Sixth Sunday of Easter (A)

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17
Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
1 Pt 3:15-18
Jn 14:15-21

In next Sunday's Gospel reading, Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit is our "Advocate". Some scholars translate the word to "Counselor". In the original Greek language, it means "called alongside". It's closely related to the verb "parakaleo" ("to call" or "summon") from which we get "Paraclete" as a name for the Holy Spirit. In ancient Greek society, it referred to a legal assistant, a courtroom advocate. Jesus is telling us that the Holy Spirit is our legal assistant who speaks up for us when we're accused, judged, or wrongly condemned.

Notice that Jesus refers to our Advocate as the "Spirit of truth". God always knows the truth about us, despite what people think of us and the wrong things they say about us. Remember: It's only his opinion of us that really matters. And his opinion of us is better than we think it is!

We judge ourselves more harshly than we should, and this is why we worry so much about how badly others might judge us. If we honestly examine our consciences, confessing our sins during the Penance Rite at Mass or in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and if we genuinely want to improve, then Jesus says to us what he said to other sinners: "I do not condemn you; go and sin no more."

Don't you sometimes wish that Jesus would come physically to your rescue when you're undergoing trials? He said that he will not leave us orphans — he will always be with us in the Spirit when we need to be defended.

To love him is to desire to keep his commandments, and when we fail, the Spirit of Truth says to the Father: "Look, this precious child really does want to be holy." To us, the Spirit says, "Let me teach you how to grow in holiness and avoid this sin." And to others, the Spirit says: "If you love me, love this precious friend of mine."

Questions for Personal Reflection:

How have you been unjustly accused and unfairly judged? Imagine what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Father about that. And to those who condemned you. What is he saying to you about you?

Questions for Group Faith Sharing:

Describe a time when God defended you. How did the Advocate manifest his help? Who learned more from it: you or your accusers?

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Have you ever been visited by representatives of a particular religion or Church, going door to door to evangelize? While most of probably have, I suspect the reverse is not true. Rarely do Catholics engage in such face-to-face faith-sharing. I know I’m very shy about approaching a total stranger with a request to consider learning about Jesus.

Today’s Scripture selections continue our Easter instructions for the newly baptized. The first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, reflects how Christian witness might be received—persecution was a real threat for the Church in Jerusalem. The First Letter of Peter seems to reflect a similar harsh reality. Peter urges Christians to approach others, ready to explain who we are, but to do so with “gentleness and reverence.”

That reminds me of the advice St. Francis of Assisi gave his brothers who were thinking of being missionaries. He told them to “avoid quarrels or disputes and to be subject to every human creature for God’s sake.” Francis was quoting from the First Letter of Peter. The letter goes on to encourage those fearful of persecution to remember that Christ also suffered persecution. In the Gospel, Jesus himself assures us that we will not be alone; the Holy Spirit will be present with us, to support and guide us.

Scripture:

•Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:17)

•Shout joyfully to God, all the earth, sing praise to the glory of his name; proclaim his glorious praise. Say to God, “How tremendous are your deeds!…” (Psalm 66:2,3)

•Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the Spirit. (1 Peter 3:18b)

•…and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him. But you know him, because he remains with you, and will be in you. (John 14:16,7)

Reflection:

•Jesus comes to those who love him. How do you love Jesus?

•How is the “Advocate,” the “Spirit of Truth,” alive in you?

•How is it that the world is not capable of receiving the Spirit? Are you in the world or in the spirit?

To come to possess all desire to possess nothing. To arrive at being all desire to be nothing.

The soul that journeys to God but does not shake off its cares and quiet its appetites is like one who drags a cart uphill.

Fifth Sunday of Easter (A)

Acts 6:1-7
Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19
1 Pt 2:4-9
Jn 14:1-12

This Sunday's Gospel reading ends with a very astounding verse: "Whoever believes in me will do the works I do, and greater far than these." What does he mean — how can we do the same — and bigger — supernatural miracles than Jesus did? The answer is found in the context of the entire chapter, as Jesus explains his close relationship with the Father, i.e., what he does for the Father and with the Father. Remember, Jesus was (and still is) both human and divine. We need to look at these verses with this in mind.

