Spread the Word

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Spread the Word”

Third Sunday of Easter, Year A

The only post-resurrection encounters with Jesus recorded in Luke’s gospel take place on Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday is a busy day for Jesus. At dawn some of the woman came to the tomb to complete the burial ritual that was interrupted by the Passover feast. They found the stone rolled back and two men in dazzling white asked them, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has been raised up.” So, they ran off, found Peter, and told him what they had seen and heard. Peter did not believe them and had to go check it out for himself. When he arrived at the tomb, he found it empty, just as the women had said (LK 24:1-10).

Luke continues with the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus and while in route, they encounter a stranger who is totally unaware of the happenings over the past several days, meaning that Jesus had been put to death. This stranger calls these disciples to task admonishing them on how little they learned from the Prophets and He begins to relate to them all that scripture had to say about the Christ. He then reveals His true identity to them when He breaks bread with them. Then he suddenly disappears. LK 24:13-35

These disciples, their hearts on fire, rush back to Jerusalem and meet with Peter and the others and tell them what had just happened to them when, suddenly, Jesus comes into their presence. Jesus shows them His wounds and asks for something to eat. They gave Him some fish and again He reminds all there of what had been written about Him by the Prophets. He then opens their minds so they understand what was written about Him in the scriptures. He then instructs them to be “witnesses of these things” (LK 24: 36-48)

Jesus and the disciples then head out on the road that leads to Bethany and Jesus ascends into heaven (LK 24: 50-53).

Quite a day wouldn’t you say!!! And it’s all in Chapter 24 of St. Luke’s Gospel. In each encounter that day, Jesus continues to teach and feed His disciples with the Word of God and the Bread of Life. This is the work that Jesus invites us to do – share with others the Good News others have shared with us

During these next fifty days we have the opportunity to reflect on the precious gift we have received as beneficiaries of Jesus’ death and RESURRECTION. It would do us all some good to spend time over these next week reflecting on how grateful we are for what we have received and how good a job we are doing at spreading our joy at having received this Good News to others.

And don’t forget to bask in the joys of this Easter Season, for the gift of eternal life is quite a gift to ponder.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Devoted to the Cause

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Devoted to the Cause”

Second Sunday of Easter (or Sunday of Divine Mercy), Year A

Webster’s Dictionary defines “Devote” as:  “to commit by a solemn act 1) as devoted oneself to serving God or 2) to give over or direct (as time, money, or effort) to a cause, enterprise, or activity”.

Our First reading today expresses the primary and central activity of the early “Believers” following Christ’s death and resurrection…. as being “devoted...to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to prayer”.

If all the activities of Holy Week, all the preparation – the cooking, cleaning and baking has given us a sense of exhaustion and left us a little frazzled and dazed, then now is the time to reflect on the events of that first Easter Sunday and how our lives will never be the same.  Many people experienced deep and profound changes in the way they lived their lives because they believed that Christ rose from the dead and that they would too! They gradually came to realized they would have to change the way they lived this life. And the changes they made came from what Jesus taught them while He was with them.

The changes people made were remarkable. We read some of them in the Acts of the Apostles that chronicles the early days of our church and how the community of believers came together initially to be nourished by sacrament and word. But it soon grew into much more than that. We read today that….

  

Awe came upon everyone.

Wonders and signs were done through the apostles.

All who believed were together and held things in common.

They would sell their property and possessions and divide                                                                                                                              them among all according to each ones need.

Every day they devoted themselves

 to meeting together in the temple area

...and to the breaking of the bread in their homes.

They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart.

Praising God and enjoying favor with all people.

And every day the Lord added to their number

those who were being saved…..

What a remarkable transformation was brought about in the lives of believers because of the life, death, and Resurrection of Our Lord. Can you imagine what would happen if we had the same faith as these early believers? Can you imagine if we had the faith the size of a mustard seed? Tell me Christ didn’t know the weakness of our human spirit! Perhaps it’s time for us to renew our devotion to Our Lord by a more fervently prayer life and sharing in the breaking of the bread.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

This Is The Day!

