Thank You, God, for Another Day

 

3rd Sunday of Easter

St. Luke’s story about the two disciples and their trip to Emmaus is like a finely cut gem.  There are many facets to the story and each facet reflects a different image of the Resurrected Christ present among us.   The risen Christ is with us always and everywhere, even when we are running away or isolated in our houses.  He is with us on our important, life changing journeys and our everyday activities. We may not recognize him, but he is there.  The risen Christ reaches out to us through scripture as St Pope John Paul II reminded us, "it is Christ himself who speaks when the Holy Scriptures are read.”  The resurrected Christ is present when we gather together as a congregation to worship (even when we worship together electronically) because we are the Body of Christ.   And most significantly, the risen Christ is present in the Eucharist both through the priest in the act of consecration and in the bread and wine.  We believe that the consecrated host really becomes the Body of Christ and the blessed wine really becomes the Blood of Christ.  The risen Christ is very real and present here with us today. 

The question I put to you today is what do you do with this precious gift of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ present to us in so many ways?    Do you forget about him when Mass in over? Is he relegated to a small corner of your life?  Does he disappear when you interact with your family or people you work with? When Cleopas and his colleague finally recognized Jesus in the breaking of bread, they “set out at once,” walking the seven miles back to Jerusalem to share their good news with the apostles and other disciples.  During these times of social distancing and for many people isolation, how do we share the Good News?  You can reach out to people you know are isolated by calling them, emailing them or sending them a note to let them know you are thinking about them.  When you get frustrated with your spouse, children or even your neighbors, you can be patient, loving and kind.  You can take time out to read and reflect on scripture.  And you can pray. 

In today’s second reading from 1 Peter 1: 17 – 21, St Peter tell us, “Beloved: If you invoke as Father him who judges impartially according to each one’s works, conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning, realizing that you were ransomed … with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb. He was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you, who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,

so that your faith and hope are in God.” 

God our Father,
our road in life is often tiresome
for it is the road of pilgrims.
Give us Jesus your Son
as our companion who journeys with us
and who warms our hearts with love and joy.
Let him keep breaking for us
the bread of himself that gives us courage.
Open our eyes to recognize him
in our downhearted and suffering brothers and sisters,
that they may see in us
something of our faith that our Lord is risen
and that he lives for ever and ever.

Amen

 

Whole

It’s no wonder that sometimes we feel fragmented and disjointed. The world looks like it's divided into billions of pieces, all separate and distinct. What is the force that unites all the parts and keeps everything from colliding in random motion? Is there a Whole? 

Emerson called it the Soul. Others call it the Life Force, Brahman, the movement of energy, Higher Power, God.

If we imagine the Whole is the Soul and we acknowledge that each of us also has a Soul, or is a Soul, then we have outlined the great paradox, the mystery of the universe: All that is out there, everything on earth and in the heavens, is also part of us. We reflect the majesty of all the pieces and all the pieces are a reflection of us. To know the Whole, the unifying thing itself, we must turn to our own Soul and get to know the God within.

My life is one piece, a Whole, just as the world is one piece, a Whole. Contained in my Soul is all the mystery and magic of the universe.

We are Small Enough

William Beebe, the naturalist, used to tell this story about Teddy Roosevelt. At Sagamore Hill, after an evening of talk, the two would go out on the lawn and search the skies for a certain spot of star-like light near the lower left-hand corner of the Great Square of Pegasus. Then Roosevelt would recite: “That is the Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda. It is as large as our Milky Way. It is one of a hundred million galaxies. It consists of one hundred billion suns, each larger than our sun.”

Then Roosevelt would grin and say, "Now I think we are small enough! Let's go to bed.”

Spread Love

Refresh Yourself at Mass

When the well threatens to run dry, it's time to rest and refill.

We can't always be doing and giving and producing. There comes a time when we run out of steam, and that's when we need to know how to replenish our supply of energy and enthusiasm.

Some of us get recharged by being with other people. Some of us need to be quiet and alone. All of us can profit from going to Mass. It can give us all an inspirational uplift. Mass can help us to become recharged. It can help us to savor the beauty of nature, and lead us to a period of quiet meditation with the God of Love.

Vacations can be wonderful, but we're not always able to take them when we need them. What we can do is learn how to create for ourselves islands of recreation re-creation -- which may be inserted into our busy, everyday schedule. We can learn to stop and refill the well before it runs dry, so we do not drive ourselves into the kind of exhaustion that threatens our spirituality.

I will build an island of re-creation into today's schedule by going to Mass.

Divine Mercy Sunday

 “Peace be with you,” Jesus greets his disciples after the Resurrection when he enters the locked room where they are cowering in fear.  “Peace be with you,” he says again.   

Initially, when Jesus told his friends he was leaving peace with them, he was preparing them for his death. Over and over Jesus warned his followers about what was to come.  He wanted to comfort them.  In John 14: 27-29 Jesus says: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, 'I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.” 

What is this peace that Jesus is talking about? It is not peace, as our world understands it.  The peace that Jesus gives does not grant us immunity from pain and suffering, or even death, rather it enables us to face all these painful realities and triumph over them in union with the victory of Christ himself. Just as Jesus comes to the disciples hiding behind locked doors he comes to us today bringing his peace and empowering us to rejoice in his Resurrection.  He invites us to share in his Resurrection and life of glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  He invites us to join his pain and suffering with our own pain and suffering so that dying with him we may also rise with him and share in that peace which the world cannot give.

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, a day when we reflect on the mercy and love of our Savior, Jesus Christ.   As we continue our journey of faith during this week let this be our prayer. 

Prayer of Entrustment to the Divine Mercy

O Lord, our God.
We place our trust in You, 
Because you are mercy itself.
We repent of our sins and turn to You for mercy.
We trust You to provide for our every need, according to Your will. 
Help us to forgive others as You forgive us. 
We promise to be merciful by our deeds, words and prayers.
Though we have fears because of human weakness, we rely on Your infinite goodness and mercy. 
We entrust to You the future of our planet, our Church, our nations, our families and all our needs.  
With loud cries, we implore your mercy on us and on the whole world.
Look upon us, created in your image and likeness.
Form us in the Heart of Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit into the living images of mercy.
May all come to know the depth of Your mercy and sing the praises of Your mercy forever.

Amen!