The "works I do" means what he did with his humanity FOR the Father. As a human, he did very human works, i.e., the same types of good deeds that you and I readily do in appreciation for the love that God the Father has for us.

As beloved children, we love others as he loves them, we teach what we've learned, we share what we've been given, we listen to those who need someone to understand them, we work hard on the job to our fullest potential, offering a helping hand when we see a need, etc. There's nothing supernatural about it. It's being who we are, human children of a loving Daddy-God.

The "greater" works are what Jesus did in his divinity WITH the Father. They are the miracles that the Father worked through Jesus, because the love of the Father and the love of the Son are one love.

When Jesus took upon himself the punishment for our sins and the Father raised him from the dead, Jesus gave us his divinity so that we can continue his works on earth. Because we've received God's divinity in our baptisms, the Father extends himself through us to the world. With him, we can love the unlovable after they've pushed us past our human limits, we can be instruments of miracles, we can hear God speak to us, and we can share his wisdom and comfort without knowing what to say. We can do everything that God asks of us, despite our inadequacies.

Questions for Personal Reflection:

Make a list of your gifts and talents. Then reflect on how each of these are the human works of Jesus for the world today. How has the Father also worked through you supernaturally?

Questions for Group Faith Sharing:

Name some of the good works being done in your parish or group: How do these reflect the human nature of Jesus? Name some of the ways that your parish or group shows the Father's supernatural nature to the world. How can we become better able to do the "greater works" of the Father?

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Do you ever long with nostalgia for the “good old days”?

I wonder if the early Christians, after the excitement of the first Pentecost had worn off, longed for their own “good old days.” As they found themselves “in for the long haul,” trying to set up structures and institutions for the growing community, did they wish they were back when it was just Jesus and a little band of disciples?

The passage from the Last Supper in John’s Gospel today seems to anticipate that situation. Jesus reassures his troubled followers that he is going to prepare a place for them. When they want to know the “way” to this place, Jesus tells them he is “the way.” The disciples will go on to do Christ’s work—a mission to a wider world. Elsewhere in that Last Supper discourse, Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will be present to remind them of all he’s said and done.

The spread of the gospel challenged the fledgling community as the Church grew, and encompassed other languages, cultures and regions. New structures and new ministries would be needed.

The same is true in our day. Facing a new millennium, we need to know the Holy Spirit, Christ’s gift to the Church, is present to teach us what’s needed today, and unite us to Christ, our way, our truth and our life.

Scripture:

•They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them. (Acts 6:6)

•He loves justice and right; of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full. (Psalm 33:5)

•Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4,5)

•”…Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.… Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:10,12)

Reflection:

•How are you a vessel of Jesus, “a living stone?”

•What are the greater works that those who believe in Jesus do?

•How are you a “spiritual house, a holy priesthood?”


The “return” is the end beyond all ends, and the beginning of beginnings. To “return to the Father” is not to “go back” in time, to roll up the scroll of history, or to reverse anything. It is a going forward, a going beyond, for merely to retrace one’s steps would be a vanity on top of vanity, a renewal of the same absurdity in reverse. Our destiny is to go on beyond everything, to leave everything, to press forward to the End and find in the End our Beginning, the ever-new beginning that has no end. To obey Him on the way, in order to reach Him in whom I have begun, who is the key and the end— because he is the beginning.

Fourth Sunday of Easter (A)

Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
1 Pt 2:20b-25
Jn 10:1-10

Are you at an impasse in your spiritual growth or emotional healing or a difficult relationship? Do you need a breakthrough? Do you feel stuck behind a fence that's keeping you on the outside of peace, joy, satisfaction, or healing? This Sunday's Gospel reading tells us that Jesus is the gate in that fence. He helps us reach the heavenly side of the gate, outside the realm of earthly restrictions — not only when we die and enter eternal life, but also here and now in our earthly life, so that we might always "have life and have it more abundantly."

