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“the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world”

Those in the crowd who Jesus is speaking are those who experienced his multiplication of the loaves and fish. Step by systematic and deliberate step, Jesus is setting the stage for today’s insertion into his presentation.

Jesus begins slowly, but with each successive addition, he is not willing to be tamed. He came, the One from above, the One who has seen and has been sent by the Father, is fully divine, as well as fully human, to speak the truth to those who have come. He has responded to the people’s request regarding how they were to “accomplish the works of God” (see John 6:28-29) and his response is that they are to believe in him, he who had been sent by God. They were to “work for food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give” (John 6:27). Jesus with the multiplication of the loaves and fish provided for those who were hungry in the moment. He provided physical nourishment. He is now moving from satisfying physical needs, to how he will provide food that will endure for eternal life. Jesus shared that he is this food, the bread from heaven, that will give life to the world.

What Jesus shared thus far and what he shares in today’s Gospel message has been given to him to say from his Father and is for everyone who is willing to accept his invitation: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (John 6:51). We have an advantage, that those listening to Jesus, did not have. We just experienced Lent and we can certainly draw a line to how Jesus certainly does give his very life, his flesh, that is sacrificed and hung on the cross. Jesus died and experienced utter God forsakenness by giving his very life for the life the world.

But for those in the crowd who only the day before sought to unanimously make him their Messiah by popular acclamation are, with each word expressed by Jesus, growing a bit more uncomfortable. This discourse is moving away from what might have initially appeared to be a figurative discussion to a more dramatic and concrete presentation with horrific implications. After an initial gasp or two, some murmuring started to circulate, maybe centering around such questions as:

“Did Jesus really just say he would give us his flesh?”

“Jesus is equating himself with the bread from heaven, and the bread he is offering is his flesh?”

“Is Jesus saying what I think he is saying?”

Yes! Jesus stated clearly that he is the Bread of Life, and this Bread is his very Flesh. Beyond and before time, the Father has given all that he is, holding nothing back, emptying himself into the Son. The Son has received all that the Father is and returns himself, giving all that he is, holding nothing back, to the Father. This eternal giving and receiving, this eternal communion of Love shared between the Father and the Son is the Holy Spirit. Jesus is offering his listeners and continues to offer us today participation in this perichoresis, this divine dance of infinite communion. Jesus offers all that he is to be consumed.

Just as Jesus gave all of himself on the cross, he gives all of himself, holding nothing back in his glorified Body present in the Eucharist. We are invited not only to receive all that Jesus is, we are also invited to give ourselves away in return. As we receive, we become who we eat. We are transformed by the love of Jesus’ presence in our being as we consume him so that we to, as Jesus did, give of ourselves to serve others.
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Photo of the Rose Window from the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, April 23, 2026

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger… will never thirst”

Yesterday and today’s Gospel readings from John are laying the groundwork for Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse. In yesterday’s account, Jesus shared with the people who gathered about him, the people who had already received the miraculous multiplication of bread, that they were not to “work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life” and Jesus also shared that they were to “believe in the one [God] sent” (see Jn 6:27-29).

In today’s account, Jesus asserted that he was even greater than Moses. The people, who believed that Moses gave them bread from heaven, asked Jesus for a similar sign, to prove he was who he said he was. Jesus reminded them first and foremost that his Father, not Moses, had given them the bread from heaven, and also as he often did, met their request but built upon it: “My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (Jn 6:32-33).

Certainly, this offer is appealing, and so the people not only want some of this bread also, they want an endless supply. Jesus welcomes the opportunity to offer them what they desire, in the very depths of their souls but unaware: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” (Jn 6:35).

Jesus encouraged his listeners to pursue the food that “endures for eternal life” to believe in the one his Father sent, then he shared how his Father gave them the true bread from heaven, “for the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Jesus is the one his listeners are to build their relationship with, for he is the very presence of God in their midst. Jesus is the promise of eternal life. Jesus is the one sent by his Father to give life to the world. Jesus became one with us in our humanity so that we can become one with him in his divinity. Jesus is the bread of life!

We are a living craving, hunger, and desire to be one with God and each other, and this is true for the atheist and the believer alike. That which God has created, he has created good, but the material and finite will not fulfill us. We, in short order, experience the limitations of the finite and seek something more. This is how we are wired, because ultimately, our deepest hunger, craving, and desire, is that which we seek to fulfill us, that which is eternal. The only One to satisfy our eternal hunger is the bread of life, Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Do we believe this to be true? Do we believe that Jesus is the bread of life, that he is the source and sustenance, the very foundation of our being and existence?

