Homily: Wednesday in the Octave of Easter

Readings: Acts3:1-10; Ps 105; Lk 24:13-35

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The Road to Emmaus began, as conversion often does, in despair or shattered faith or both – two people caught up in themselves and in their humanity.

Despite all they had heard, all they saw Him do, despite His promises, and their hope that He was the Messiah…despite it all, when they came face to face with Jesus’ death, their faith all but evaporated.

“They were downcast…Jesus, who was a prophet...we were hoping He would be the one to redeem Israel…” [Lk 24:17,19, 21]

We were hoping…

...a prophet...a redeemer...we hoped...

But now, unwilling to believe in the Resurrection, unwilling to accept the truth about Jesus, they had abandoned their hopes.

And so, headed away from Jerusalem, away from the Apostles, the Church, they were returning to the lives they led before they met Jesus.

It’s there, in sorrow and despair, as they try to leave Jesus behind, that their conversion begins. It's there they meet Him once again, along the Way.

It begins with Jesus Himself. He knows their sorrow, sees into their hearts, and communicates the life that fills His being: the life of grace, a gift that has an immediate effect.

Unknowingly moved by God’s grace, they turn to Jesus and listen.

Yes, it always begins with Jesus, the Eternal Word of God, so it shouldn’t surprise us that Jesus turns to the Revealed Word of God. He turns to Scripture.

All of Sacred Scripture – both the Old and New Testaments -- has only one ultimate purpose: to lead us to Jesus Christ.

Of course, at this point in salvation history, there was no New Testament. As Luke wrote:

“Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them what referred to Him in all the Scriptures” [Lk 24:27].

And the result?

“Were not our hearts burning within us while He spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” [Lk 24:32]

That’s when conversion begins, brothers and sisters. It begins when you encounter Jesus on the Way and hear your story in Scripture.

But far too many Christians stop right there and fail to take the next logical step on their journey of faith.

It’s one thing to believe in Jesus, but it’s far more drastic to invite Him into your life, into your heart, to invite Him to stay with you, to let Him lead you on that journey.

Late on that first Easter Sunday, Jesus responds to the disciples’ invitation by celebrating the 2^nd Mass. And it’s in the Eucharist, "in the breaking of the bread", that they recognize Him.

Their faith, deepened by Scripture, is cemented by the Eucharist.

Such is the power of the Eucharist, this gift Jesus Christ has given His Church, a power beyond all comprehension, a power that brings Jesus into our hearts, into our inner selves, a power that confirms our faith so we can carry Him to others.

And now, filled with the joy that only such faith can bring, they go to the Church, to its very heart; to the Apostles and report all that they had witnessed.

“Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how He was made known to them in the breaking of the bread” [Lk 24:35].

They accept their call to make Christ present among men. But they do so first within the Church, the Church established by Jesus Himself.

What a marvelous story this is.

The Lord comes to us, but never forces Himself on us. He wants us to turn to Him freely, when we begin to grasp the depth of His love, a love He has placed deep within us. It's a very part of our creation, as image and likeness of God's love.

Like the disciples, we want to hold onto Him. We beg Him: “Stay with us, Lord. Our souls are shrouded in darkness and You alone are the light.  Only You satisfy this longing that consumes us.”

And He stays. He stays because He loves each of us so passionately that He will chase after us relentlessly…until the very last moments of our lives.

Conversion, then, begins when we meet Jesus on the Way. It’s deepened when we encounter Him in God’s Holy Word, and continues in the Church, where we repeatedly encounter Jesus in the sacraments.

Yes, conversion, like every good thing, begins and ends with Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega, He who loves beyond all comprehension.

That’s what true conversion is: a continual turning to God that turns despair into joy.

That’s why we need the Church; the Church is the font of grace that allows us to continue our lifelong conversion along the Way, the way of reconciliation.

The Resurrection of Jesus brings us hope, and, trusting in His promise, may we be reconciled with God and experience the touch of His mercy and goodness and forgiveness.

May we let God love us.