Deacon Tom Writes,

“This Is The Day!”

The Resurrection of the Lord - The Mass of Easter Day, Year A

The Responsorial Psalm for the morning Mass of the Resurrection is taken from Psalm 118 encouraging us to embrace the moment, to live in the present, to let our hearts sing out  “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad”. I can’t think of a better attitude than this to embrace throughout the day, especially given the negativity that surrounds us. Being grateful for being alive and sharing in the wonders of family and friends might be a struggle for some of us because of the problems that we are facing – uncertainty because of serious medical issues or the lack of resources to pay for them, uncertainty about staying employed or finding a new job, uncertainty about the future for our children or grandchildren, uncertainty about the future prospects for peace in our world. Being grateful for this moment, what we call the ‘the eternal present now’ through which God continues to unfold creation is challenging at times since we often get swept up in the demands of this world. Finding reasons to rejoice in the Lord when there is so much change and so little security is, well, an act of faith to say the least.

Staying focused on the present is a “Eucharistic”, that is a “thankful, appreciative” mindset that we should take with us as we leave church after Mass. The reality of our encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist should enable us to recognize that God is in, around and with us every moment of our lives. If we really believe this, our lives will change. We will find the joy and happiness God intends for us to have in each “present moment” that passes. This does not mean that we live in a bubble and that we go unscathed through life. This would be delusional thinking... there is nothing that can prevent us from experiencing the hurts and disappointments that life scatters along the way. But, what it does mean is that we are able to cope with the failures, disappointments, and sorrows that we suffer along the way and rise above them.

“This is the day the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad”. As we celebrate this great mystery of Christ’s rising from the dead, let this joyous refrain echo in our minds and in our hearts as we seek to keep His spirit alive within us and do our best to share our joy with all those we meet along the way.

May you and your loved ones enjoy a most Blessed Easter Season!

Deacon Tom

Wash Away My Troubles

Deacon Tom Writes,

Wash Away My Troubles

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, Year A

As we read through Jesus’ passion by St. Matthew today, we hear how Pilate handled matters when he lost control of the crowd...“he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood. Look to it yourself’”.

In capturing so vividly Pilate’s attempt to wash himself clean of any complicity in Christ’s death, Matthew has given us an image we may, at times, use to escape our own culpability in wrongdoing; we wash our hands of the matter. This need to become clean when things have gone wrong is universal and timeless. Pilate obviously realized that. And then there is the story of  King David years before whose guilt drove him to journal his remorse in Psalm 51:

            Have mercy on me, God, in your goodness;

            in your abundant compassion blot out my offense.

            Wash away all my guilt; from my sin cleanse me.

            For I know my offense; my sin is always before me.

And, guess what? This need to become clean again when we are troubled by our guilt is still around today. It has even been popularized in our music, I’m sure some of you may recall these words to the song, “The Road to Shambala by Three Dog Night:

            Wash away my troubles, wash away my shame

            With the rain in Shambala

            Wash away my sorrow, wash away my pain

            With the rain in Shambala

Yes the truth is, we make mistakes, (yet rarely admit it...) and we do things that hurt others and ourselves. Or, sometimes, we fail to do the right thing and that makes us feel just as guilty as if we did something wrong. We need to get back on track. What better image than that of water as a sign of our becoming clean again as a first sign of our willingness to show remorse and begin anew?

That is the exact function of the Sacrament of Reconciliation…you see, this Sacrament provides real cleansing. It provides healing from the inside out, in the heart and attitude. And real forgiveness comes from the very person Pilate unjustly condemns to death. It’s unfortunate that today when there is so much need of forgiveness and such a profound underestimate of our own sinfulness, this healing Sacrament is so underutilized. As we come to the end of our Lenten journey, let us attempt to take advantage of the graces Our Lord makes available to us when we ask Him to cleanse us of our sins.

Remember to enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom