The feeding of the five-thousand that we encounter in today’s Gospel from John is reported in each of the four Gospels. The only other incident that is recorded in all four are the Resurrection accounts. This point is relevant because biblical scholars look to the multiple attestation theory as one means as to whether an account in the Gospel record is more or less plausible. Having the same account in each of the four then would be evidence for the likelihood of that event really happening.

From a different perspective, there are those ascribing to a strict scientism that would go so far as to say that anything that can not be measured, experimented upon, or proven within the realm of the senses is not real. For those ascribing to this strict interpretation, religion and accounts of miracles are often dismissed as superstition, that there is a scientific explanation other to explain the miraculous away, or it is just the result of overactive imaginations, mere wishful, hopeful thinking or projection. Some believers may discount the account of the feeding of the five-thousand as more of a symbol of generosity that arose because of the example of Jesus, not that he actually was able to multiply the bread and fish.

This interpretation of the event seeks to limit Jesus to just his humanity, but he is so much more. Jesus is human, fully human, yes, but he is also fully divine. There is a gift to the natural and physical sciences and I would argue that the sciences actually arose from the spiritual. One of the core aspects of who we are as human beings is that we are people of wonder. Science is one tool that we have in our toolbox to address this gift of wonder. The sciences help us to understand our physical realm and the spiritual helps us to understand both our physical and spiritual. In accessing both ways we come to have a broader picture, more pieces of the puzzle in which to put together and better experience our world.

When we limit or explain away the miracles of Jesus we rob ourselves of a more accurate picture of the reality of creation. One concrete example of this is when our third president, Thomas Jefferson, took a sharp object and painstakingly cut out verses from the Bible and pasted them to blank pages. He did so in columns of Latin and Greek on one side of the paper and French and English on the other. This eighty-four page tome is commonly called the Jefferson Bible, but the president titled it: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. This text offers a human portrayal of Jesus that discounts the divine.

If we remove ourselves from the divine, and 99.9% of our life, experience, interests, and thought is spent in the finite material realm, we will miss a deeper expression of who we are as human beings and much of the joy and gift of life. It stands to reason also that we would find it hard to believe in miracles, the mystical, the spiritual. I cannot attest to all the miracles recorded in the Gospels, but I do believe in a greater majority of them, and see in the miracles not a self aggrandizing move on Jesus’ part, but a move of love and empathy. Jesus is moved, time and again, to reach out in love, to care for and support those who are in need, as we read in today’s account of the feeding of the five-thousand, and he is showing what living life to the full is all about: being in communion with God and one another.

May we resist the temptation to write off too quickly the miracles of Jesus. May we also not dismiss the gift and value of the sciences. By approaching our world with a both/and approach, we will get a better understanding of our world, while at the same time, come to embrace the wonder of creation and who we are. God has imparted within us, as human beings, the ability to access and develop both our faith and reason, to think critically and to pray and meditate deeply.

Jesus as the first born of the new creation embodies the reality of the fullness that we are called by God and in the depths of our souls, aspire to be, human and divine. Jesus is still present to us today, knocking on the doors of our hearts, minds, and souls. If we only follow the moral and social teachings of Jesus, as did Thomas Jefferson, we will experience some benefit but we will limit ourselves. To access the fullness of all that Jesus offers us, may we open that door to Jesus this Easter. Let him in and offer the little we have, and watch how much he can multiply our simple gifts.

May we continue to journey together, to read and pray together the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. May we resist rejecting outright what we do not understand or comprehend, and instead be willing to ponder the wonders of miracles, the gift of God’s grace building on nature, and embrace the eternal foundation of our being which is the  Trinitarian Love of God.

