The readings during the Easter Season continue to paint for us images and understandings of the early Christian Church. They proclaim the basic teaching of the early Apostles –“all who desire salvation must repent and be baptized.”  The cornerstone of our redemption and salvation is Jesus Christ. Baptism is our immersion into Christ’s mission of this world’s recovery by bringing the Good News to all people.

This Fourth Sunday of Easter is known as Good Shepherd Sunday and the Gospel is always taken from the 10th chapter of John where Jesus speaks of himself as the “good shepherd.” In today’s passage Jesus emphasizes three insights: (1) self-sacrifice- the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep; (2)the mutual bond of love and intimacy- the shepherd knows his sheep and they know him; and (3)evangelization- the good shepherd deeply desires that many other sheep should come to identify themselves with him.

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4th Sunday of EasterRead More »

“Thus, it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations beginning in Jerusalem.” Jesus was calling upon his Apostles to be true disciples spreading his Good News of love and forgiveness. He was calling them to be preachers as he is now calling all of us to preach the Good News to all.

I have heard some say, “I am not a preacher. I cannot preach to anyone.” They might think that they cannot preach so they think they are off the hook!! Are you off the hook? After all, we have our priests like Father Rick, deacons like myself and Deacon Clark.; we have nuns, monks, friars, missionaries, those in religious life, lay apostolates, ministers of all kinds to be the disciples of Christ preaching the Good News. But you see, we are missing the most important preachers of our Church and that is you! Yes, you and you and you and you.

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3rd Sunday of EasterRead More »

In today’s first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, Luke provides us with an ideal cameo of the first Christian community that sounds so unreal to us. They held all things in common. The wealthier members of the community would sell their property to assist those in need. Their generosity was rooted in faith. What prompted them to act in this way was the impact the resurrection of Jesus had on them.

While most of us acknowledge the duty to contribute to the community, some of us often find it hard to be truly generous with what we have. Sharing what we have, be it our personal faith or personal possessions can be a real struggle. Yet when you stop to think about it, we are blessed with what we have because someone, often our parents, was willing to initially share something that impacted our lives, nourishing us both physically and spiritually. 

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2nd Sunday of EasterRead More »

This gospel passage proclaims the heart of our faith. What we hear proclaimed is the report of an empty tomb. If you already believe, the empty tomb makes sense. Mark tells us far more than we may imagine, and at the same time less. Have you ever noticed that no gospel describes the resurrection itself, an event that is terribly difficult for us to imagine? The New Testament writers certainly believed and taught that Jesus rose from the dead. They also understood his resurrection not to be a simple resuscitation, but a transformation. What the risen Christ became was unlike what he had been before he died on the cross. 

What is the resurrection? That is a crucial question for us to ponder since our faith is based on it. We are convinced that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. If historians were to rank the significant events of all time, I believe that many would place this incredible event at the top of their list. Probably no other event has had a greater impact on world history than what happened on the third day following Jesus’ death on the cross. On that day an empty tomb was discovered.

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Easter SundayRead More »

This evening, we came into a dark church, a reminder that for a while Jesus Christ was absent from the world after dying on the cross. Soon after Deacon Larry entered holding aloft the Easter candle, that darkness was dispelled. The solitary flame of his candle quickly spread throughout the church. For me, few moments in the year are as moving as this sign of the risen Christ touching the lives of so many through the help of others.

This is the night many people throughout the world have been waiting for. They were drawn to our faith because Christ touched them in some way, perhaps because someone had shared the joy of the gospel with them. So much has happened in their lives yet I can only say that far from finishing the task that brings them to this night, “We have only just begun.”

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Easter VigilRead More »