Awesome Easter Surprise! There Is No Sense Like Nonsense.

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Awesome Easter Surprise!

There Is No Sense Like Nonsense”

Holy Saturday
At the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night of Easter, Year C

For many people the story of that first Easter morning is sheer nonsense. Even the Apostles didn’t believe it when the women returned excitedly from the empty tomb and told them they had seen Jesus. Sadly the passage of time hasn’t made believing the Resurrection narrative any easier. As a matter of fact, the dawning of the age of cynicism and the challenges of living in a materialistic society are formidable obstacles to having any faith in anything other than the here and now.

Let’s face it we all have our doubts! We all have more than a little bit of “Thomas” in us, the Thomas who would not believe until he put his fingers into the wounds where the nails had been. Thomas was lucky; he was able to see with his own eyes. But we fall into that “blessed” category, as in, “Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed”.  

Many or our contemporaries have abandoned their faith completely. Others are “casual worshipers” whose faith is a matter of convenience. According to the Pew Research Center, twenty percent of Americans and a third of people under the age of thirty are religiously “unaffiliated”. Officially dubbed “Nones” as to their religious preference. We seem to have lost that excitement, the awesome bewilderment of what lies in store for those who believe in Jesus who, by his own experience of resurrection, tells us that one-day we too will rise from the dead. It really does seem too good to be true!

Our journey of faith is a gradual one. We grow a little at a time; we mature in our faith slowly. A prayerful spirit, a generous heart, charitable words and deeds deepen our faith and peal away our skepticism and disbelief so that Jesus becomes real to us and invites us into a personal relationship with him. When Jesus is a part of our lives, when we know that he lives, we experience today’s remarkable story with excitement and joy knowing with absolute certainty that Jesus is not to be found among the dead. And, although it sounds like nonsense, for those who believe, death will not get the last word. For we were all created to live in the kingdom where Jesus, the firstborn from the dead, reigns forever.  

Happy Easter!

Deacon Tom

Image Credit: wghsuccess.com

How To Avoid Making the Stones Cry Out

Deacon Tom Writes

“How To Avoid Making The Stones Cry Out”

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, Year C

The tide of public opinion can change quickly. But the tide of public opinion is often nothing more than the collective mindset of the crowd that happens to gather at the moment. Today the crowd gathers to welcome Jesus and to sing his praises. Why not? He has a good reputation in the minds people. Word of his good works has spread throughout the land. He is a healer, worker of miracles, and advocate for the poor and disheartened. To some he is a prophet; to others he is the Messiah; to the religious authorities, he is a big problem!

Word spreads of his arrival in the city to celebrate Passover with his friends; many turn out to welcome him. The people are in a festive mood and they greet Jesus waving their palm branches and raising a chorus of “Hosanna”, for somehow they recognize the presence of God in their midst. As the spirit of hope fills the air, the Pharisees, the ones for whom Jesus is a problem, tell him to, “Rebuke your disciples”. Jesus responds, “If they were to keep quiet, I tell you, the very stones would cry out”.

What a difference a few days can make. As Jesus stands before Pilate, the Pharisees don’t appeal to Jesus to control his disciples; instead they’re fueling the crowd’s ignorance, stirring them up to advance their agenda – to get rid of the thorn in their side, Jesus. The finger pointing, the false accusations, the skillful manipulation of the emotions of the crowd work in their favor and Jesus is condemned to death. The only spirit at work in the crowd on that day is the hardness of heart that, to this day, continues to blind many to God’s presences in their lives.

Our scripture readings today help us to see Jesus as both the hope for and the scourge of our world. For believers Jesus is the, “Way, the truth, and the life”. For others Jesus is a hindrance to living a life unchecked, unrestrained by any moral or ethical code. With Jesus out of the way, there are no restrictions to living a self-absorbed, it’s all about me, taking care of number one lifestyle. Any good that one may do in this state is done solely because it gives one individual pleasure, a sense of feeling good. There is no sense of any common good, let alone any awareness of belonging to the “Mystical Body of Christ”.

I suspect that many of the people in the crowd on Good Friday were also there to greet Jesus on Palm Sunday. Today we have a chance to imagine what we would have done if we were present at these two remarkably different events. Better yet, we can look into our lives and see what crowds we side with today. Being champions of the poor, the alienated, the marginalized, and the abused will surely help us in our effort to avoid making stones cry out!!!

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

The More Things Change, The More They Remain The Same

Deacon Tom Writes,

“The More Things Change,

The More They Remain The Same”

Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year C

There is much commentary today about the vanishing middle class, how they have been left behind in our new economy. Low paying jobs with no benefits, the sparsely of full time employment, and the high cost of living have combined to forced many mothers and fathers to work two, sometimes three jobs to provide for the basic need of their family. Stirred up by politicians and the media people have become angry that they haven’t been getting their “fair share” and, there is ample evidence to support this sentiment. There is a spirit of bitterness, resentment, and even hatred festering in the hearts of many people. As I read today’s gospel in light of these realities I sense that old truism at work, “The more things change, the more things remain the same”. For, as we read today, the older brother felt that he too wasn’t getting his fair share either.

I sense these are the same emotional struggles the older brother in today’s gospel had to contend with when his younger brother up and left, perhaps to “find himself” in the big city of his day. This older brother had stayed at home; he worked the farm, probably having to take on additional responsibilities because of his brother’s sudden departure. He probably felt that his father was giving away what was rightfully his by his birthright when his younger brother flew the coup. He was resentful and had every right to be because his brother violated the social norms of the times and, upon his return, seems to suffer no ill consequence. Even more challenging, he seems to be rewarded for his bad behavior. Most of us today identify with this older brother and sympathize with him.

If we spend some time with this reading, however, our eyes may be opened to the beauty of this parable wherein we are able to see how God not only refuses to see our bad behavior but also readily welcomes us back when we come to our senses. For the younger son, it was his errant behavior, his disrespect for his father and brother, his selfishness and wanton behavior that God overlooks. The older brother, too, is in need of forgiveness for his failing to recognize his fathers need to stand by his son who made a mistake and was man enough to admit it. This parable ends, however, and leaves us wondering if the older son ever comes to his senses and joins the banquet with his father.

This parable gives us insight into God’s very nature, i.e. one of  “unconditional love”. God willingly overlooks all our faults and sins and welcomes us home with open arms when we return. For God does not “count our trespasses against us”.  

We are called to forgive “seventy times seven time” Jesus tells us according to St. Mathew (Mt 18:22). Perhaps, if we practiced to forgive this many times….. we would become good at it, and things would change for the better!

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Image Credit:Act Of Forgiveness, after Giotto 1450 reproduction