Painting: The Head of Jesus, Rembrandt, 1640’s

Link to the Mass readings for Friday, April 13, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041318.cfm

The question that arises and is foremost regarding Christianity above all else is, “Who is Jesus?” How this is answered has a lot to do with what we believe. John the Baptist addresses this question to his disciples, who are concerned that Jesus is growing in popularity over and above John. In today’s Gospel we read that John shares his understanding of Jesus as: the one who “comes from above” and the one who “comes from heaven is above all”; this one “testifies to what he has seen and heard” and he is sent by God to speak “the words of God”; he is also generous in that he “does not ration the gift of the Spirit”; and the Son is loved by the Father and God “has given everything over to him”.

John declares in each of these phrases that Jesus is the Son of God who has come from above, he has come to reveal the truth about the Father and is able to do so because he has seen and has an infinite relationship with him. He preaches the Gospel, the Good News, that God loves us, that he seeks and has always sought, to be in communion with us, his created beings. Jesus has come to reveal the Love of the Father and that his love is unlimited.

The proclamation that Jesus is the Messiah, is not just revealed in the Gospel of John, but all three other of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as well as the epistles and books of the New Testament. Jesus, as the Son of God, is also the key to unlocking the Hebrew Scriptures, and we can see how the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings all point to Jesus as well. Jesus shared this outline of salvation history with Cleopas and the other disciple on the road to Emmaus, such that their hearts were burning within them while Jesus spoke and opened the scriptures to them (cf. Lk 24:32).

John the Baptist gets it. Jesus is the Son of the Living God and he offers a model for us to follow when he shared with his disciples: “He must increase; I must decrease” (Jn 3:30). May we spend some time in quiet reflection today by pondering the phrases John shares with his disciples regarding who Jesus is. Which one calls to you?

“The one who comes from above is above all.”
“The one who comes from heaven is above all.”
“He testifies to what he has seen and heard.”

“For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God.”
“He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.”
“The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.”

When we have finished, what is our response to John? Do we disobey or discount that Jesus is who he says he is or do we “accept his testimony” and “certify that God is trustworthy”? If we “accept his testimony”, are we willing to decrease, such that he will increase his influence in our life. Do we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God?

Painting: Christ Blessing (‘The Savior of the World’), by El Greco, 1600

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, April 12, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041218.cfm

Jesus continues his conversation with Nicodemus in today’s Gospel from John. In the opening verse, Jesus outlines why he came into the world: “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). God has created us out of love and shepherds us out of love. God loves what he has created, and in his order and timing he sent his Son to enter humanity to become one with us, to heal us and invite us to come out of the shadows and dark recesses of turning in on ourselves, from living in fear and sin, and to come home to God.

Loving means to risk being rejected. Jesus entered humanity as we all did, in the utter vulnerability of the womb. His very life was at risk from the moment of conception. Mary, a young woman,  betrothed to Joseph, in a time and culture in which a woman found to be with child and not from her husband, could be stoned to death. Mary could have made a different choice, Joseph could have made a different choice, but both of them chose to follow the will of God. They resisted the temptation to close in upon themselves and make an isolated decision based on their own needs, anxieties, and fears. While of all of creation held its collective breath, Mary and Joseph trusted God, they chose the light, they chose to protect the life.

“Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God” (Jn 3:18). Jesus did not come to condemn, he came to redeem, to save, to love us into eternity. For love to be real, it must be truly free. Free to the full extent that it can be rejected. To love is to risk rejection. Otherwise, what is experienced by the other is coercion, manipulation, pressure, but it is not love. The Son of God entered the womb of Mary risking rejection by her, Joseph, and/or their extended family. The only difference between Jesus in the womb and Jesus who ministered to those on the margins was that he was smaller and more vulnerable. Those who, like Mary and Joseph, believe will come to have eternal life, and those who do not have already been condemned, not by God but by themselves.

Those rejecting God have been invited to receive his love also, but for reasons they may or may not be aware of say no. We who follow Jesus are to be his presence of love among those we encounter, even those who shy away or reject him. We may be the only Bible someone ever reads. We are not to protect only the vulnerability of the unborn, but the born as well. We as Christians are not just pro-birth, but we are also pro life. That means that each of us has a charism of who we are called to reach out to and touch with the love of Jesus, to be present to those who God brings into our life. We can think, speak, and act by respecting the dignity of each person we encounter, in person and online, supporting a consistent ethic of life from the moment of conception until natural death, and for each unique gift of a person in between.

