the history of Israel and the rest of mankind, which is recounted in the Old Testament. For example, today we listen to St. Peter use Psalm 16 in reference to the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2:22-28).

Then, Luke recounts how this experience of the traveling disciples of the risen Christ culminates in their sharing a meal with him. Just as at the Last Supper and as in Mass, Jesus “took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them” (v. 30). Luke describes this experience as “the breaking of the bread” (v. 35), which is an early Christian name for the Mass. Jesus is made known to the disciples in the breaking of the bread, so says Luke. This is the second half of the Mass: the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

With this in mind, do the words of the disciples ring true for you when they said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?” Do you listen carefully to the readings proclaimed at the ambo by the readers, and if so, are you able to understand how the readings fit together in harmony? Are the Scriptures opened up to us in the homilies our pastors preach? Do our hearts burn within us at Mass, wherein we get excited about God’s inspired Word – so much so that we desire to own and read a Bible in the privacy of our homes?

More importantly, do we recognize Jesus in “the breaking of the bread,” which is the Eucharist? Each time that you and I approach the sacred host in the communion line and say “Amen” to “The Body of Christ,” we acknowledge that we are consuming the very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus! Let us make our “Amen” in truth and sincerity.

The Second Sunday of Easter (Year A)

On April 30, 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized St. Faustina Kowalska (b. 1905; d. 1938): a Polish nun, mystic, and visionary who wrote a diary recounting her mystical experiences. This diary focuses upon the crucial theme of the abundant mercy of God in and through the person and work of Jesus Christ. In it, St. Faustina tells us of something Jesus communicated to her concerning the Second Sunday of Easter:

On that day, the very depths of my tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of my mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day, all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. (#699)

When Pope John Paul II canonized St. Faustina, he designated the 2nd Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday in the General Roman Calendar. In fact, he died during the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday in 2005.

It should be of no surprise to us that the liturgical readings we are fed by Mother Church on this Sunday follow the theme of the Divine Mercy. The first reading from Acts 2:42-47 tells of the communal life of the first Christian community in Jerusalem following Pentecost. They devoted themselves to doctrine, charity, liturgy, and fervent prayer (Not coincidentally, the Four Pillars of the Catechism of the Catholic Church): “to the teaching of the apostles, to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread, and to the prayers.” This fervent charismatic community grew in number daily: “And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” We respond to this first reading with Psalm 118, wherein we acclaim, “His mercy endures forever!” three times.

The second reading (1 Peter 1:3-9) and the Gospel (John 20:19-31) both combine the theme of the great mercy of God through the forgiveness of sins with the theme of believing although we have not personally seen the glory of the Lord as the first apostles did.

As God “breathed into [Adam’s] nostrils the breath of life and Adam became a living being” (Gen 2:7), so in the Upper Room, Jesus “breathed on [the apostles] and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained‘” (John 20:22-23). While Adam forsook the supernatural life of grace he was given by God, Jesus the New Adam abundantly bestows mercy and the divine life of the Spirit upon those reborn in him.

Today in the here and now, the Lord “desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). “Behold, now is the acceptable time! Behold, now is the day of salvation!” (2 Cor 6:2)

Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday (Year A)

A little less than 20 centuries ago, a man walked the roads of a small Roman outpost with great miraculous power and he claimed to be God. As C.S. Lewis has remarked in his famous book, Mere Christianity, either Jesus was an absolute madman or he is who he claims to be: the very Lord of the universe, the king who demands our total allegiance. There is no third option available when one looks at the evidence.

In the suffering of Jesus, in the bodily resurrection of Jesus – wherein his body was completely transformed into a new, resurrected, and glorified body – in Jesus’ ascension into heaven and enthronement as King of Heaven and of Earth, you and I are presented with two options in all of our freedom. We are asked to make a definitive choice in the face of Jesus’ claim.

