April 30, 2023: 4th Sunday of Easter/Good Shepherd Sunday

We have a Good Shepherd in Jesus, because He lay down His life for us, and continues to bring us life.

When He faced opposition for what He stood for, He submitted, and His obedience brought us back to the way of righteousness.

Indeed, in another analogy in John 10, Jesus describes Himself as the gate by which the sheep of His flock go on the path that leads to Life.

It is the glorious Gift of Life that rises from the Empty Tomb and comes alive in us.

With so many other voices around to distract us, let us draw close to the Good Shepherd Who knows us so closely, and follow His voice into Eternal Life, opening our hearts to this Life even now.

I am grateful for the many shepherds who followed in the way of Christ to guide me in faith, starting with Father Pacocha, who baptized me on his ordination anniversary.  As I mark the anniversary of my baptism at the end of this month, I have much to celebrate because of the ways Christ has led me through so many people and experiences.

April 25, 2023: Feast of St. Mark, the Evangelist

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the Best News of All.

And the Risen Jesus sent forth His apostles to proclaim this message, as described in the final verse of today's Gospel reading.  Though Jesus ascended to Heaven, He remained with them in the work of proclaiming the Gospel with "accompanying signs".

And God is still at work among us as we do our part to proclaim the Gospel even in our lives with signs that demonstrate He is alive among us and continues the work of redemption in manifesting the Paschal Mystery of Christ's Death and Resurrection.

God is alive, roaring like a lion, as in the Newsboys song.

And I was stirred in the heart to be part of the work of handing on the faith to my students for the past 10 years, and to conclude my tenth year this evening by helping my students encounter God in our time together as we learned about what faith means for us.

April 23, 2023: 3rd Sunday of Easter

The Risen Christ continues appearing to His disciples, and us, in powerful ways.

He came along despondent disciples, who had lost hope in the One Whom they thought was the Redeemer of Israel.  He opened their minds to the Scriptures, and then they profoundly recognized Him when He broke the bread.

It's just like how we encounter Christ powerfully each time we gather at Mass:  We encounter the fullness of the Paschal Mystery and it happens together in community.

And we rejoice in hope that our God will not abandon us to death, and will raise us, just as He did Jesus, the Lamb of the sacrifice Whose precious blood redeems us.

God continues to bring us alive through the Holy Spirit, His Living Presence Who remains with us.

I'm reminded of that in a special way as today is the traditional Feast of St. George, the name I selected for my Confirmation.

The Holy Spirit is the powerful Presence of the Risen and Living Christ, Who abides with us so that our encounters with Him in Word and Sacrament truly bring us alive.  And we are sent forth on the mission to share the Best News of all, that He is alive.

April 16, 2023: 2nd Sunday of Easter

The Risen Christ exerts great power.

He effortlessly passed through locked doors to enter into hearts tinged by fear to touch them with the peace He alone brings.  This peace comes from the great mercy He bestows on us because He has forgiven our sins, and that forgiveness continues in the power of the Holy Spirit.

This peace gives us great hope and purpose in life, as we see in the early Church in the reading from Acts, and the purpose we have as Church now.

We are called to endure challenges in life with the power of the Risen Christ. Let us draw forth to embrace the reality of the Resurrection in such a way so that we may acclaim Him like Thomas.

Even if we haven't seen Him, let us believe, and live that belief that is meant to bring us to new life.

St. Faustina had such a vital sense of life through the images of the Divine Mercy, and Pope St. John Paul II recognized the power of promoting this devotion, one example of many ways he brought people a vital sense of life and faith in his ministry.  Pope Benedict XVI, born today 96 years ago, did much the same, using his scholarly mind to ultimately lead people to life-empowering knowledge of Christ.

Let the Easter Alleluias continue, as Christ comes alive in us, sustained by the Holy Spirit He breathes on us.

April 9, 2023: Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord

Let us rejoice in the cornerstone reality of our faith that we celebrate today: Jesus Christ has Risen from the dead.

Yet it's not just an event that happened 2000 years ago:  It speaks to us now, calling us to transformation. We no longer have to feel stuck in the sin and darkness of this world.  We can be filled with Light and Life, raising our eyes above, for Christ has made a pathway to be in Heaven with God always.

On our way to Heaven, we can experience Heaven in the joy of the Resurrection reality that lives within us, and share it with others.  The faithful women who came to the tomb were greeted with the news by an angel, and sent forth to announce it, just as Christ reiterated it to them when they encountered Him on the way.  So we, too, are called to announce this joyful news that lives in us today and live it.

April 8, 2023: Holy Saturday/Easter Vigil

Through the Liturgy of the Word at this wondrous Mass, we recall how God has marvelously worked in our world:  He created us in goodness, and then strove to restore us to right relationship with Himself when we went astray.

And in restoring us, He has given us the great gift of glorious New Life in His Son.  The Resurrection is not just something that happened to Jesus, but happens to us as we join Him in His Paschal Mystery of dying and rising.  Now, we live as He is alive in us.

April 7, 2023: Cross Friday

Jesus endured great suffering and a literally excruciating death on the Cross, yet it was all for a noble purpose.

The prophet Isaiah foretold the suffering of Christ, the servant anointed.  Even if He was someone to be avoided, He took on our sins, and would be acclaimed by God.

As the Gospel according to St. John recounts, Jesus fully knew His purpose, which was clear from the moment when the band came to arrest Him, to His declaration about Truth before Pilate.

Ultimately, witnesses to His execution, and even the flow of blood and water, testified to the Truth, which He is, so that we would come to believe.

And we come to believe that Christ took on our sins, and provided us a way to be restored to right relationship with the Father.  So we continue to honor the sacrifice Jesus made for us.

April 6, 2023: Maundy Thursday

The night before He was lifted up on the Cross, Jesus made it clear that His death had a purpose.

It arose in the midst of the Passover meal that solemnly commemorated the freedom God rendered to His people from slavery in Egypt.

Gathered with His apostles, Christ offered His Body and Blood in a New Covenant that would free us from slavery to sin.

And in this New Covenant, we find a new purpose for life:  Christ calls us to follow the model He gives, to pour ourselves out in serving one another.

So we continue to partake of the Body and Blood of Christ, proclaiming the Death of the Lord that brought us life and continuing to pour ourselves out as He did.

April 2, 2023: Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

The crowds hail Jesus with "Hosanna" as the One Who saves.

And even when the crowds turned against Him days later, Jesus resolutely faced all the mistreatment and did what He came for, to be our Savior.

He didn't come in immense glory, but in humility, in His birth at Bethlehem, and then as He rode a donkey to enter Jerusalem.  And then He was handed over to the ruling authorities and perished in a most gruesome and painful way upon the Cross.

Yet, through it all, He showed Himself to be the greatest King of all, Who gave Himself for His people.  And so God exalted Him, and the Cross became a symbol of God's power to triumph over sin.

So we this day, at the start of Holy Week, continue to acclaim Christ as the One Who saves, and that He is worthy of everlasting acclaim as Lord.  We furthermore declare Him Lord as we take up our crosses and follow His way, joining ourselves to Him in death, with the hope of joining Him in Resurrection and New Life.