If we have been caught up: in the business of life, in mere existence or survival mode of the day-to-day, or stuck in our sin, addiction, wounds, or disillusionment, or if we feel like we are just running on empty. If we have just taken this reality for granted, then let us seek to, “believe in the one who God sent”, commit or recommit our selves, our very life, to the one who is our source and sustainer, Jesus, the Bread of Life. When we encounter Jesus in his glorified body, present in the consecrated host, we encounter our Savior, the bread of everlasting life who will satisfy our deepest hunger and thirst.

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Photo: Print of the painting: “Christ the Saviour” by Vicente Juan Masip hanging in the sacristy in the chapel of St. Mary of the Lake.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, April 20, 2026

Jesus did not give up on Thomas or Cleopas. He will not give up on us.

We return again to the reading of the Road to Emmaus pericope that we heard less than two weeks ago. This rich record is certainly worth many readings because there is within its telling so much contained in its depths that one, two, or three readings is nowhere near sufficient.

Jesus comes upon Cleopas and another disciple heading away from Jerusalem feeling devastated because not only had their teacher been brutally crucified but their hopes of him truly being the Messiah were also dashed. The interesting points that come up when they begin to talk to Jesus are that “some women…had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive.” They also announced to Jesus: “Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.”

Cleopas and the other disciple were certainly close enough to the inner circle of the Apostles to know Mary Magdalene and the Eleven to be in hiding with them after the crucifixion. This also meant that they knew Jesus pretty well. They had to have heard on more than one occasion either from Jesus himself or the other Apostles that Jesus would rise again on the third day.

Why then did they leave after hearing the tomb was empty? Wouldn’t they want to find out if what Jesus said about his Resurrection was actually true? Jesus had told them to wait for him in Jerusalem, not Emmaus. Cleopas and the other are heading the wrong way! Last week we read about how Thomas was away when Jesus reappears to the Apostles. Could he have gone his own way and leave like Cleopas and the other disciple did?

There were those like Mary, Peter, and John who stayed in Jerusalem, while at the same time we know about Thomas, Cleopas, and another disciple who had left, even after hearing about the empty tomb. Jesus was clear in what he taught about his coming back on the third day, just as he was when he told his followers that they would eat his flesh and drink his blood. People left then as well.

How many times have we given up or given in just when what we had been waiting for or working for would have been fulfilled? We may never know. Fortunately, for Cleopas and the other disciple that we read about this week and Thomas last week, Jesus was willing to reach out to them a second time. They heard his words about the Resurrection but they did not grasp or comprehend the full meaning of what Jesus meant.

The same is often true of us. Jesus invites us to follow him as he did the others, as he does with all of humanity, yet we often do not understand or fully appreciate the fullness of what Jesus is offering. Until we are able to relate to and value the deeper meaning and worth of what it means to truly develop a relationship with Jesus, to know, be loved by and love him, and be a follower of his, we will not be willing to invest our time and commitment. The Good News is that Jesus did not give up on Thomas or Cleopas nor will he give up on us. One day we too will also be able to exclaim with joy, “The Lord has truly been raised,” and our life we never be the same.

Painting: The Supper at Emmaus by Rembrandt 1648

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, April 19, 2026

Engaging both our physical and spiritual natures helps us to embrace wonder!

The feeding of the five thousand that we encounter in today’s Gospel from John is reported in each of the four Gospels. 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 present in each of the four is strong evidence in support for that event happening.

From a different perspective, there are those that embrace a scientism that they will not believe in anything that can not be measured, experimented upon, or proven within the realm of the five senses. For those ascribing to this strict interpretation, religion and accounts of miracles are often dismissed as superstition, that if something indeed did happen, there is a scientific explanation to dismiss the miraculous. Even some believers may discount the record of the feeding of the five thousand as more of a symbolic representation of the generosity and service encouraged by Jesus such that everyone gave their small share and there was enough for all, not that he actually was able to multiply the bread and fish.

These perspectives of downplaying the miracle of multiplication seek to reduce or limit Jesus to just his humanity, but he is so much more. Jesus is human, fully human, yes, even more so after his resurrection, but he is also fully divine. Coming to understand the wonder of the unity of the divinity and humanity of Jesus can help us better understand the reality of our world and the whole of the cosmos.

