Third Sunday of Easter - Year B

 

The readings for the Third Sunday of Easter - Year B may be found at:  

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041424.cfm

Over the past two weeks, the Sunday gospels have reflected the confusion and fear that followed Jesus’ resurrection.

Anyone here experienced confusion or fear from time to time?

I do - sometimes, multiple times a day.

And speaking of confusion and fear, I think I have been doing a little too much Easter celebrating. 

Earlier, I said to my wife, Karen that my weight and Jesus both have something in common.

In the past two weeks, both have really risen.

Today, the evangelist St. Luke describes Jesus appearing again to the Apostles after He rose from the dead. 

And we find the Apostles startled and terrified.

Two more emotions we probably know well.

The Apostles, who knew Him best, struggle to believe the reality of what they are seeing.

And can we blame them?

Even when confronted with undeniable evidence of God's power and presence, 

our natural human reaction is often fear or disbelief. 

We, like the first Apostles, can be slow to accept the realities of our faith.

And we have their example.

We have the scriptures.

We have our own experiences.

We have two thousand years of church teaching on God’s plan for salvation.

In essence, we have the answers to the test!

And still, we struggle.

The reality that God became man, suffered, died, and rose again can seem too incredible for us to believe sometimes. 

And as a result, we, our family, friends and neighbors may be tempted to explain away the gospel as mere fantasy, delusion or some other abstract thing.

But we know it’s more concrete, real and physical than that.

And that’s what makes it so amazing.

The Gospels tell us.  Fact, not opinion, that God assumed a physical human nature.

Jesus was physically born from a woman’s body.

He lived a physical life.

He performed physical miracles. 

He physically died. 

He physically rose from the dead. 

He physically appeared to his Apostles after his Resurrection. 

And He lives physically today in Heaven.

This is not ideology or fantasy, it’s reality.

Jesus shows the apostles His wounds, 

invites them to touch Him, 

and eats food in their presence - 

concrete proof that he is no ghost, 

but rather the living, resurrected Lord. 

Physical, present and real.

Yet, because humans make things hard, we have doubts.

And how does Jesus deal with the Apostles' and our doubts and fears?

With patience, compassion and love.

But he also comes with expectations.

Expectations that we will respond as He has, with patience, compassion and love.

Jesus commissioned His Apostles and us to be witnesses, 

Witnesses to the very real, 

very physical, very concrete fact that God became man, 

gave his life and took it back again 

to forgive our sins giving us a path to eternal life.

And He commissioned them and us as witnesses to proclaim that good news to everyone.

But our God is so good, he didn’t stop there.

Human Himself, He knew we would need ongoing support to live the life He calls us to.

So, He gave us the sacraments, 

physical ways to bridge our human experience with the divine.

In particular, the Sacrament of Reconciliation to absolve us of our sins and keep us on the path to holiness.

And if you think you don’t need the sacrament of reconciliation, 

where you make a good examination of conscience and confess your sins to a priest acting in the person of Christ, 

if you think you don’t need that, think again.

We all need confession regularly.

Not satisfied with the gift of Himself on Calvary, 

Jesus continues giving himself to us in the Holy Eucharist.

Physical, present and real.

The source and summit of our spiritual life. 

And in order for us to receive communion worthily we must make a regular, sacramental confession.

So that we can participate fully in this physical reality of God’s divine power.

To help us live our lives in ways that are worthy of those great gifts.

To strengthen us to be strong witnesses to Him in today’s world.

And this world needs strong witnesses.

The world needs to see lives transformed by grace.

Coherent Catholics who live the faith they profess for all to see. 

Extending God's love to others. (Pause)

This week, let us all, even in the smallest ways, witness to the gospel by word and deed.

Glorifying God through what we do and how we do it. 

So that in the process of being a witness, 

and fighting through our own confusion and fear, 

our faith will come alive for all to see.

So that more people get to see 

just how real and awesome 

a relationship with Jesus is 

as a result of our personal witness.

Good Friday - Year B

  

Today, we gather to recognize the most sacred day of our calendar - Good Friday. 

A distinctly solemn day where Holy Mass is not celebrated anywhere in the world.

On this day, we reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus, 

who willingly gave His life for our sins, 

so that we may have the hope of eternal life.

Today, we reflect on the immeasurable pain and suffering that Jesus endured for us,  

a reminder of the depth of God’s love.

As we consider the events of Good Friday, 

we recall the cruelty and brutality that Jesus faced. 

Mocked, beaten, tortured and killed, 

Jesus did not resist. 

He bore undeserved punishment silently, 

all the while praying for our forgiveness, 

offering Himself for us. 

Through his actions, 

Jesus teaches us the true meaning of love and sacrifice.