Reflection: Morning Prayer, Sunday, April 26, 2015

This past weekend Dear Diane and I joined other deacons and their wives on a couples retreat sponsored by the Office of the Permanent Diaconate of the Diocese of Orlando. It was a wonderful retreat, conducted by Fr. Daniel Renaud, OMI, and held at the San Pedro Center in Winter Park, Florida. The theme of the retreat centered discipleship and was based on the beautiful passage from Luke's Gospel describing the two disciples who are joined by the risen Jesus on their walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus [Lk 24:13-35].

I was honored to be asked to lead Sunday Morning Prayer in the chapel. The reading, which I have included below, is from Acts 10 and consists entirely of the words of St. Peter as he preaches to the Roman Centurion, Cornelius, and his household. After the reading I shared the following brief reflection with my brother deacons and their wives.
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"Yes, this man God raised (on) the third day and granted that he be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.” – Acts 10:40-43
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What a wonderful passage. These are, of course, St. Peter’s words. In fact, Peter is preaching to the Gentiles for the first time, to the Centurion Cornelius and his household.

Peter at the home of Cornelius the Centurion

Peter begins by summing up the Good News of Jesus Christ, and at the same time lets us know what God desires of each of us.

Jesus, who died on the Cross, has been “raised up on the third day” [Acts 10:40]. He’s alive! He eats and drinks and walks and talks among the faithful, just as He did with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Yes, Jesus lives. He’s no disembodied spirit. Indeed, His glorified body bears the marks of His passion and death. How fitting that these marks remain eternally, a constant reminder of God’s enduring love.

But there’s more Good News. His Resurrection brings the fulfillment of a promise; for we, too, shall rise. The longed-for hope of humanity is finally realized. Death is overcome by eternal life.

Is it any wonder Jesus so often tells the disciples not to fear? Yes, the Good News just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it?

Peter now echoes what the Lord told the disciples along the road to Emmaus: “…beginning with Moses and all the prophets…” [Lk 24:27] Yes, “beginning with Moses,” the law-giver. Peter goes on to tell us that Jesus “is the one appointed by God as judge…” [Acts 10:42] That’s right. Jesus is the judge of the living and the dead – the judge who fulfills the Law and brings it to its perfection.

But perfection means more than justice, certainly more than human justice. For in Jesus we come face to face with divine justice, a justice tempered by mercy. As we stand before Him we see the marks of His passion, the marks of God’s love, the wounds of His mercy…and pouring out of them comes hope and forgiveness.

How did Peter put it? “…everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name” [Acts 10:43]. Yes, through Jesus, and only through Jesus, comes our salvation.

The Road to Emmaus

But Jesus is more than a judge. He fulfills more than the Law. Just as Jesus told the disciples on the way to Emmaus, Peter reminds us…“To Him all the prophets bear witness...” [Acts 10:43] All the prophets point to Jesus: He is the Word of God made flesh and through Him the Word of God revealed is brought to fulfillment. Indeed, as Christians we don’t read the Law and the Prophets, the Old Testament, for its own sake, but always with Christ and through Christ and in Christ. Jesus Christ, the Lord of History, fulfills all.

Then, in the very heart of this passage, Peter reveals exactly what’s expected of the disciple… and, brothers and sisters, that includes us. We are called to “preach to the people and testify” [Acts 10:42] – to bear witness to Jesus Christ. It’s a call back to the basics, to the very core of our faith, to the core of our diaconal ministry.

And, yes, it might be our ministry, but we must never forget it's God's work. As the psalmist prayed, "Non nobis, Domine..." -- "Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory" [Ps 115:1].

It's a ministry that will get no easier, for the world may deny Jesus Christ, but we, His disciples, His servants, cannot.

The world can imprison us, but it can’t imprison the Truth.

It can silence us, but it can’t silence the Word of God.

It can even execute us, but it can never kill God’s enduring love.

The Word of God will always sound through the lives of God’s faithful ones.

Even our own sinfulness can’t silence it, because Jesus Christ heals all who come to him. The personal tragedies of our lives can’t silence it. We might be tested, but if the Word of God is deeply rooted in our hearts, we’ll survive the test. Even when we’re unfaithful, Christ remains faithful to us.

We’ve been given a mission, brothers and sisters, one that Pope Francis, Peter’s successor, reminds us of today. We are called to bear witness to Christ crucified and risen from the dead, to testify, through our lives, to the Good News of God's mercy and forgiveness, to remind the world that God is love.