One of the core aspects of who we are as human beings is that we are people of wonder. The physical sciences are tools that we have in our toolbox that we can access to help us to understand our physical realm, while at the same time we also have spiritual tools that help us to receive insights from both physical and spiritual realities. The physical sciences actually emerge precisely because of our spiritual pursuit to understand the wonders of God’s creation. In accessing both faith and reason, 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 reality. 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 dismisses anything divine.

If we remove ourselves from the divine such that we experience, explore, and think from the perspective of the finite material realm solely, 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 then why we would find it hard to believe in miracles, the mystical, and the spiritual. The miracles are 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. They are also a foretaste of heaven. Jesus entered into our human condition, fully divine to become fully human. In doing so, he opened up heaven for us.

We need to 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 and appreciation for not only the gift and wonder of creation but also who we are as human beings. God has imparted within us the ability to access and develop both our faith and reason, to think critically, and to pray and meditate more deeply.

Jesus as the firstborn of the new creation embodies the reality of the fullness of who 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 by cutting out the very life force that sustains those virtues we hope to aspire to and we will not understand the ground and foundation of those morals and social teachings in the first place.

We will access more of the fullness of all that God the Father offers us when we open the door to his Son this Easter Season and invite the Holy Spirit in. Let us continue our journey, 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 that God seeks to unfold for us, the gift of God’s grace building on nature, the reality of God-incidences all around us, and embrace the eternal foundation and ground of our being which is the Trinitarian Love of God. In this way, we will then come to know and love God, so we can serve him and one another better,

Photo: A moment to be grateful for the wonder of God’s creation.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, April 17, 2026

When we encounter Jesus for ourselves, we too will have some good news to share!

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 definitively 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 two disciples, presumably the same on the road to Emmaus as recorded in Luke, met the risen Jesus. When both Mary and the this pair share their experiences with the eleven, they are not believed, and then, “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? Have we brought the good news of our encounter with Jesus and it was met with coldness or even disdain?

Mary a woman and a woman that has had seven demons exorcized from her would not have been considered a credible witness in the ancient near East. And yet, Jesus chose her to appear to first and to bring the message of his resurrection to the Apostles. And that such an “unreliable” source, Mary’s witness, has been retained in all four gospels has something to also say – Mary encountered Jesus, believed, and shared what she saw and experienced and although initially not believe, her testimony was preserved.

Jesus does not belabor the point. His conviction 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). He was also preparing them for those who would believe their testimonies.

Christianity is not a secret sect, it is a universal call and proclamation to be shared with all. We are celebrating in this Easter Octave, as we continue to do so each year, the fullness of the Paschal Mystery. Not only did the Son of God became incarnate and live the fullness of a human existence, he suffered, died, conquered death, and rose again, for all of humanity and creation.

This was no mere resuscitation like Lazarus who would die again. Jesus conquered death and became the firstborn of the new creation and he invites us to participate in his reign. He invites us to share in his divinity. The resurrection is the Good News he wanted his eleven to proclaim when he said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15).

Do we believe the apostolic claim that was first shared by Mary Magdalene, the Apostle to the Apostles, and has been passed on generation after generation? Will we, like those who have gone before us, receive, abide in, and share the love of God? Jesus is calling us to do so not for a select few in our pew, but for all in our realm of influence. We are to build relationships by bringing the light, joy, and love of Jesus to each individual that we meet, person to person. Let us also be open to God working through others and receive his message from them as well! Alleluia!!!Alleluia!!!

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Photo: Elizabeth Tabish, playing Mary Magdalene in the series The Chosen.

Link for the Mass readings for April 11, 2025

Jesus will open the Scriptures to us when we make the time to spend with him.

Just as we read yesterday, Jesus came among Cleopas and the other disciple on their road to Emmaus, Jesus does so again as the pair was recounting their encounter with the risen Jesus to the apostles. To assuage the fear brought on by his sudden appearance he said and to assure that he was no ghost, “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 he ate and talked with his disciples as he had done in their times together before his death and resurrection.

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 of the transfiguration of Jesus. Jesus was and continues to be a hypostatic union, meaning Jesus is one divine person 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 just came 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 perfected in Jesus to be 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, Savior, 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.

