April 30, 2017: Third Sunday of Easter

Throughout this Easter Season, we extend the Paschal celebration of Christ, Who died, and rose again to new Life.  We celebrate that the sacrifice of the perfect Paschal Lamb has made us whole again, and brought us to God by faith, for His glory.  We no longer need to fear the grave, because our souls, like Christ, will not see decay, but will enter into newness of Life in the glory of God, as surely as God raised Jesus Christ.

And we experience this glory now as Christ makes Himself present in the sacraments, just as at Emmaus, the disciples recognized Him when He broke the bread.  Father Hurlbert insightfully shared in his homily this weekend that even though Christ disappeared the instance the disciples recognized Him, He was still with them.  Indeed, even though we don't physically see Him, we know His powerful presence as we encounter Him in the sacraments and throughout our world and our experiences, as He is now so close to us.  He is in our hearts, stirring them to faith, that we may with great joy proclaim that His real presence among us.

April 23, 2017: Second Sunday of Easter/Divine Mercy Sunday

The Risen Christ comes to us, breaking through barriers that are up because of sin and sorrow in this world, and breathes new life into us.  We continue to encounter His living presence as we gather together as a community in His name, experiencing His mercy, and then going forth to show mercy as a sign of our joyful transformation to a world desperately in need of it.  No matter what we face in this world, we go forth in the assurance of His peace that He breathes upon us.  As we go forth living by faith, we rejoice that God works in our midst, even working out our salvation, which gives us abundant hope.  So although we may not see Him directly, we have the assurance that He is truly present and alive among us.  Truly we can say, "Jesus, King of Mercy, I trust in You."

April 16, 2017: Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ

We encounter the best news of all on this day, that Jesus Christ has truly Risen from the dead.

While no one actually saw His Resurrection, the evidence left behind clearly showed it happened, as it caused the beloved disciple to believe once he saw.  And the stone that sealed the tomb was rolled away, in spectacular fashion as described in Matthew.  For some, this .

And this best news of all transforms us.  As Father Bob made clear in his homily at Mass, Christ wasn't merely resuscitated--He rose from the dead and entered into a totally transformed existence, living in the fullness of Risen Life.  As His people, we join with Him in death and Resurrection, so that we, too, are transformed to live in the fullness of this new life.  We fix our gaze upward, like St. Paul writes in Colossians, seeking after His glory.  And we leave behind the old ways of malice and embrace ways of living that are consistent with this New Life, as St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians.

As part of living this New Life, we proclaim this best news of all.  While some may regard it as some kind of fairy tale, or even "fake news"/"alternative facts", as Father Hurlbert stated so wittingly in his homily, we as the people of the Risen Lord, show that the Resurrection is real by proclaiming it through the way we live, glorifying God Who has so marvelously saved us through His merciful love, that we may live to glorify Him all our days.

April 15, 2017: Holy Saturday Easter Vigil

God has done a marvelous work throughout all history.  First He created us specially.  Then, when we fell away because of sin, He took great strides to rescue us, and make us holy, righteous, and pure in His sight, that in dying to ourselves and all that is unrighteous, we may rise to the fullness of new Life in Christ.  And we have hope that we will reign with Him who lives forever and ever.

April 14, 2017: Cross Friday

We remember the sufferings of Jesus Christ this day in His trials, crucifixion, and death.  We honor Him for dying for us that we may be freed from sin.  He took upon the punishment for us that we would be made right before God when sin corrupted us.  He stood firm and resolute in all that He faced, entrusting Himself to the Father, Whose will He accomplished through the Cross, that we would be saved.

Following in the way of Christ, we embrace His Cross, joining in His sufferings and death, in the hope of joining in His rising, for we know death is not the end of the story.

April 13, 2017: Maundy Thursday

We remember on this day the New Covenant that Christ instituted at the Last Supper, a meal celebrating Passover, of the Old Covenant, when the people of God were freed from slavery.  There at that table, He granted the priesthood to His Apostles, and the Eucharist to His Church, by which we are joined to Christ in His death and Resurrection, and are set free from sin.  In this New Covenant, He grants us a new command, to love one another.  As John writes, Christ, in the fullness of the glory of God the Father, stooped down to wash feet, as a sign of the love He shows us in giving of Himself, and the love we are now to show one another in this new way of life.

April 9, 2017: Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

Jesus is acclaimed as King in drastically different ways in the readings.

As He enters Jerusalem, the crowds cheer for Him, caught up in the excitement of the coming Messiah, who they envision as a conquering King.

Days later, when Jesus hangs from the Cross, a sign above Him says He is the King of the Jews.  He was tried, convicted, and executed for being a King totally unlike what the Jewish people and their leaders sought.  While facing great abuse ending in His death, He entrusted Himself to God, emptying Himself and dying for the people He came to save.

Now, God has exalted Him to the Highest place so that all people may acknowledge Him as King, giving themselves as He did for us, that in empyting ourselves, and dying to ourselves, we may join in the hope of rising to new life with Him.  May our words and deeds proclaim Him as the King, Who rules rightly by the sacrifice of Himself.

April 2, 2017: Fifth Sunday of Lent

As we get closer to the great celebration of the Resurrection, we are reminded that God is already in our midst, bringing new life where there is but death--especially as we consider on this day the 100-year anniversary of the US entry into the terrible conflict of World War I.

He created the world, and is recreating it again because sin made it fall into lifelessness.  Indeed, God is doing much more than merely resuscitating:  He frees us from the chains of sin and death, breathing the fullness of abundant, vibrant life into us.  As His breath truly brought alive the dry bones with flesh in the valley in the reading from Ezekiel, so the breath of His Holy Spirit truly allows us to live as God does, which brings new life to all the earth.

So we no longer are subjected to the power of death, because God has brought us fully alive.  We live in hope that even though we will die, we will live unto Eternal Life through the power of God.  That is a hope that transforms us and bring us alive now, as we seek to bring life to other people, showing them the goodness of God through our hope- and life-filled deeds.