And we’re called to return that love to Jesus; for Jesus is the poor, He is the homeless, the hungry, the dispossessed, the rejected; Jesus is the ill and the dying. Yes, we are called to remind the world of God’s love and to do so without fear.

Homily: Wednesday in the Octave of Easter

Reading: Lk 24:13-35

What the two disciples encounter – and what we encounter – on the Road to Emmaus is conversion. It began with a loss of hope and shattered faith, didn’t it? They’re looking no further than themselves and their humanity. Despite all they heard while they were with Jesus, despite all that they saw Him do, despite all His assurances that He would remain with them, despite their conviction that He was the Messiah…despite all these things, when they came face to face with death, what little faith they had evaporated.

“They were downcast…we were hoping that He would be the one to redeem Israel…”  We were hoping…and where were they headed? Away from Jerusalem – presumably back to the lives they led before they met Jesus.

And so, what’s the first step in their conversion? It’s a step taken, not by them, but by Jesus. In His zeal for souls, Jesus approaches the disciples who have lost hope and the meaning in their lives. For Jesus understands their sorrow; He sees into their hearts and communicates to them some of the life He carries within Himself. It’s the life of grace, and that gift of grace begins to have its effect. And so, moved by grace, in their sorrow, they unknowingly turn to Jesus and listen.

You see, it all begins with Jesus, the Eternal Word of God. And so it shouldn’t surprise us that Jesus turns to the Word of God. He turns to Scripture. Brothers and sisters, all Scripture – the Old Testament and the New Testament -- has only one ultimate purpose, to lead us to Jesus Christ. And, remember, at this point in salvation history, there was no New Testament.

How does Luke put it? “Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them what referred to Him in all the Scriptures.” And the result?

“Were not our hearts burning within us while He spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”

That’s when conversion begins, brothers and sisters – it begins when you hear your story in Scripture. But sadly, far too many Christians stop right there. They read the Bible and believe, but unlike the two disciples, they don’t take the next logical step on their journey of faith.

You see, it’s one thing to believe in Jesus, but it’s something much more drastic to invite Him into your life, into your heart, to invite Him to stay with you, to let Him lead you on that journey. And so, late on that first Easter Sunday, Jesus responds to the disciples’ invitation by celebrating the 2nd Mass. And it’s there, in the Eucharist, that the disciples recognize Him. “…He was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”

Their faith is deepened by Scripture, but is cemented by the Eucharist.

Do you see now the power of the Eucharist? The power of this gift that Jesus Christ has given His Church, a power beyond all comprehension, a power that brings Jesus into our hearts, into our inner selves, a power that confirms our faith so we can carry Him to others. And now, filled with the joy that only such faith can bring, what do they do? They do the only thing they can do: they go to the Church. Yes, they go to the very heart of the Church; they go to the Apostles and report all that they had witnessed.

“Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how He was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”

And with their conversion, they are called to make Christ present among men. But they do so within the Church, the Church established by Jesus Himself.

What a marvelous story this is. This Lord of ours never forces Himself on us.  He wants us to turn to Him freely, when we begin to grasp the depth of His Love, a Love He has placed in our souls. Like the disciples, we want to hold onto Him.

We want to beg Him, `Stay with us, Lord. Our souls are shrouded in darkness and You alone are the light.  Only You can satisfy this longing that consumes us.' 

And Jesus stays. He stays because He loves you. He loves you so passionately that He will chase after you relentlessly…until the very last moment of your life.

Conversion, then, begins with Jesus on the road.

Our faith is deepened through the Scriptures, by God’s Holy Word. Our eyes are opened by the gift of grace in the sacraments. And our conversion continues to completion only in the Church, where again we encounter Jesus through those same sacraments. That’s what true conversion is: a turning to God, a turning, really a continual re-turning, that turns despair into joy. And that’s why we need the Church, for it’s the Church that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and following the lead of Jesus interprets Holy Scripture for us. And it’s in and through the Church that we receive the sacraments and the graces that allow us to continue our lifelong conversion.

Yes, conversion, like every good thing, begins and ends with Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega, He who loves beyond all comprehension. And so the way to reconciliation is now open.

May we, trusting in His promise, be reconciled with God and experience the touch of His mercy and goodness and forgiveness.

May we let God love us.