“God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). We, even in our brokenness, imperfections, and sin, are loved by Jesus. We can reject or accept his love. As Pope Francis wrote: “We are called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves.” As we receive and experience the love of Jesus, may we seek to love every person we encounter as he loved us. If there are those that we might not necessarily include in everyone, may we be willing to allow Jesus to love them through us.

Photo: My maternal grandparents, Helen and Bernard Morcus, models of love for me

Link for article on Gaudete et Exultate (“Rejoice and Be Glad”):
https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2018/04/09/pope-francis-new-exhortation-jesus-wants-us-be-saints

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, April 11, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041118.cfm

Today’s reading from the Gospel of John presents us with Nicodemus “a teacher of Israel” struggling to understand what Jesus meant when he said, “You must be born from above.” Jesus attempted to clarify for Nicodemus with an analogy of the wind, yet this still did not help. Jesus goes on to explain how much a problem it is if Nicodemus and the leaders of Israel do not understand things that are concrete and plainly in view: “If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?” 

Thinking at that point that Jesus would soften his message he deepened his discussion, talking of how no one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, that the same Son of Man would be lifted up as Moses lifted up a snake in the desert, and God sent his only Son so that all might have eternal life. If Nicodemus’ head wasn’t already spinning with Jesus’ born from above statement, his eyes were probably spinning counter clockwise at this point.

What Jesus conveyed to Nicodemus, his Apostles, and disciples, as well as anyone in earshot, and ongoing for generations up to us this present day is that Christianity is not Gnosticism, some secret sect of knowledge that is past on for a select, elite few. Neither is Christianity a form of dualism or Manicheism such that our body and all that is material is bad and we need to shed the physical as soon as possible to attain the fullness of our potential through the absolute embrace of the spiritual only. Nor is Christianity Pelagianism, where we just need the proper discipline, will power, and persistence to follow the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus offers us a universal invitation for all to “be born from above”, which is to be baptized in his name, to follow him into his death, to die not to our material self, but our false sense of self, to our sin, our pride, that attitude and disposition that strives to set apart, diminish, devalue, dehumanize and polarize, and to rise with him. In being born from above, we receive the offer of divinity and so, instead of rejecting our humanity, embrace the fullness of our humanity. The grace of God builds on the goodness of the creation he has made and formed into existence with his love. We accomplish this the same way Mary, the Apostles, Mary Magdalene, the disciples, and Nicodemus did. We answer the call to holiness and sanctity. We say yes to Jesus and give him all we are.

Day by day may we accept to be lead by the hand of Jesus, the first born of the new creation and participate with him by offering our hand to others. May we resist the temptation to put up barriers, to keep others at arms length. We are all, every one of us, invited to become saints through our participation in the life of Jesus and this is a gift. I agree with Pope Francis who in his latest exhortation, “Gaudete et Exsultate” (“Rejoice and Be Glad”) just released yesterday, that we cannot “claim to say where God is not, because God is mysteriously present in the life of every person, in a way that he himself chooses, and we cannot exclude this by our presumed certainties. Even when someone’s life appears completely wrecked, even when we see it devastated by vices or addictions, God is present there. If we let ourselves be guided by the Spirit rather than our own preconceptions, we can and must try to find the Lord in every human life.”

God is present in our life. May we embrace, breath in deep the Holy Spirit throughout the day, so to be transformed, transfigured, made new by the Love of God. May we help others experience the same.

