English
3rd Sunday of Easter (B) - How do I know Jesus today?
The readings this Sunday in particular as well as the readings the Church meditates on throughout the Easter season help us to answer the question, “How do I know Jesus today? How do I experience the resurrection, i.e., that Jesus is alive today?” The resurrection is the central belief of our faith. As St. Paul said, “If Christ is not raised, your faith is in vain.” The resurrection is the reason we are Christians, but the resurrection cannot be something that just happened 2000 years ago or it would have nothing to do with my life. It would just be an idea - a pious thought. If I cannot experience the resurrection today, then, really, “who cares?” What difference does it make that Jesus rose from the dead? As we see in the scriptural accounts of the resurrection and the witness of the New Testament writers, the disciples believe in the resurrection because something surprising happened to them that changed their lives. It was something that they could touch and see. It wasn’t the figment of their imagination. They encountered a fact, an event of a changed humanity. We encounter the risen Lord in the same way today. In the first paragraph of his encyclical “God is Love”, Pope Benedict writes: “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction” (1). The Gospel today begins with, “The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of bread.” These two disciples are the two disciples who were on their way to Emmaus when a man they did not recognize began to walk with them. That man began to explain the scriptures to them in a way in which their hearts came alive to the point of “burning” within them, as they would recall. They were attracted to him and wanted him to stay with them. Their eyes were opened to recognize Jesus when he shared a meal with them and broke the bread in the same way Jesus did at the Last Supper. Because of this encounter, the direction of their lives was changed. They return to Jerusalem and share what happened to them on the way. Jesus then appears again to the gathered disciples in Jerusalem. They experience the changed humanity of Jesus. He invites them to touch and to see his body - that he is not a ghost. They can tell from his hands and feet (still bearing the wounds of the crucifixion) that this man alive before their eyes is the same man who they saw die nailed to the cross. As with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” The scriptures are only understood by the disciples after an encounter with the risen Lord. This is something very important. We don’t come to know Jesus by studying the scriptures or the Bible. Rather, the personal encounter with Jesus in our lives is what makes sense of the scriptures. I only understand the scriptures to be true when what is recalled in the scriptures comes to fulfillment in my life - when what is recalled in the scriptures happens to me. Faith, the recognition of Jesus alive, precedes understanding. We can also say that one of the ways that I know that I have met Jesus is that what happens to me today bears the same marks or “traces” of what happened to the first disciples. Something surprising happens to me today - I meet someone today - and because of that event or encounter, I am changed in a way that I didn’t expect. It is often a change that is clear to me that didn’t happen because of my own strength or ingenuity. It happens usually because of an attraction to a life I see or a new life that I detect in myself, and I want to stay with it. St. John puts it this way, “The way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments. Those who say, ‘I know him,’ but do not keep his commandments are liars, and the truth is not in them.” Faith is not simply intellectual knowledge or knowing about Jesus but living differently - keeping his commandments. When the word of God takes flesh in us, we know it is true. It is a witness of the resurrection when his life is made visible in us - when we live differently because of who we have met.
Peter’s speech in the reading from the Acts of the Apostles that we heard in the first reading today is what Peter says to the people who are amazed and astonished when they witness the cure of the crippled beggar. They saw the dramatic change in that man - how he was “raised up” by Peter. How he began to walk and to jump and to praise God. They see a new life in him. He “clings” to Peter and John and the crowd is drawn toward the place where Peter and John are. Peter calls to conversion the people who witness this new life. You denied Jesus in the past. You acted out of ignorance. But your sins can be wiped away. The new life that you see in this man before your eyes can be yours! St. John, in his letter, gives testimony of what he and the disciples have seen with their own eyes, “what we looked upon and touched with our hands - “the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us”. “He is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.” Peter and John and the other disciples were met by Jesus in the Upper Room the evening of Easter. Jesus forgave them for denying him and abandoning him. He met them with peace and not retribution. And he gave them a mission to forgive sins; to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins in his name to all the nations. They are to witness what has happened to them.
