Easter Meditation Four - Emmaus

Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter We are continuing in our Easter celebrations – listening and looking at the gospel accounts of the First Easter. These stories are full of drama and excitement as we watch the people go through a myriad of emotions – from despair, to confusion, to wonder, to illation – and there is a gentle humor in them as well. My favorite Easter story is today's – Luke’s account of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Have you ever wondered how you would react if you found yourself in the middle these stories? But you are in the middle of this story – the road to Emmaus – as it continues to unfold for us today. Here, let me show you what I mean: o   Two friends of Jesus plodding down the road of life as it continues to unfold. o   Jesus joins them but they don’t recognize his presence o   They are full of questions about faith in Jesus – is he here, is he gone? o   Jesus takes up the scriptures and begins to teach them. o   Then he breaks bread and distributes it to each of them. o   They recognize his presence and believe. Dear friends, is this not us, right here, right now? Are we not having essentially the same experience? o   Are we not plodding down the road of our lives – moving along to the next place to get to? o   Are we not full of questions about faith, about Jesus – is my religion dead as many say it is? o   Does Jesus not joined us here at table, even though we don’t recognize his presence? o   Does Jesus not take up the scriptures and begin to teach us and answer our questions? o   Does he not break bread and distribute it to each of us? o   Is this not just as real for us now as it was for them? What the disciples experienced was the Eucharist at its first beginnings and as it continues now for us today. The Vatican II document on the liturgy states clearly that when the gospel is proclaimed at Mass, it is Jesus who proclaims and teaches us. It is Jesus who breaks the bread of the Eucharist in the hands of the priest. Constitution On the Sacred Liturgy # 7 Now the question we must ask – o   Are our hearts burning within us as he speaks to us in the liturgy and opens the Scriptures to us? o   Do we now recognize his true presence in the breaking of bread?”

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Easter Meditation Three - Behind the Wall

On Wednesday of Week Two in Easter time we read this Gospel text:   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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 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. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God. Jn 3:16-21 In the image above, there are two figures and the wall. One figure is behind the wall, confined by the darkness of sin and guilt. The other is imbued in glorious light as it passes through the wall into freedom. The wall is the wall of guilt and condemnation, behind which there is no escaping. Behind this wall there is only death. John tells us that there is one who is greater than the wall, one to whom the wall is no barrier. Before him the wall dissolves in the glorious light of Mercy, leading to freedom all who will follow the Light to live by His Truth. Darkness and light and truth are now the preoccupation of Easter People. Where is my heart at this time? Am I dwelling in the darkness of my truth-less choices, behind a wall of self condemnation? Am I still refusing to listen to that Voice telling me, it is Easter now, the wall has been breached, the choice is mine now, stay in darkness or follow the Light? Where will my heart be - in darkness or in light? O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You. Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.  Psalm 139

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Easter Meditation Two - The Tree of Life

We began this Lent/Easter series by reflecting on God's plan to create mankind and to give us that share in God's glory that was lost by Satan and the fallen angels. Pride caused these angels to look at their glory as making them equal to God. Because of this, God stripped them of the glory he had given them, and banished them from his presence. “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.  Isaiah 14:12ff To protect us from this same condition of pride, God begins our existence in this natural world, in the humble condition of a natural man, with only the promise and hope of sharing in God's glory. Then, with hearts purified of all pride, God can bestow on us a share in his glory.  “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet.” We do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. Hebrews 2:5ff. The image of an empty tomb greets our Easter meditation. Another is to have before us the image of the valley of death and the "dry bones" of Ezekiel's prophecy, together with the "Tree of Life" in the center. Now begins our transformation and our sharing in the Life of God. St. Catherine of Siena gives an interesting account of what this transformation will look like. St. Catherine of Siena was permitted by God to see the beauty of a soul in the state of grace. It was so beautiful that she could not look on it; the brightness of that soul dazzled her. "Oh, if you could but see the beauty of a soul in the state of grace, you would sacrifice your life a thousand times for its salvation. I asked the angel who was with me what had made that soul so beautiful, and he answered me, 'It is the image and likeness of God in that soul, and the Divine Grace which made it so beautiful.' Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena Catherine's account reminds us of the experience of the Transfiguration of Jesus on mount Tabor, as well as some of the Resurrection experiences i.e. St. Paul's conversion experience. But the vision of the "glorified" person is extraordinary.  Our transformation begins with the infused gift of the Holy Spirit. As we empty our hearts of our self-will and purpose, an emptying which is in imitation of the Cross of Jesus, we are filled with the New Life of the Spirit. As the image above depicts, the Cross now becomes the Tree of Life rising up in our hearts, full of new life. And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you. But remain in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Lk. 24:49 And when they were gathered together, He commanded them: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the Father promised, which you have heard Me discuss. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:4 In his book, "Spiritual Exercises", Karl Rahner draws from scripture a series of descriptions of the nature and working of this Holy Spirit in us. the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the thrice-holy God, the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, the Spirit who was poured into us, the Paraclete, the Comforter,  the Advocate, the Spirit of freedom, the seal of our redemption, the first fruits of the redemption, the pledge of eternal glory, the strengthening and comforting anointing, the Spirit who enlightens and inspires, the Spirit who lives in our bodies as a temple, the Spirit who sanctifies us into a dwelling place of God, the Spirit who makes us the sanctuary of the Church, the Spirit of the new creation through Whom the Lord makes all things new, the Spirit out of Whom a person must be born again, in order to be the person God     intends them to be for all eternity, the Spirit, the arouser of the glorified body, the Spirit of adoption, testimony that we are the children of God, the Spirit who searches the depths of God. The health and worth of a tree is measured by the fruit it bears. For the next forty days, the scriptures of the liturgy will take us through an examination of this "Life of the Spirit" at work in the early Church. We will see these effects of the Holy Spirit working in the people "Baptized in the Holy Spirit". We look for the fruits of that Baptism to be renewed now in us.

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Easter Meditation One - Easter People

We Are Easter People What do we mean when we say that we are Easter People? On Easter Monday we wake up to our usual Monday reality. We still have to get up and go to work, we still have a sore knee from a fall on Good Friday, we still have that neighbour complaining about our yard, we still have that Chemotherapy appointment to get to. So what has changed on Easter Monday; what does it mean to be Easter People? The natural world has not changed, the political world has not changed, nor has the historical realities that shaped our present situation, changed. But the reality of who we are now, and the destiny to which we are called now, has radically changed. Now we will live in an intimate, spiritual communion with that Jesus, who is risen from the dead, who remains with us to shape entirely how we see ourselves now, how we will negotiate with the world around us here after, and who will replace the anxiety that shapes all life with the certainty of our resurrection with Him into eternal life. Easter People still get wet when it rains; the reality of the world touches them the same as it touches everyone. But the way they touch the world back is changed, because of how they now see the world. The first principle that dominates the world is "the survival of the fittest". All champions of life, both real and mythical, are conquers by force and power. That works if all there is is this material world; life that is short, and in the end death. Easter People have learnt that death is not the end of the story. The victory they have come to know, is not worldly conquest, but victory over death itself; the victory of "resurrected life" lives in them now, shaping their world view with a heavenly vision. Easter People begin to live life now as they will live it eternally. But this is also a work in progress as they undergo that transformation of this earthly existence into that which they see revealed in the risen Christ Jesus.

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