When we were baptized we were born again as an integral part of the new creation given to us by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Through this grace, our humanity has been redeemed. Each day we are to live in humility, calling to mind our sins and repenting daily. God loves us as we are as his beloved daughters and sons, but he does not want us to stay where we are. Jesus will help us to identify that which stunts our growth and healing, that which leads us astray and diverts us from growing in closer relationship with him. Jesus suffered and died for each and every one of us, and he also seeks to live through us. Jesus is the foundation and source of our lives and he is our means to 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 communion and solidarity with us.

One of the best ways to grow in our relationship with God is to rest and renew in God’s word. We are blessed that the Church gives us daily readings at Mass that we can read, meditate, and pray with each day. We can also certainly work through one of the Gospels or any book of the Bible at our own pace. God has a word to communicate with each of us when we make the time to be still, breathe, read, and pray.

Jesus opened up the minds of Clopas, his companion, and the Apostles. Jesus will open our minds as well, help us to understand the Scriptures, and reveal himself to us when we are willing to slow down long enough and are committed to doing so daily. Even when we feel tired, let us resist scrolling through social media or surfing channels, which actually don’t help us renew, but instead continue to overstimulate our nervous system and can get us hyped up on dopamine.

May we instead rest and abide in God’s word which will help our minds to come to rest, renew, and discern better how to resist frittering away the precious time that God gives us each day. In reading the words of the Bible, in meditating and praying with them as well as just resting in God’s presence, we will slow down enough to remember who and whose we are. When we can rest in that truth, healing continues, and wholeness is possible.

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Photo: Where I end that majority of my evenings now. Breathing, reading, meditating and praying with the Bible.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, April 9, 2026

May we allow Jesus to open the Scriptures to us!

Despair was creeping in on the pair. The hope of Jesus being the Messiah, the promised one who came to redeem and deliver his people Israel had died a brutal and humiliating death. Even though Jesus sought to prepare his followers for this reality, they could not conceive, believe, or thought possible that the promised Messiah could die.

Cleopas and his companion are in mourning as they walk along the road to Emmaus. They have left Jerusalem and are commiserating among themselves about their dashed hopes. They were so sure that Jesus was who he said he was, now what were they to do? Even though they had heard about the empty tomb from the women, they did not believe, and they left Jerusalem. Jesus met them where they were and wove his way into the conversation and their journey.

When the time for them to part arrived, Jesus motioned to them that he was going to continue on. The pair of disciples 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 significant relevance for our own spiritual journeys. 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 totality, attempted to shape or conform him into 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 his guidance most?

Jesus is the Son of God and we are not. He meets us as we are, accepts us as we are, walks with us even when we are walking in the wrong direction, but he also calls us to repent and be transformed. He invites us to stretch out beyond our comfort zones, to let go of our safety nets and take off our training wheels. Jesus invites us to nothing less than being transfigured by entering into the participation of Trinitarian Love. This begins when we resist withdrawing into and curving in upon ourselves, and instead are willing to be loved and to be expanded outward beyond ourselves and so to love in return.

We would do well to spend some time each day reading, praying, meditating and contemplating the wonderful daily readings of the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospels. In doing so, our hearts and minds like that of Cleopas and his companion, may also be set aflame. Once this pair encountered the risen Jesus, they corrected their course immediately and returned to the community of Jerusalem, even though it was evening and not safe.

As we put into practice what we hear and receive, we too will begin to: see Jesus more active in the midst of our everyday activities, recognize him in our daily events and even in the interruptions, be more inspired to share the sacrificial love we have received from Jesus, and come to realize that Jesus is among us, closer to us than we are to ourselves. We just need to invite him to walk with us, even when we are heading the wrong way, we can turn around. When we invite Jesus into our lives God will happen and we will come to believe. Alleluia!!!

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Painting: “Road to Emmaus” by Robert Zünd

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, April 8, 2026

Mary recognized Jesus when he called her by name.

As we continue through the readings for Easter we will be given glimpses of encounters with the risen Jesus. This is good news for us, as the risen Jesus of the Gospels is the same Jesus who we have the opportunity to encounter each day in his word proclaimed, the Eucharist, and in our experience of one another.

Today’s Gospel account from John picks up where Sunday’s account left off. Peter and John have come to the tomb and left. Mary did not return with them after they observed the empty tomb. Mary stayed by the side of the tomb and wept. She then peered into the tomb and witnessed two angels. As she turned back she saw who she believed to be the gardener. Why a gardener? Because the tomb was in a garden. Maybe a hint of Jesus going back to the beginning and restoring what God had planned from the beginning, before the Fall.