This past week, I met a young woman who was baptized Catholic but not raised in the faith. As a teenager, she had a desire to go to Church, but no one in her family was practicing. As a young adult a few years ago, she became curious about Christianity and bought a Bible. She began reading the Bible and looking things up on the internet about the differences between the different Christian denominations. She attended various Protestant churches but never really felt at home. She was looking for both community and structure, and came to inquire about being fully initiated as a Catholic. She wanted to know what she needed to do to receive the sacraments of the Eucharist and Confirmation. I told her that the sacramental preparation classes for adults would begin in the Fall. I asked her who she knew that was Catholic - who might be a sponsor for her. Was there a particular person who she knew whose life of faith she found attractive? She couldn’t name anyone. Maybe her grandmother, but she really didn’t have any family or friends who were Catholic. She was eager to learn more about the faith, and I said I would recommend some good materials for her to read, but the most important thing for her to do was to start going to Mass. Until we participate in the life and worship of the Church and get to know personally people who are living the faith, Christianity is just an idea, an abstraction. We can’t get to know Jesus - get to know the faith - simply by reading a book or the Bible. Jesus is made known to us “in the breaking of bread” - in the celebration of the sacrament of the Eucharist where the community of faith gathers and he is made present. The Body of Christ comes together to receive his Body. Th Lord’s face shines upon us through the faces of brothers and sisters in the Lord who are following Him and living his life. The celebration of the sacraments, especially the Mass, are one of the primary ways in which we encounter Jesus and our minds are opened to understand the Scriptures. Without the Mass, we end up just knowing about Jesus but not knowing him, i.e., experiencing him in a way that can change our life. May we allow ourselves to be surprised by the way Jesus appears in our lives today - through the persons that we happen to encounter that are living differently - that exhibit a newness of life. That is the way the Lord calls us to conversion and lets his face shine on us.
In a particular way, I want to speak to the parents of our first communicants. Have you noticed a change in your children as they have gotten to know Jesus more over the last year? Have you noticed a newness of life in them? Has the change in them been something unexpected or surprising? Have you been surprised by the simple and joyful way they often express their relationship with Jesus? May what you see in them be a call to conversion to you and an invitation to make the Mass and the sacramental life more central in your lives. Jesus is not known primarily in the Catholic school religion class or the PREP classroom. Jesus is known to them “in the breaking of bread.” Please bring your children to Mass. If we don’t keep his commandments, especially to “do this in remembrance of me” by living the faith that they are learning, we don’t really know Jesus, and cannot share the faith. We are “liars” and the truth is not in us. That sounds harsh but that is what St. John said out of pastoral love for his flock. The Beloved Disciple wanted his community to really know and to believe in the love God has for us. That is what every pastor or father wishes for his children. It is what I wish for you and all the families of St. Charles - that we will be witnesses to the life of resurrection here today.
Spanish
3er Domingo de Pascua (B) - ¿Cómo conozco a Jesús hoy?
Mis queridos hermanos en Cristo… Las lecturas de este domingo en particular, así como las lecturas en las que la Iglesia medita durante el tiempo pascual, nos ayudan a responder la pregunta: “¿Cómo conozco a Jesús hoy? ¿Cómo experimento la resurrección, es decir, que Jesús está vivo hoy? La resurrección es la creencia central de nuestra fe. Como dijo San Pablo: “Si Cristo no resucitó, vuestra fe es vana”. La resurrección es la razón por la que somos cristianos, pero la resurrección no puede ser algo que solamente sucedió hace 2000 años o no tendría nada que ver con mi vida. Sería sólo un evento del pasado y para mí, una idea, un pensamiento piadoso. Si no puedo experimentar la resurrección hoy, entonces, realmente, “¿a quién le importa?” ¿Qué diferencia hace que Jesús resucitó de entre los muertos? Como vemos en los relatos bíblicos de la resurrección y el testimonio de los escritores del Nuevo Testamento, los discípulos creen en la resurrección porque les sucedió algo sorprendente que cambió sus vidas. Era algo que podían tocar y ver. No fue producto de su imaginación. Se encontraron con un hecho, un acontecimiento de una humanidad cambiada. Del mismo modo nos encontramos hoy con el Señor resucitado. En el primer párrafo de su encíclica “Dios es amor”, el Papa Benedicto escribe: “No se comienza a ser cristiano por una decisión ética o una gran idea, sino por el encuentro con un acontecimiento, con una Persona, que da un nuevo horizonte a la vida y, con ello, una orientación decisiva.” (1). El Evangelio de hoy comienza con: “(Los dos discípulos) les contaron lo que había pasado por el camino, y cómo habían reconocido a Jesús al partir el pan”. Estos dos discípulos son los dos discípulos que iban camino a Emaús cuando