Painting: Nicodemus talking to Jesus, William Brassey Hole

Link for article on “Rejoice and Be Glad”. I only had a chance for a quick skim and look forward to reading it and the whole exhortation of Pope Francis at some point when I get a free moment…

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2018/04/09/pope-francis-new-exhortation-jesus-wants-us-be-saints

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, April 10, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041018.cfm

You may think it a bit odd that we are reading the account of the Annunciation from Luke 1:26-38 as we begin the second week of Easter. The reason this is so is that the Solemnity of the Annunciation usually falls on March 25 because that is calculated to be nine months until December 25. This year March 25 fell on Palm Sunday, then Holy Week, and Easter, so today is the first opportunity to celebrate the Annunciation.

The Solemnities of the Annunciation and Easter help us to remember and celebrate the two major foundational beliefs that we follow as Christians: the Incarnation and the Resurrection. The Incarnation is the acknowledgment that the second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, was conceived in the womb of Mary and became human. He retained the fullness of his divinity while at the same time experiencing the fullness of his humanity.

The Resurrection as we have been celebrating this Easter Season is the deeper embrace of the human condition as Jesus encountered and experienced the result of our sinfulness, which is death. He did so in the most brutal of ways through betrayal and crucifixion. Yet death did not have the last word for Jesus. Jesus accepted death, conquered it, and rose again.

For many the gift of Mary’s yes, her willingness to give birth to Jesus, that he as the Son of God became one with us so we can be one with him, was conceived, born, lived, died, and rose again, may be somewhat ho-hum to many, even Christians. They have heard the story so many times, or barely hear it proclaimed, and the thought being, “Well that’s all well and good for Jesus, but what about me?” That is exactly the point. Jesus entered our human condition exactly so we could go beyond mere existence, mere survival, but through participation in his death, we too can rise again with him and live our life with fullness and with joy today and all days into eternity!

How do we do this? We are invited to open up our hearts and minds to him, to know Jesus, who knows us better than we know ourselves. He who has called us by name, even before our birth. We do this just as Mary did. By opening ourselves up to the invitation of God’s blessing that he pours out on all of us, the good and bad alike. We say yes to his invitation. Each yes is a recognition of the gift of the Incarnation and the Resurrection. Each yes is an embrace of the wonderful gift, that through our participation with Jesus, we share in his divinity.

Our yes with Jesus is lived out each day. We spend time silently with him in prayer. We become aware and acknowledge with thanksgiving how he is already working and present to us in our daily lives. We say yes when we are given the blessing of interruptions and opportunities to serve others. We come to know him through his living Word offered in the Bible, reading, listening, praying and meditating on his Word so that he becomes a part of us. We experience him through opportunities of receiving healing in Reconciliation and during worship, receiving him in the Eucharist. We say, as we awaken each day, yes to his invitation to spend the day together, and allow God to happen in our lives. We walk step by faithful step! Say yes to Jesus today!

Photo: Close up of Heinrich Hofmann’s Christ and the Rich Young Ruler, 1889

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, April 9, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040918.cfm

The disciples had locked themselves in a room out of fear from further persecution from the Jewish leadership. Jesus was crucified and as their followers they must have believed they would be next. They were also ashamed of having turned away from Jesus during his time of dire need. Amidst the heavy weight of fear, despair, and shame, Jesus “came and stood in their midst”. There reaction of amazement and fear of Jesus’ judgement could only just begin to form in their minds because as Jesus came and stood in their midst [he] said to them, “Peace be with you.”

Jesus forgave them for their betrayal, for not being there for him. He did not appear to his followers to rub their nose in their shame or to tell them he told them so. Jesus came among them and immediately bestowed upon them his mercy. He then commissioned them to be his Apostles as he said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” As Jesus is the Son of God, he has the power to forgive, and he is now sending his Apostles to be bearers of his mercy as he works through them.

Thomas, though not present on this first encounter, is present the following week and seeing the marks on Jesus hands and his side, he too believed, saying, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas too became an agent of mercy and reconciliation.

Today, we still have access to the gift of God’s mercy and forgiveness instituted by Jesus as is recorded in today’s Gospel of John. This is a gift of healing made available to us, like the Eucharist, so that we may continue to experience Jesus working in our life. When we come to the priest, we are coming to those, who in an unbroken apostolic succession, have continued to be bearers of Jesus himself. It is to Jesus, through our priests that we confess, and it is Jesus through his ministers, that we hear the words of and receive absolution.