Mary questioned the “gardener” as to the whereabouts of Jesus. She was still holding onto the loss and grief of his death and the reason why she most likely came to the tomb in the first place which was to anoint him. To find his body now gone, just added salt to the already wide open wound. When he did not immediately answer, Mary must have turned away, because: Jesus said to her, “Mary” (Jn 20:16)!

Just as a sheep recognizes the voice of its shepherd, upon hearing her name, Mary Magdalene recognized Jesus.

Peter and John left the empty tomb. We do not know why. Maybe they wanted to share with and confirm to the other disciples that Mary was correct about the empty tomb. Mary could have gone back also, but something moved her to stay. It could have been the sorrow that brought her to tears, it could have been her dedication and faithfulness to Jesus to find him, to anoint him as she had come to do that first early Easter morning, it could have been that she did not know what to do next, or there was a sense beyond her understanding that held her in place.

Shortly thereafter, Jesus came to her, she recognized him not at first, but when he called her by name. When she called him “Rabbouni”, Jesus asked her to, “Stop holding on to me”.

What was Mary holding on to? Though mistaking him for the gardener at first, she came to recognize that he had indeed come back to life. But in calling Jesus Rabbouni, teacher or master, Mary was going back to the relationship she had with him before. Jesus was transfigured, he was different than he was before, in Paul’s words, Jesus was now in “his glorified body” (cf. Philippians 3:20-21). Jesus had remained fully divine when he became human, and now having taken another major step to complete his Father’s work through his death and resurrection, he assumed the perfection of his humanity. His mission would not be complete until he returned back to the Father at his Ascension.

There was not only a newness to the appearance of the resurrected Jesus, but his relationship with his followers would also be transformed. He did not return to avenge those who betrayed him. Jesus charged Mary to go to his “brothers”. He no longer called them disciples but his brothers. Once Jesus returned to the Father at his Ascension, he unleashed the power of the divine communion of the love shared between him and his Father, who is the Holy Spirit which his new brothers and sisters received at Pentecost.

We are heirs to the same promise that Mary Magdalene, the Apostle to the Apostles, shared with the Twelve. Jesus has become the firstborn of the new creation and through our baptism in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we participate in his death and Resurrection as well. We too are his brothers and sisters, we too can be configured and transformed more and more into the Body of Christ, healed, perfected, and divinized, because Jesus shares with each of us the relationship he shares with his Father.

As long as we don’t turn away from Jesus, we have cause for joy and celebration this Easter Season because “the resurrection of Jesus has changed absolutely everything, including the relationship between him and his followers. The disciples such as Mary, can relate to him no longer as an earthly teacher but the risen Lord. Jesus’ order, “stop holding on to me”, is meant in a figurative sense: Mary can no longer hold onto her past notions of discipleship” (Martin and Wright, 337).

I remember while still in seminary praying in the chapel and asking Jesus why I couldn’t feel about him the way I felt about my wife, JoAnn. Jesus said, “You have to let her go.” He did not mean forget about her or our memories together, but to not hold on to her any longer. It took awhile, but in doing so, and no longer grasping, there have been brief moments when I have felt her close. Learning to let go of the attachment I had, even putting her before God while she was still alive, I continue to heal and like Mary better know his voice.

Painting: Like Mary then, we are called to, “Go and announce the Good News of the Resurrection” in our everyday lives! Alleluia!!!

Martin, Francis and William Wright IV. The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, April 7, 2026

All agree the tomb was empty, the question is whose story do we believe?

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were bewildered from their encounter with the angel and the empty tomb. As they ran to get the news to the disciples, they were also dealing with mixed emotions, feeling both “fearful yet overjoyed,” (Mt 28:8) when in the midst of their travel they were greeted by Jesus. Jesus assured them and then sent them to, “tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me” (Mt 28:10). Off the pair went to share the message that Jesus had risen!

At the same time, some of the guards who witnessed the event at the tomb took a different way and headed into the city to meet with the chief priests. They relayed the incident about the earthquake and the angel appearing to them and the two women. After deliberating, the chief priests and the elders paid the guards a large sum to perpetuate the tale that his disciples took Jesus away.