When our path seems blocked, we can only make progress by letting Jesus shepherd us around and through and over the obstacles. If people shut a door on something that God wants us to do, Jesus is still our open gate and no one can close him out of our lives. He will lead us into a new opportunity for accomplishing the plans of God. If he's given us a frustrated holy desire, a passion for which there seems to be no outlet, instead of complaining or quitting, we must look at Jesus and see him as a gate that opens into a direction or location.

And until we get all the way through this gate, we stick close to him like dumb sheep. There's a journey to take before we can reach the other side of the fence. The thief that comes to steal and slaughter can only reach us when we stray away from Jesus and we take our eyes off of him. Despair and worry are two common thieves, robbing us of peace, joy, satisfaction, and healing. But they're not as powerful as they pretend to be. They do not speak the truth about the destruction we fear. They are merely trying to make us forget that Jesus is our Good Shepherd safely guiding us into a life of abundant victory.

Questions for Personal Reflection:

What breakthrough are you hoping for? What's frustrating you and seems hopeless? What's causing you to think that a problem you're facing might lead to disaster and destruction? What will you do this week to follow Jesus more closely so that you can get through this with more peace?

Questions for Group Faith Sharing:

Share the story of a time when you experienced obstacles and Jesus provided a breakthrough that led to victory.

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Are you ready to continue your “post-graduate” work as a Christian?

On the Sundays of Easter the liturgy offers instruction for the newly baptized. All of us are “enrolled” in that course along with them. Our “curriculum” comes from the First Letter of Peter, the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospels. They all suggest how a community rooted in Christ witnesses in the world, with the Spirit’s help.

Today we’re reminded again of the Jesus we follow. A sermon from Acts on the first Pentecost calls listeners to conversion. The second reading—perhaps drawn from an early baptismal instruction to Christian converts who were Roman slaves—presents Jesus as the Suffering Servant, a theme we heard in Holy Week. The instruction urges the newly baptized to identify with and follow Christ as “shepherd of our souls.”

It’s a metaphor found in John’s Gospel. Imagine a crowded sheepfold, noisy with milling flocks and the conflicting voices of shepherds calling their sheep. It’s a likely place for a thief to slip over the wall and do mischief. But the Good Shepherd enters boldly by the main gate, calls us by name, and we recognize him. With the voice of the Shepherd calling us, we continue our Easter celebration of Baptism.

Scripture:

•…and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off, (Acts 2:38,9)

•The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose; beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul. (Psalm 23)

•When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; (1 Peter 2:23)

•I am the gate for the sheep.…I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. (John 10:7b,9)

Reflection:

•Have you taken comfort in Psalm 23 when you were troubled or sad?

•Have you followed the example of Jesus (1 Peter) in not returning violence through acting with God’s grace?

•How is Jesus the “gate” in your life?

I call upon you to love one another as Jesus has commanded.
I call upon you to renew your efforts to appreciate and respect each others’ cultural diversity.
I call upon you to show special concern for the poor and those who are pushed to the margins of society.
I call upon you to work for a more just society, in which wealth will be more evenly divided and in which it will be possible for all to live a life in keeping with human dignity.
I call upon you, especially the young people, to respond to the Lord’s love and to share his joy with others.
I call upon you who are sick to offer your sufferings for the growth of the kingdom of God.
And I commend all of you to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the perfect example of dedication to the Lord, the Mother of him who says: “This is my commandment: Love one another as I have loved You.” Amen.

Third Sunday of Easter (A)

Acts 2:14, 22-33
Ps 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
1 Pt 1:17-21
Lk 24:13-35

The two disciples in next Sunday's Gospel reading did not recognize Jesus until after they heard him explain the scriptures and then broke bread with him. It was a two-part process. First, while listening to him teach about the scriptures, only their hearts recognized him ("Were not our hearts burning within us?"). Their eyes didn't become open to his true identity until Jesus took the bread of a shared meal, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them to eat.