On this Divine Mercy Sunday, may we spend some quiet time with today’s Gospel and imagine ourselves in the locked room with the disciples. Experience Jesus appearing in our midst as he says, “Peace be with you!” Allow the radiating light of his mercy and forgiveness to wash over and through our whole being. Let us call to mind those sins that have kept us bound, visualize them as words floating up and out of us and dissipating in the radiance of Jesus’ white and red rays emanating from his merciful heart. May we allow ourselves to be transformed, transfigured by the Love and Forgiveness of Jesus.

This week may we seek opportunities to participate in the healing sacrament of Reconciliation, and pledge to practice mercy and forgiveness with others. May we react less and breath deeply more. Instead of adding fuel to the fire of negativity, let us seek to be an advocate for healing and reconciliation. May we also take some time today to think of someone who could benefit from the presence of Jesus through our being present to them, someone who may need “to hear God’s good news of forgiveness and love” (Francis, 25). We are not able to absolve someone of their sin, but we can forgive, make an effort to reach out to others in prayer and in person, and allow the love and mercy of Jesus flow through us to those in need. Alleluia!

Painting: The first image of the Divine Mercy painted representing St. Faustina’s vision by Eugene Kazimirowski, 1935

McCann, Deborah. 30 Days of Reflections and Prayers: What Pope Francis Says About Mercy. New London, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 2015.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, April 8, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040818.cfm

Today’s reading from the Gospel of Mark, 16:9-16, is commonly called, “The Longer Ending.” Most ancient manuscripts of Mark end at 16:8. Whether this Gospel ended there or the original ending was lost is not known. Many biblical scholars also recognize in these verses a different writing style, so attribute this longer ending to a different author. This ending recounts that Mary Magdalene and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus met the risen Jesus. When both Mary and the two disciples share their experiences with the eleven, they are not believed, and “later, as the eleven were at table, he [Jesus] appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart”.

How many times had Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for being hard of heart? Now he is saying the same to the eleven for not believing the accounts of Mary and the two disciples. We do not have a reason for their unbelief and maybe that is well and good, because that gives us the opportunity to ponder for ourselves, when has someone brought us a message from Jesus and we responded to them with hard hearts and were unbelieving? Are there certain people we would not believe no matter what good news they had to share with us?

Jesus does not belabor the point. His rebuke helped them to see that as his followers their hearts needed to be open to him working through others, as he told John when someone was casting out demons in Jesus’ name, “whoever is not against us is for us” (cf. Mk 9:40). Christianity is not a secret sect, it is a universal call and proclamation for all. We are celebrating this Easter Octave, and we continue to do so each year, that the Son of God became incarnate, entered into our human condition, lived, suffered, and died, conquered death, and rose again, for all of humanity and creation.

Jesus conquered death and became the first born of the new creation and invites us to participate in his reign of the kingdom of heaven. This is the Good News he wanted his eleven to proclaim. He then said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15). Jesus is calling us to do the same, as brothers and sisters, working in solidarity, not for a select few in our pew, but for all in our realm of influence. We are to bring the light, joy, and love of Jesus person to person. Let us also be open to God working through others and receive his message from them as well! Alleluia!!!

Photo: Altar in St Edwards Church, Palm Beach, FL

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, April 7, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040718.cfm

There are a handful of incidents in today’s Gospel reading from John that refer back to encounters Jesus had with his Apostles before his death and resurrection. Jesus waits on the shore as seven of his disciples; Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, John, and two others, return from a night of fishing. This is reminiscent of when Jesus first came to Andrew and Simon, James and John as they were casting and mending nets and he invited them to follow him. The disciples return with their nets empty, and Jesus suggests that they cast their net over the right side and they quickly find that they “were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish.” Peter had this experience in one of his first encounters with Jesus when he had been fishing all night and Jesus made the request to put out into the deep water, and that time they were able to fill both boats.