Either (1) our purpose for gathering on Easter Sunday does not exist and we might as well have been mowing the lawn or sleeping in, or (2) Jesus is who he said he is and the tomb is empty; Jesus has risen, and he now reigns. If the second option is indeed true, then everything changes. In fact, the way we view reality, the way we live our lives, the meaning of “Church” and everything that religion entails becomes the central most important and defining point of our lives.

I believe that all the evidence points us to the second option, an option that remains a choice, a choice for you, a choice for me. So, make a choice and boldly make it. For either Jesus is a failed claimant to the throne or he is the Lord of everything!

The Easter Vigil is celebrated after sundown on Saturday night, and throughout the world, the Church receives into her bosom those who have chosen to respond positively to the reality of Jesus. For this reason, the Scriptural readings for both the Vigil and Sunday proper are filled with baptismal imagery.

In the Vigil, we hear of the Spirit hovering above the waters of creation (Genesis 1:2); the cry of the prophet Isaiah: “All you who are thirsty, come to the water!” (Isaiah 55:1); the promise of God through the prophet Ezekiel: “I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities”; and the sacramental effect of baptism as well as the implications that has for one’s life in the words of Saint Paul (Romans 6:3-11).

On Easter Sunday, we listen to St. Peter recall the baptism of our Lord, wherein “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the holy Spirit and power” (Acts 10:38).

Why all the fuss over baptism at Easter and not at another point in the liturgical year? Because baptism is the principal means by which the fruits of the Resurrection are given to humanity, by which we die to sin and rise to new life in Jesus (See Romans 6:4).

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion (Year A)

In today’s first reading (Isaiah 50:4-7), Isaiah foretells of the famous Suffering Servant. Speaking in the first person, Isaiah wrote: “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. The Lord God is my help; I am not disgraced” (v. 6-7).

The theme given is redemptive suffering. It is through a suffering accepted out of supreme love that this Suffering Servant figure will redeem (a word meaning “to purchase back”) and restore Israel, which has been divided, punished, and exiled due to Israel’s continued idolatry in the face of a loving and constant God. Isaiah tells us that this redemption is not just for Israel, but for the rest of the nations as well, including you and me.

When the time of fulfillment comes, God will do something extraordinary and unexpected. He will take on human flesh and fulfill the vocation of Israel! God will become the suffering servant, a light to the world, our Savior and Redeemer. It is this time and this great work of God that we continue to ponder and remember in the many other readings of today’s Liturgy of the Word, which begins with the Procession with Palms.

In Philippians 2:6-11, St. Paul gives what is perhaps an early Christian hymn that we know of today as the Canticle of Kenosis. “He emptied himself … coming in human likeness … he humbled himself becoming obedient even unto death.” Kenosis is a Greek word taken from the Greek verb kenoo, which Paul uses in this passage and is rendered in the English as “emptied.” This hymn proclaims how God stooped from the lofty height of the heavens and down into our lowly human condition to save us in Jesus Christ.

If you listen closely to the responsorial psalm and the very long Gospel narrative taken from Matthew 26:14 to 27:66, you will see how St. Matthew carefully shows Psalm 22 to be fulfilled in the Passion of Jesus. So, for example, compare the following two passages:

All who see me scoff at me; they mock me with parted lips, they wag their heads: “He relied on the Lord; let him deliver him, let him rescue him, if he loves him.” (Ps 22:8-9)

Likewise, the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. So he is the king of Israel! Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now is he wants him.” (Mt 7:41-43)

See how the readings fit together seamlessly? Christ is at the heart of the Psalms, which served Israel as its official hymnal in the Temple liturgy. God prepared his family for Jesus through their daily prayer back then. Today, God prepares us for eternal life through the readings and prayers we experience today at Mass. Are you paying close attention with attentive ears?

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The Fifth Sunday of Lent (Year A)

Today’s readings, though given in the midst of Lent, pertain to the theme of resurrection. They were chosen because they pertain especially to those who are preparing to be received into the Church at Easter.