On this day, 

we are called to confront the reality of sin and its terrible consequences. 

Reminded of the ways we have fallen short of what God wants for us,

and of the immense need for us to repent. 

Through the cross, 

we are invited to turn away from our sins 

and follow in our Lord’s footsteps. 

Jesus showed us the way to true redemption 

and freedom from the bondage of sin, 

through love, 

death to self 

and submission of our will to the Father.

But Good Friday is not just a day of sorrow and grief. 

Today is also a day of hope and triumph. 

The death of Jesus was not the end of his story. 

Because on the third day, 

He rose again, 

conquering death. 

Through his resurrection, 

we know that love wins over hate, 

light overcomes darkness 

and life conquers death.

As we continue our solemn journey to Easter,

Let us remember the sacrifice of Jesus 

and the immense love that God has for us. 

Let us reflect and repent of our sins, striving to live lives 

that honor the sacrifice and love of Jesus. 

Knowing that because of what He endured for us,

we too have the hope of eternal life 

with Him and the Father.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you 

because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

 The readings for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B may be found at:  

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021124.cfm

In today’s gospel from the evangelist, St. Mark we experience a profound moment of healing and compassion.

A leper, shunned and excluded from day to day life due to his impurity - approaches Jesus.

His physical condition, thought to be a reflection of his unholiness and the sin he had within.

Not only were lepers not welcomed, 

if one of them came near, people would shout out “unclean” 

as a warning to stay away, to shame them and to warn those nearby.

Now, this leper approaches Jesus and says, 

“If you wish, you can make me clean”,

Coming to Jesus filled with humility and hope.

And this leper, marginalized, unclean, viewed as unholy, not worthy of any human contact shows us the boldness of his faith. 

He doesn’t question Jesus' ability to heal him, just his willingness to do so.

And Jesus, moved with pity, 

reaches out and touches the man, saying, 

"I do will it. Be made clean." 

In this simple, yet powerful gesture, 

Jesus not only heals the man's physical ailment 

but also restores his dignity and place in the community. 

The transformative touch of Jesus breaking barriers that separate and isolate.

Now you’re probably asking what Jesus’ healing of this leper has to do with us?

I submit to you that this passage invites us to reflect on how we each approach Jesus. 

How we approach him when we present ourselves for Holy Communion at Mass.

We may not be lepers, but we are human, and we are all sinners.  

If we could see the state of each other’s souls, 

we might see more lesions than this leper had visible on his skin.

We might even shout “unclean” or keep our distance from each other.

Come to think of it, it’s a good thing we can’t see the state of each other’s souls!

Whether we like to admit it or not.  

We are unclean.  We all have sins.

But the question is this -

Do we choose to come to Jesus with the same confidence as the leper, 

believing in Christ’s power to heal and transform our lives? 

With humility and with hope for healing?

The statistics say we don’t.

All of us here come to Holy Mass.

Most of us go to Holy Communion.

But how many of us go to a regular, sacramental confession?

The numbers say, not many.

How many of us approach Jesus within the sacrament of reconciliation with the humility and hope of that leper?

Yearning for Jesus’ healing touch.

To be made well again.  

To be made clean.

To be made worthy of communing with Him.

This miracle of the healing of the leper illustrates perfectly 

the unclean mess and cleansing 

that are made real in the sacrament of reconciliation. 

Where we confess our sins to a priest 

acting in the person of Christ

and we are absolved of our sins through the infinite mercy of God. 

And if we go to Holy Communion regularly, 

knowing we have mortal sin that we have not confessed in the sacrament, 

or if we can’t remember the last time we went to confession, 

We may not realize that our sins compound on each other and grow,

making our uncleanliness even worse.

The healing of the leper by Jesus 

emphasizes Christ’s power to cleanse and heal us spiritually, 

offering new life to each of us through the forgiveness of our sins.

If we only have humility and hope, like the leper, to go to Jesus.

With Lent upon us in a few days, 

it’s the absolutely perfect time for us to acknowledge the unclean in each of us 

and to remember Jesus’ power to restore us to good health.

Maybe it's been a long time since you’ve been to confession.  

Maybe you think your sins are so awful or so embarrassing that you will shock the priest 

Or that he will look at you differently in the future. 

Maybe you’re afraid to face your sins 

and so have told yourself you don't really need to go to confession.

I can promise that no one will point at you and yell, “unclean” 

or try to marginalize you for going to confession.

You just need to go with the humility and hope of the leper St. Mark told us about today, 

And Jesus will make you clean.  

Then like the leper, 

you can tell everyone how you went to Jesus and how great you now feel.

Your testimony might just get them to go to confession 

so Jesus can make them clean too.