2025 Apr 27 SUN: SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER
Acts 5: 12-16/ Ps 118: 2-4. 13-15. 22-24/ Rv 1: 9-11a. 12-13. 17-19/ Jn 20: 19-31

Well, a week ago was Easter Sunday, and after Holy Week and the Easter Triduum, I was ready to get away for a few days. That's exactly what I did.

And awakening Monday morning and learning that Pope Francis had died, I was shocked. Now, we all knew that his health was precarious. We had heard from his doctors that he needed at least two months of recovery. In other words, not doing very much. And at least I had a prediction that came true, and that was that he did not do the washing of feet on Holy Thursday, as much as that act means to him. But on that Holy Thursday, he did visit a prison very close to the Vatican. And we are aware that on Easter itself, he was present and made himself present. He was with us through Easter Sunday itself. And then, as we know, he died.

And we have had a great gift from Pope Francis in his 12 years as Bishop of Rome. I am planning to give you information on his various writings over the past 12 years. They are utterly beautiful and they are very easy to access. You just have to go to vatican.va. Of course, one difficulty with papal documents is they always have, or most of the time, have a Latin name, sometimes an Italian name. So that's always a bit difficult, but we have the bulletin at our disposal so we can make those very precious documents known to all of us. 

And here on the Second Sunday of Easter, we're getting started in the Acts of the Apostles and the Book of Revelation. And it is especially significant that this first passage we have from Revelation includes Jesus. This is the one like a Son of Man, amid the seven lampstands that St. John sees. 

And of course, Jesus is present in this Gospel.

We have to understand that the good news, which we proclaim Sunday after Sunday and indeed day after day, is absolutely precious to us. In fact, our own faith in resurrection relies upon the witness of these people.

And we know that they were not just making something up. They tell us that they were surprised and amazed that this had happened, that Jesus was risen from the dead. He had told them this many times, but they were afraid to question him further about that. They were already in great sorrow when he said he had to lay down his life: he had to die. And so they are bringing us this greatest of good news as people who weren't expecting it. 

There's a theologian I rely upon a great deal who explains that you and I live in a world mediated by meaning. Well, what does that mean? We know we have our own personal experience of things, and that personal experience is extremely important. We also have what we call common sense, and then there is the world mediated by meaning. 

We can't personally experience everything that goes on in the world. Our ability to reason out particular things, that is quite limited as well. But then we have mediation by meaning, and by this is meant that so many things that we know are given to us by people who have had the personal experience. And for this reason, we understand the witness of the apostles to be utterly precious to us. This is the basis on which we have faith in Jesus' resurrection.

Jesus said to Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." Well, this is the vast majority of all Christian believers, all through the nearly 2,000 years since these events occurred. We want to develop a sense of being profoundly gifted. And in this way, we will be happy to keep passing on the gift.

2025 Apr 20 SUN: EASTER SUNDAY. The Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Acts 10: 34a. 37-43/ Ps 118: 1-2. 16-17. 22-23/ Col 3: 1-4 or 1 Cor 5: 6b-8/ Sequence Victimae Paschali Laudes/ Jn 20: 1-9 or Mk 16: 1-7 or, at an afternoon or evening Mass, Lk 24: 13-35

On this day of resurrection, we remember how we came here. We remember that it was through a remembrance during the weeks of Lent, a remembrance of how the Son of God [had] taken on our human nature and be[come] truly human, as well as truly God.

Submitted to all the sufferings which every human being encounters in this world which is twisted by sin, he offered his life. He accepted the cross, and he said, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." And then the incredibly surprising thing occurred. It was something that even those closest to him were not grasping and did not grasp until it occurred.

When he rose victorious from death, he conquered all the griefs of this world. We may want to question how he did it. We may want to say, "Well, in an instant at the time that you rise from death, why didn't you banish all suffering?" One partial answer to that is the fact that we have to turn our hearts over to him.

We read at the Easter Vigil last night Ezekiel's words about a new heart and a new spirit, exchanging our stony hearts for truly living responsive hearts of flesh. And we must remember that the resurrection is not some otherworldly thing.

As Peter told Cornelius in the Acts of the Apostles, "We ate and drank with him after his resurrection." We profess every Sunday that we believe in the resurrection of the body. Our God loves us as we are, body and soul.

And as we turn our hearts over to him, and as we recognize the meaning of the baptism by which we ourselves have died and are risen with Jesus, so we are called, as Colossians says today, to live out that baptism, and we can do so because, in fact, we have died with Jesus.

If the resurrection is something that we find we have a hard time with, we have to remember that those closest to Jesus did not dare to ask him what he meant. When he said, "I must be put to death and then rise from the dead," they never pressed him on that question.

The news of his death stopped them in their tracks. It was something that it seemed impossible to believe. They would not dare to believe it.

But in our baptism, in our conversion, as our stony hearts become hearts of flesh, we discover that we are willing to bear the griefs of this world in witness to Jesus' resurrection. So this is our great joy and promise this day, and throughout all the Sundays of the Easter season leading up to Pentecost.

We have before us a world which obviously has not been rid of suffering. We look at the human family across the world, and we see wars, and we see policies of government which in no way speak of the inheritance of all the people of God, an inheritance into resurrection and eternity.

We must, as we witness to resurrection, witness to the human dignity which leaves wars behind as something curious and cruel, things that we cannot abide. This resurrection is for the sake of our changing and of the world changing.

Jesus has given us his death and his resurrection. We are called to act with courage, to witness to truth and goodness and love in this world of sorrows.

2025 Apr 13 SUN: PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD'S PASSION
Procession: Lk 19: 28-40. Mass: Is 50: 4-7/ Ps 22: 8-9. 17-18. 19-20. 23-24/ Phil 2:6-11/ Lk 22: 14 -- 23: 56

We have heard from a suffering servant song of Isaiah and also from the great hymn of St. Paul's Letter to the Philippians regarding the self-emptying of Jesus, true God, and true man. And there is so much that we could comment on in St. Luke's Passion, but I will point out just one detail. Anyone else who addresses Jesus in Luke's Gospel uses terms such as Lord and Master. But the man who is crucified along with Jesus, the man who rebukes the other criminal, this man says, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And this is the only time in Luke's Gospel* in which Jesus is addressed by his name. So there is a great intimacy to be found in this strange spectacle. He must have heard Jesus teach at some point. And now as both are dying, he makes this request with his first name, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And Jesus replies, "This day you will be with me in paradise." 

We remember that the reason for Jesus' death was that he might open the gates of heaven, the gates of paradise, so that all could enter. And we think very kindly of the first man who proceeded [there] with Jesus.

* [in fact, in ANY Gospel]