April 12, 2015

2^nd Sunday of Easter

Acts 4:32-35, 1 John 5:1-6; John 20:19-31

Jesus gave His followers, the apostles and each one of us the supreme law of love: Matthew 22:37 – “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love you neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

In the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy Moses told the people, “These then are the commandments, the statues and decrees which the Lord, our God, has ordered that you be taught to observe in the land into which you are crossing for conquest.” And he continues three verses later: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Jesus included the love of neighbor, Moses didn’t.

Today Luke in the Acts of the Apostles described how this love was lived out in the early years of the Church, “The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common….there was no needy person among them…for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need.” (Acts 4:32)

My living Jesus’ Law of Love always comes down to am I living love as Jesus intended me to live it? Am I loving? Am I compromising my loving? Am I determining who I should love? How can I love in this world that is unloving? Does it matter if I am loved, if I’m not, do I have to love those that don’t love me? YES! I’m thinking back to when I was young and I wanted to know what to do or how to act and my mother would say, “What did your father tell you?” If I went to my dad with the same situation he would say, “What did I tell you to do.” In the gospels a young person came up to Jesus and asked what the greatest commandment was and Jesus gave the Law of Love. So it comes down to, am I loving as Jesus told me? I guess I don’t want to be that inclusive or that loving, but it is what I am called to do, actually it is a command; I am commanded to love.

The Gospel helps me in Jesus’ two appearances after the Resurrection. It’s Easter evening, the disciples are gathered in the upper room. The doors are locked, the blinds or coverings on the windows are closed, they are afraid. They are hiding in darkness; in John’s gospel darkness is often associated with a lack of faith. LACK OF FAITH, that’s an interesting word to bring into my following Jesus’ love commands. Jesus’ very first words in both appearances are, “Peace be with you.” Fr. John Donahue S.J. a New Testament scholar comments on today’s gospel in Hearing the Word of God. “Jesus’ first word is ‘Peace,’ the biblical opposite of fear, not conflict, and a word that is closely associated with other biblical motifs such as justice, mercy, and loving kindness (Hosea 2:22-23). Here and in the ’doubting Thomas’ incident when Jesus shows his wounds his disciples recognize him. The symbolism is powerful. The risen Christ is the crucified one; Christ’s presence among the community of believers is recognized by his wounds. This is the Johannine version of the Matthean presence of Christ in the suffering and marginal people of the world (Matthew 25: 31-46).”

How interesting, Jesus comes and shows them His wounds, His suffering. Doesn’t this tell me that like my Savior, I am going to suffer and be wounded because I am not loved or my loved is not received? And what am I to do…forgive…just as Jesus on the cross, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34).

In the first appearance Jesus tells the apostles, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Fr. Donahue adds a very interesting commentary on this, “Though later Church teaching sees this gift manifest in the sacrament of reconciliation, its original meaning is wider. The community of disciples is to be a community of forgiveness that sends sins away (the literal meaning of ‘forgive’) and holds in check its destructive power.” It’s so easy to come to the Sacrament and confess my sins and I am forgiven. But do I forgive? Most often my sins are a reaction to me being hurt or not appreciated, or a need I have is not fulfilled and I react in some sort of anger or getting even. I want forgiveness, I ask for forgiveness in the sacrament but I’m not forgiving the person who hurt me. AM I even praying for them? I am called, I am commanded to be Jesus every moment. How am I doing?

Fr. Donahue concludes his commentary on today’s readings, “These readings, along with the passages from Acts and 1 John, offer, a dense collection of motifs for prayer and preaching. By his resurrection Jesus fulfills his promise not to leave his followers orphans (John 14:18) and to bring them the fullness of joy (15:11). His followers share in the very same mission that he received from the Father. With the gift of the Spirit, a disciple of Jesus (ME) is to be the continuing presence of God’s love in the world. Generations who walk in faith without ‘seeing’ are ‘begotten of God’ and more blessed than those who have seen and believed. This faith enables them to live as a community of ‘one heart and one mind,’ the classical description of friendship, which is cemented by concern for the poor and needy. The resurrection proclamation is not simply the victory over death or the promise of eternal life, but a summons to live as a community led by the Spirit, practicing forgiveness and resistance to evil, which takes shape in bonds of friendship that reach across the great economic divide between wealth and poverty”.

I am called, I have been chosen specifically to be Jesus in this world I’m living at this time. It’s not about me; it’s about God first loving me and gifting me so that I can pass on the gift of God’s love. There are good times, there are bad times but the end times promised are the eternal times with God if I am faithful in following Jesus.

So I reflect on:

• I imagine myself huddled in fear with the apostles and I see my Creator and Redeemer, what do I ask for?
• I look at the areas in my life where I am being challenged to forgive, what gift am I asking the Spirit for?
• When have I needed Christ to show me His wounds?
• Forgiveness is one sign of the risen Christ. ‘Forgiveness is the way to experience the peace and joy of Easter. It is a way to meet Christ in one another. Forgiveness binds a family and a community together. How am I doing on forgiveness?’

Sacred Space 2015 says,

“Are the doors of my heart locked? Do I not expect Jesus to show up and visit me? Am I afraid—afraid that my well-ordered ways of thinking and doing things might be turned upside down if I let Jesus in?

Jesus, batter my unyielding heart and break down my defenses and come in.”