After their great catch “of one hundred fifty-three large fish” John told Peter that the Lord was the one who had instructed them. Just as when Jesus approached his disciples that night walking on the stormy waters, Peter jumped out of the boat and walked on water until he took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink. Peter again “jumped into the sea.” When Peter and the disciples came to shore “they saw a charcoal fire.” This recalled the most recent charcoal fire outside the gate where Jesus was led for his judgement. To keep warm he joined the servants and slaves huddled around a charcoal fire. It was at that charcoal fire that Peter denied Jesus. The final scene in today’s account was when Jesus offered cooked fish and bread to his disciples, echoes of Jesus feeding the five thousand with two loaves and a few fish.

Through our life we will come upon encounters with people and incidents that we have experienced before. We may not have been as present as we have wanted to be when attempting to comfort someone, we may have given in to temptation we regretted, or we may have been involved in some task and made a mistake, just as Peter had denied Jesus three times at that charcoal fire. Peter wept when he heard the cock crow. The sound brought back Jesus’ prediction, brought to light Peter’s own denial and cowardice. How many times must he have berated himself, as we have done when we have sinned, fallen short of our goals, or made mistakes?

Making mistakes and taking risks, are necessary for learning in any endeavor in life. Jesus does not want us to beat ourselves up when we fall short or fail. What is required to mature and grow is an honest assessment of the situation, and then a movement to correct and learn from our mistakes. Often we overcompensate in the beginning, but as we remain persistent we reach a healthy balance. A concrete example of this was my first experience with bowling. The first time I walked on the lane, took aim, and released the ball, I threw it into the left gutter, and then the next throw went into the right gutter. Eventually, my adjustments were less drastic and I was able to strike more pins than gutters. The same is true for our everyday lives.

Jesus returns to be with his disciples after his resurrection, he meets them in very similar settings as he had before his death. All of his disciples failed him, Jesus does not condemn them, but helps to show them how far they have come since he first called them, while at the same time helping them to see how far they still have to go to actualize their potential. Jesus is not only their teacher, but the divine source of their own transfiguration. With Jesus guiding us, and empowering us with his love, encouraging us to move beyond our own self, hopefully, we will be a little more present to someone the next time we are in a position to provide comfort or understanding, have greater resolve when tempted, and be able to see our sins and mistakes as well as learn from them.

Jesus has risen again, appeared to his disciples to guide them, encourage and empower them to be who God has called them to be. Jesus offers us the same teaching, guidance, and power shared from the wellspring of his divinity that we will be able to also access when we choose to accept the free gift of his grace and participate in his life. Our repentance and Jesus’ forgiveness goes beyond helping us to become better people. Through the love of Jesus, our minds, hearts, and souls change, we are  transfigured, and conformed to Jesus and his life of resurrection. Alleluia!!!

Photo: Bowling in the Bronx, my pre-novitiate year with the Franciscans of Holy Name, around 1991, just missed the spare…

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, April 6 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040618.cfm

Just as Jesus came among Cleopas and the other disciple on their road to Emmaus, Jesus does so again as the pair was recounting the encounter with the risen Jesus. What Jesus does differently in this interaction is that he clarifies that he is not a ghost, that he is not mere spirit. Jesus said to those gathered around him, “Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have” (Lk 24:39). He then requested some fish and, just as before, he ate and talked with his disciples.

We have heard about the resurrection of Jesus, maybe for years, but it is important not to get complacent with the amazing miracle that this is. Also, we need to resist the temptation to diminish in any way the significance, that Jesus was transfigured physically. Jesus, was and continues to be a hypostatic union, meaning that he is one divine person, fully divine, subsisting in two natures, the human and divine. The humanity of Jesus through his resurrection was fully actualized and transcended the limitations of the three dimensional realm that he had experienced in his humanity before. This is how he could disappear after making himself known in the breaking of the bread and how he will come through a locked door to interact with his disciples.

