April 19, 2015: 3rd Sunday of Easter B
April 19, 2015: 3rd Sunday of Easter B
Click to hear Audio Homily
Most of us bring flowers to the gravesite of a loved one to remember the deceased and to pay our respects. One day in St. Peter’s Basilica, a 54-year old man brought a basket of flowers to a pope’s grave, and he stayed there for a while. This man did what many other pilgrims do, pay respect to the deceased. The man was not a relative of the pope and he had one unanswered question that haunted him for many years. It was a question that he asked the pope personally when he was alive. The question was, “Why aren’t you dead?” 31 years prior, he was in St. Peter’s Square, surrounded by a crowd cheering on Pope John Paul II as he rode in the open jeep as it was winding its way through the square. He was just a few feet away from the pope when he pulled the trigger twice, and then the pope slumped into the arms of his secretary. After recovering, Pope John Paul II visited the incarcerated man in jail, desiring to forgive the then 23-yr. old man. The Pope saw the incredulous look on the young man, who could only ask in bewilderment, “Why aren’t you dead?”
Something similar happened nearly 2,000 years ago to a group of men and women. Jesus’ crucifixion dealt a shattering blow to his disciples. On Easter Sunday evening we find them gathered in the upper room, not daring to go out. The room was haunted by absence, and full of bittersweet memories. It was there that Jesus had washed their feet and celebrated the last supper with them. It was there they swore loyalty to Jesus, but that night, they were overcome with guilt of their cowardice and betrayal. When Jesus walked in and showed them his wounded hands that still bore the marks, his disciples perhaps asked themselves, “Why aren’t you dead?” Jesus fulfilled what he told them at the last supper only a few nights prior, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.” (Jn 16:21-22) After overcoming their incredulity, the disciples became witnesses to hope.
One of the greatest witnesses to hope, St. John Paul II had this to say:
“It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.”
For us, is Jesus just a name written on a tombstone, or do we believe that Jesus is risen and back with us today as Our Lord and our friend? Our faith is based on the fact that Jesus is with us, today, real as ever. He has forgotten our past cowardice, betrayals, and sins. Now we must forget the wrongdoings of others committed against us. The world would be transformed by the power of our forgiveness. As St. John Paul II said, "Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song."
Click to hear Audio Homily
Something similar happened nearly 2,000 years ago to a group of men and women. Jesus’ crucifixion dealt a shattering blow to his disciples. On Easter Sunday evening we find them gathered in the upper room, not daring to go out. The room was haunted by absence, and full of bittersweet memories. It was there that Jesus had washed their feet and celebrated the last supper with them. It was there they swore loyalty to Jesus, but that night, they were overcome with guilt of their cowardice and betrayal. When Jesus walked in and showed them his wounded hands that still bore the marks, his disciples perhaps asked themselves, “Why aren’t you dead?” Jesus fulfilled what he told them at the last supper only a few nights prior, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.” (Jn 16:21-22) After overcoming their incredulity, the disciples became witnesses to hope.
One of the greatest witnesses to hope, St. John Paul II had this to say:
“It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.”
For us, is Jesus just a name written on a tombstone, or do we believe that Jesus is risen and back with us today as Our Lord and our friend? Our faith is based on the fact that Jesus is with us, today, real as ever. He has forgotten our past cowardice, betrayals, and sins. Now we must forget the wrongdoings of others committed against us. The world would be transformed by the power of our forgiveness. As St. John Paul II said, "Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song."