When we celebrate Mass today, we're on a similar journey with Jesus. First, we have the Liturgy of the Word, during which we hear the scriptures and a homily that explains them. This is a time of listening with our hearts.

A well-trained reader will speak the words of scripture with meaning and emphasis so that our hearts can recognize Jesus. A well-trained priest or deacon will teach us about the scriptures so that our hearts on set on fire as if Jesus himself were teaching us. But even if the reader or homilist does a poor job, our hearts can tune in and hear what Jesus is saying to us.

Then we move into the Liturgy of the Eucharist. When the presiding priest consecrates the bread and wine, it is Jesus himself who is actually doing it, using the priest's hands and vocal chords. Jesus is doing for us what he did for those two disciples at Emmaus.

If we have opened our hearts to Jesus during the first part of Mass, and if we are still paying attention, we see much more than a wafer of bread and a chalice of wine. We see Jesus. We recognize him with our hearts AND our heads. We know beyond all doubt that the resurrected Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist.

Questions for Personal Reflection:

Where does Jesus seem to be absent from your life? Did you ever feel like he was missing? How can the Mass help you recognize Jesus and feel his closeness? What else can you do to discover the presence of Jesus where you otherwise have not been able to sense his nearness?

Questions for Group Faith Sharing:

When did you discover that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist? How do you know that the bread and wine change into the substance of Jesus while retaining their original form (which is called "transubstantiation")? Is it always easy for you to recognize Jesus in the Eucharist?

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In human life, there’s no substitute for daily, lived experience, no matter how much “book learning” you’ve had.

On these Sundays of Easter the Church teaches the newly baptized—and all of us—how to live Christian life day by day. Selections from the First Letter of Peter and the Acts of the Apostles stress our witness to Christ in the real world. The Easter Gospels highlight how the Holy Spirit supports and guides the Church in that task.

Today’s Gospel, perhaps the most powerful of the Resurrection stories, portrays what Christians have experienced in Eucharist since the beginning of the Church. Two disciples full of grief after the death of Jesus, flee Jerusalem to escape the tragic events of Good Friday.

On the road to Emmaus, the risen Lord meets them, explains the Scriptures, and they recognize him in the breaking of the bread.

Our experience, like Christians down through the ages, is identical. In the midst of human life—no matter where we find ourselves—Christians gather to share their common needs and gifts, strengths and weaknesses, fears and joys. We break open the Scriptures so that Jesus may teach us. We break the bread and recognize Christ present. From the Eucharistic table we go out as the Body of Christ, ready to witness.

In the Sundays that follow, our Scriptures will help us understand the consequences of that witness.

Scripture:

•God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses. Exalted at the right hand of God, he received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured him forth, as you see and hear. (Acts 2:32,33)

•You will show me the path to life, abounding joy in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever. (Psalm 16:11)

•…who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1:21)

•Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to
them in the breaking of bread. (Luke 24:35)

Reflection:

•Where do the two disciples experience of Jesus? How do they describe it?

•Where does the Psalmist find Jesus? How is it described?

•Where does Luke find Jesus? What is the experience like?

•Where did Mary of Magdala and the disciples find Jesus? What do they say about it?

•In the first few days after the resurrection, when the disciples are experiencing the resurrected Jesus first time, none know quite how to describe this new presence. Have you ever encountered this newness in experiencing Jesus again for the first time? What was it like? How are you like the disciples in trying to explain the experience?

Many men in the past have been loved with extreme intensity—Socrates by his disciples, Julius Caesar by his legionnaires, Napoleon by his soldiers. But today these men belong irrevocably to the past; not a heart beats at their memory. There is no one who would give their life or even their possessions for them even though their ideals are still being advocated. And when their ideals are opposed, no one ever thinks of cursing Socrates or Julius Caesar or Napoleon, because their personalities no longer have any influence; they are bygones. But not Jesus; Jesus is still loved and still cursed; men still renounce their possessions and even their lives both for love of him and out of hatred for him. No living being is as alive as Jesus.