One of the underlying and main themes of the Major and Minor Prophets is that of a future event wherein God will restore Israel under the descendant of David. The prophet Ezekiel depicts this event in terms of the resurrection of the body in the first reading taken from Ezekiel 37:12-14: “when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people; I will put my spirit in you that you may live.” Israel will be re-gathered or restored from among the Gentiles, and this great event is foretold by means of the metaphor of a corporate resurrection that involves the giving of God’s Spirit.

The New Testament clearly intends to show how this long-awaited restoration began with the ministry of Jesus and continues through the ministry of the Church – by way of the apostles and their successors.

In the Gospel (John 11:1-45), Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead to fulfill Ezekiel 37. This miracle served as a mouthful of prophetic significance for a Jew living in the 1st century. It is like saying: “Israel is being restored! David’s royal descendant is in our midst!”

Jesus then declares: “I am the resurrection and the life” because Lazarus’ bodily resuscitation points forward to an even greater resurrection: when Jesus will not merely receive a resuscitation but much, much more: a transformed, incorruptible body by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is that resurrection, which will save us from our sins, which will justify us before the Father.

In the second reading (Romans 8:8-11), St. Paul says, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God indwells you.” The former are what we would call “in a state of sin.” They do not have sanctifying grace; they are dead in their transgressions. The latter group has received the Spirit of God in baptism (see Romans 6:3-4), and they are inwardly members of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. They have not lost sanctifying grace through mortal sin (See 1 John 5:16-17) or have done so and then re-entered the state of grace through the Sacrament of Reconciliation (See John 20:21-23).

The raising of Lazarus speaks of what will happen to the unbaptized elect and the baptized candidates for full communion this Easter. They will receive new life in the Holy Sacraments. They will be mystically incorporated into the Family of God by means of the Holy Spirit. Their sins will be forgiven, and they will receive new life in Christ Jesus their Lord.

The Fourth Sunday of Lent (Year A)

Have you ever wondered where the whole idea of “Messiah” came from? Its origins are found in today’s first reading from 1 Samuel 16 when the prophet Samuel was sent by God to anoint one of the eight sons of Jesse to become the king of Israel. God said, “Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen my king from among his sons” (v. 1). When Samuel found Jesse’s son, David, whom God had chosen to be king, Samuel took “the horn of oil in hand” and “anointed him in the midst of his brothers” (v. 16).

“Messiah” is the Hebrew word for “the anointed one,” and in the Old Testament, men were made into kings through this royal anointing. According to Israelite thought, the title Messiah was equivalent to King.

The psalm we sing is taken from Psalm 23, which was written by King David himself! In this psalm, we both hear and pray, “You anoint my head with oil” (v. 5).

In the Gospel of John (9:1-41), Jesus is shown to be the fulfillment of the Jewish feast of Hanukkah, which is also known as the Festival of Lights – an eight-day celebration commemorating the Second Century B.C. rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt. This festival is observed by the lighting of the eight-candle Menorah. One candle is lit each night, progressing to the eighth on the final night. Jesus is the “light of the world” (v. 5). He rose from the dead on the eighth day of the Jewish week: Sunday!

John the Evangelist tells of Jesus healing “a man blind from birth” (v. 1). Jesus performed this healing in a very curious way: “he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes” (v. 6). The Greek word translated as “smeared” (epichrio) literally means “anointed.” This same verb is used again later in the same passage when this blind beggar gave testimony: “The man called Jesus made clay and anointed (epichrio) my eyes” (v. 11).

Jesus opened this man’s eyes to natural light through this anointing to say what his Paschal Mystery (i.e. Suffering, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension) does for humanity supernaturally. We are blind beggars, wounded by the darkness of sin. Through the royal anointing of Baptism and Confirmation, Jesus unites us with his saving mystery, delivering us from sin and uniting us with “God [who] is light.” (2 John 1:5).

The result has a real, lasting impact in our lives as Paul proclaims in the first reading: “Brothers and sisters: You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth. Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8-10).