Who would be believed, the two women or the guards? Apparently both! Mary Magdalene and the other Mary fulfilled their first apostolic role and passed on Jesus’ message to his disciples. Galilee was where the public ministry of Jesus began. They would all go back to the beginning. The tale spread by the guards would also be believed, because by the time of the writing of the Gospel of Matthew, the community, to which he wrote, were aware that, “this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day” (Mt 28:15).

Did Jesus really rise again from the dead as the angel, Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary claim or was this an elaborate plot by the disciples of Jesus to stage his resurrection, as the guards portrayed? How we answer these questions ought to make a difference in our lives. If we say yes, that we believe in Jesus and that he rose again, do we live our lives any differently than those who say they don’t believe?

We, who follow Jesus who rose again, are to be like the angel and each Mary. We are to be an Alleluia people, allowing the risen Christ to proclaim to and through us to those facing death – the promise of hope and life; to those living in the darkness of sin and addiction – the inviting light of healing and a new direction; to those who are weak and indifferent – that they are not alone, and Jesus will be the source of their strength and through Jesus we and they will overcome. Each day, during this Easter Season, may we become less, so that the risen Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, becomes more.

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Photo: “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed”. How do we respond to the news that he tomb was empty?

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, April 6, 2026

Jesus is risen! Let us place our hope and trust in him and we will experience his peace and joy!

Mary of Magdala comes to the tomb during the wee hours of the morning while it is still dark and finds the stone rolled away. She runs to Peter and John to share with them the news, that: “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him” (Jn 20:2). Peter and John retrace the steps of Mary, running to find the tomb empty as well. All three are stunned because “they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead” (Jn 20:9).

How can we blame them? Do we fully understand the reality and fact that Jesus has risen from the dead? There are conjectures tossed about today such as Jesus did not really die, but woke up three days later, aching all over from the excruciating effects of the crucifixion. Others say that the accounts of the resurrection were mass hallucinations, or that the Gospel accounts of Jesus rising from the dead are a mere myth. These propositions do not stand up to the fact that Jesus, fully God and fully man died, entered death, and conquered it. In so doing, he entered into a new life, a new reality. Jesus, in becoming the firstborn of the dead, was transfigured from our three-dimensional reality that we all know and experience, such that he now resonates at a higher pitch and dimensional reality. Jesus is the firstborn of a new creation!

All of human history changed in that tomb because of this new fact of the resurrection of Jesus. How this has happened is indeed a mystery, but in our seeking understanding, we will fall short and be frustrated if we only approach the mystery of God in the same way that we tackle a problem to be solved. The Apostles and disciples of Jesus struggled to find meaning and understanding about how Jesus crucified was now gone from the tomb. They came to understand the mystery of the Resurrection, the same way that they would come to believe in the mystery that Jesus is fully human and fully divine. This happened when they encountered Jesus again. The mystery of the Resurrection is not a problem to be solved, but a person to encounter, a relationship to embrace, as it was for the Apostles and is so for each of us today.

Faith seeking understanding is grounded in having an encounter with a person, Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Pope Francis writes: “The joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness” (Francis, 9).

Easter Sunday is the day where this joy first truly became possible, and this joy is needed now more than ever. For in each age there has been darkness in the world. Sin, suffering, violence, division, and death continue to be present in people’s experiences. Yet, because of this day, we celebrate Jesus’ victory over death. We celebrate the truth that the light has overcome the darkness, that suffering and death do not have the final answer, Jesus does. We can place our hope in Jesus so that no matter what challenges we are experiencing he will guide and accompany us.

We are an alleluia people, meaning that no matter what anguish or trial, we are a people endowed with hope in the One who conquered death. God has loved us into existence and continues to love us in such a way that the promise of eternity is real, where suffering and death are no more! Also, Jesus reminds us that he cares, that we are not alone now this side of heaven, and we will persevere and overcome sin, suffering, and even death when we surrender our minds and hearts to him. In that surrender, we will have access to his peace that surpasses all understanding.

Mary of Magdala shared the good news with Peter and John that the tomb was empty and the stone was rolled away. Jesus rolled back the stone, rolled back death, and he opened up heaven for us in the humanity he assumed, the death he conquered, and the resurrection we celebrate today! Alleluia! Alleluia!

May God bless each of you and fill you with his joy and peace! Happy Easter!!!

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Photo: A quiet holy hour Saturday afternoon preparing to celebrate the Easter Vigil in which I was blessed to baptize 7 and confirm 17 joy filled disciples of Jesus!!!

Spiritual Stepping Stones