The relevance of the bodily resurrection of Jesus for us, is that he, in dying and conquering death, is now the reality of who we will one day be. We will be fully actualized as God has created us to be. The good news is that we do not have to wait to go to heaven for this process to begin! The path of becoming fulfilled and whole begins in this life, now, as we accept Jesus as our Lord and Redeemer. Jesus in his encounter with his disciples from today’s reading from Luke, continues the message he began at the beginning of his ministry, which is one of repentance and forgiveness.

We are to live a life of humility, to call to mind our sins and repent daily. Jesus will forgive us, and as we receive his mercy and forgiveness we are to offer the same to others in our midst. May we spend some time thanking Jesus today for not only suffering and dying for each and every one of us, but also for living through us. Jesus is the source of our life and salvation. Jesus has come to show us that we are not in competition with God, but that his Father, our Father, seeks to be in solidarity with us. A statement attributed to the second century Church Father, St. Irenaeus of Lyon, is that “The glory of God is the human being fully alive.” We do not need to merely exist or survive in this life. Instead, may we live our life in participation with Jesus the Christ and thrive! Alleluia!!!

Photo: Me and Fr. Jean, I believe from my first Christmas Mass serving as a deacon.

Link for the Mass reading for Thursday, April 5, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040518.cfm

Our Gospel reading for today continues the same theme of our first few resurrection accounts with Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. There is a feeling of despair. The hope of Jesus being the Messiah, the promised one to redeem and deliver his people Israel seemed to have been in vain. Even though Jesus sought to prepare his followers for his death, they could not, or would not, believe in the death of the Messiah.

Cleopas and his companion are in mourning as they walk along the road to Emmaus. They have left Jerusalem and are commiserating among themselves, attempting to understand how their hopes had been dashed. They were so sure that Jesus was who he said he was, now what were they to do? Jesus then comes upon them in the midst of their discussion. Jesus meets them where they are and weaves his way into the conversation and their journey.

The time for them to part arrived and Jesus motioned to them that he was going to continue on. Cleopas and the other disciple urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over” (Lk 24:29). Jesus did just that and he revealed himself to them “in the breaking of the bread”(Lk 24:35).

The account of the road to Emmaus has relevance for our own spiritual journey. How many times have we had an inaccurate understanding of Jesus in such a way that we felt let down? Have we domesticated Jesus, or limited who he is, seeing only one aspect of his person that we accept, attempted to shape or conform him to our image and likeness? Have we prayed for something and then that petition or intention was not fulfilled in the way we had hoped? Have we sought Jesus and felt that he wasn’t there for us in our time of struggle or during those times that we felt that we needed guidance?

We need to remember that Jesus is the Son of God and we are not. He meets us as we are and accepts us as we are, but also calls us to be more, to actualize the fullness of our potential. That means stretching us beyond our comfort zones, urging us to let go of our safety nets and training wheels. As he was transfigured, so are we called to be as well. We are transfigured as Jesus was by entering into participation of Trinitarian Love, which is a resisting to withdraw into oneself, but instead to be willing to be loved and to love, to give of oneself to another, to will the good of others.

This Easter Season, may we spend time meditating on the word of Sacred Scripture, allowing Jesus to shape and guide our understanding of the truths within such that our hearts will be burning within us. Let us gather together in worship to hear his word proclaimed as well as experience him revealed in the breaking of the bread in our worship together in the celebration of the Mass. May we put into practice what we have heard and received. May we be open to Jesus coming into the midst of our everyday activities, to recognize him in the interruptions that arise. May we share the sacrificial love we have received from Jesus with those in our realm of influence. May we realize that Jesus is among us, closer to us than we are to ourselves. We just need to invite him in as Cleopas and the disciple did on the road to Emmaus and let God happen. Alleluia!!!

Painting: Road to Emmaus, Robert Zünd

Link for the Mass reading for Wednesday, April 4, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040418.cfm