un hombre que no reconocieron comenzó a caminar con ellos. Ese hombre comenzó a explicarles las Escrituras de una manera que sus corazones cobraron vida hasta el punto de “arder” dentro de ellos, como recordarían. Se sintieron atraídos por él y querían que se quedara con ellos. Sus ojos se abrieron para reconocer a Jesús cuando compartió una comida con ellos y partió el pan de la misma manera que lo hizo Jesús en la Última Cena. A partir de este encuentro, la orientación de sus vidas cambió. Regresan a Jerusalén y cuentan lo que les pasó en el camino. Luego, Jesús se aparece nuevamente a los discípulos reunidos en Jerusalén. Experimentan la humanidad cambiada de Jesús. Los invita a tocar y ver su cuerpo: que no es un fantasma. Pueden ver por sus manos y pies (aún con las heridas de la crucifixión) que este hombre vivo ante sus ojos es el mismo hombre que vieron morir clavado en la cruz. Al igual que los discípulos en el camino a Emaús, Jesús “les abrió el entendimiento para que comprendieran las Escrituras”. Los discípulos sólo entienden las Escrituras después de un encuentro con el Señor resucitado. Esto es algo muy importante. No llegamos a conocer a Jesús estudiando las Escrituras o la Biblia. Más bien, el encuentro personal con Jesús en nuestras vidas es lo que da sentido a las Escrituras. Sólo entiendo que las Escrituras son verdaderas cuando lo que se recuerda en las Escrituras se cumple en mi vida: cuando lo que se recuerda en las Escrituras me sucede a mí. La fe, el reconocimiento de Jesús vivo, precede a la comprensión. También podemos decir que una de las maneras en que sé que he conocido a Jesús es que lo que me sucede hoy lleva las mismas marcas o “huellas” de lo que les sucedió a los primeros discípulos. Algo sorprendente me sucede hoy - hoy conozco a alguien - y debido a ese evento o encuentro, cambio de una manera que no esperaba. A menudo es un cambio que tengo claro y que no ocurrió debido a mi propia fuerza o ingenio. Suele ocurrir por una atracción por una vida que veo o una vida nueva que detecto en mí y quiero quedarme con ella. San Juan lo expresa de esta manera: “En esto tenemos una prueba de que conocemos a Dios: en que cumplimos sus mandamientos. Quien dice: ‘Yo lo conozco’, pero no cumple sus mandamientos, es un mentiroso y la verdad no está en él.” La fe no es simplemente conocimiento intelectual o conocimiento acerca de Jesús, sino vivir de manera diferente: guardar sus mandamientos. Cuando la palabra de Dios se hace carne en nosotros, sabemos que es verdad. Es testimonio de la resurrección cuando su vida se hace visible en nosotros, cuando vivimos de manera diferente debido a quienes hemos conocido.
El discurso de Pedro en la lectura de los Hechos de los Apóstoles que hemos escuchado hoy en la primera lectura es lo que Pedro le dice al pueblo que queda asombrado y sin palabras al presenciar la curación del hombre tullido. Vieron el cambio dramático en ese hombre: cómo fue “levantado” por Pedro. Cómo empezó a caminar y a saltar y a alabar a Dios. Ven una nueva vida en él. El hombre sanado no se separaba de Pedro y Juan y la gente acudió y se reunió alrededor de ellos en el lugar donde estaban Pedro y Juan. Pedro llama a la conversión a las personas que son testigos de esta nueva vida. Rechazaron a Jesús en el pasado. Han obrado por ignorancia. Pero se les perdonen sus pecados. Está diciendo, ¡La nueva vida que ven en este hombre ante sus ojos puede ser suya! San Juan, en su carta, da testimonio de lo que él y los discípulos vieron con sus propios ojos, “lo que hemos visto con nuestros ojos y palpado con nuestras manos: “la vida eterna que estaba con el Padre y que se nos dio a conocer” . “Él es expiación por nuestros pecados, y no sólo por los nuestros, sino por los del mundo entero”. Pedro, Juan y los demás discípulos encontraron a Jesús en el Cenáculo la tarde de Pascua. Jesús los perdonó por negarlo y abandonarlo. Los recibió con paz y no con retribución. Y les dio la misión de perdonar los pecados; de predicar en su nombre a todas las naciones la necesidad de volverse a Dios para el perdón de los pecados. Dice, “Ustedes son testigos de esto”. Deben ser testigos de lo que les ha sucedido.
De manera particular quiero dirigirme a los padres de nuestros primeros comulgantes. ¿Ha notado un cambio en sus hijos a medida que han conocido más a Jesús durante el último año? ¿Has notado una novedad de vida en ellos? ¿El cambio en ellos ha sido algo inesperado o sorprendente? ¿Te ha sorprendido la forma sencilla y alegre en que muchas veces expresan su relación con Jesús? Que lo que ven en ellos sea para ustedes un llamado a la conversión y una invitación a hacer que la Misa y la vida sacramental sean más centrales en sus vidas. Jesús no es conocido principalmente en la clase de religión de la escuela católica ni en el aula de PREP. Jesús es conocido por ellos “al partir el pan”. Por favor traigan a sus hijos a Misa. Si no guardamos sus mandamientos, especialmente “hagan esto en memoria de mí” viviendo la fe que están aprendiendo, realmente no conocemos a Jesús y no podemos compartir la fe. Somos “mentirosos” y la verdad no está en nosotros. Suena duro, pero es lo que dijo San Juan por amor pastoral a su rebaño. El Discípulo Amado quería que su comunidad conociera y creyera realmente en el amor que Dios tiene por nosotros. Eso es lo que todo pastor o padre desea para sus hijos. Es lo que deseo para ustedes y para todas las familias de San Carlos: que seamos testigos de la vida de resurrección hoy aquí. ¡Que Dios los bendiga!