Receiving the Unexpected

“He paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them.
Peter said, ‘I have neither silver nor gold,
but what I do have I give you:
in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk.’”

Acts 3:5-6

When Peter and John saw the crippled man who was begging for money by the gate of the Temple, they approached him. Although they had no money to give to him they went to him. The crippled man fully expected to receive something from them, at least a few small coins, but they gave him no money. What the two Apostles offered to that crippled man was something greater, not silver or gold, but rather an invitation to encounter the Risen Lord.

The two Apostles implored the name of Jesus Christ and told the crippled man (who has been so from birth) to rise and walk. With the help of Peter’s hand, the man slowly got up with strength restored to his legs, and he went off to praise and worship God in the Temple. While the man hoped for alms, the Apostles offered him something that would actually help him; not enough to just feed him for a day, but something that would transform his life and change the trajectory of all his days. Jesus, through the Apostles, wished to feed not just the man’s stomach but also his soul. He knew the man needed something more. It was not only his crippled condition that caused this man to be downcast. There was also a crippling of the heart and soul, and Jesus wanted to breathe life back into those areas.

Oftentimes we may ask for something because we really think we need them. But in life we have probably come to experience that we do not always get what we want or even what we think we need, but whatever it is that we received was exactly what we needed at that moment. Although we may not have been able to see it then, when looking back, it becomes more evident. When asking the Lord, we will always receive the unexpected. We will always receive that which we really desire, deep down in our hearts and souls. When we ask, and if we are open, God will always fulfill our deepest desires and needs. What are those crippled parts of our bodies and hearts? Let us invite the Lord to breathe life into them. May we come to encounter the Risen Lord who knows all that we need so that in knowing Him, we may come to receive that which really is most unexpected — a share in the life of God and the status of sons and daughters of such a loving God.

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The Gospel reading for today is the beautiful passage on the Two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus. For a reflection on this, see last year’s entry on this, “Obstacles to the Heart.”

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Turning Around

“Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 2:38

Immediately on the day of Pentecost, Peter made know to the Jewish people that the man whom they crucified was indeed the Lord and Christ of God. Some of them grew concerned and they asked, “What are we to do, my brothers? Peter answered them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you.”

The Lord died for us, and God raised Him up on the last day so that we might not only come to believe that He was the Lord but also so that we might come to receive a gift that we could never have imagined receiving: eternal life, life as the beloved sons and daughters of Almighty God. Do we know that? Do we as baptized Christians know that we are the sons and daughters of God? That we have the hope of eternal life and the resurrection of the body? Do we know that? Do we believe that? In Jesus’s own words at the Last Supper, “Do you realize what I have done for you?”

When Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and found that the stone was rolled over and Jesus’s body was not there, she wept. She wept because she did not know where the body went and who may have taken it. In her grief, she had believed that someone had stolen Jesus’s body. It was then that Jesus called her name and we are told “she turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni,’ which means Teacher.” This turning around was not simply one of physical movement, but one of the interior life too. In being reminded of who she was, Mary, the one called, saved, and loved by Jesus her Lord, had come once again to faith. She had come to believe that who was standing before her was not a gardener, but rather the Jesus whom she loved, the Jesus whom she had come to seek, and the Jesus who seeks her.

Brothers and sisters we too have been called by name. Do we know who calls us? Do we come to seek the Risen Lord? In the times when we turn away from Him and choose to go our own way, may we never cover the ears and eyes of our hearts so tightly that we fail to hear the Lord calling out to us. In our despair and hopelessness, grief and pain, sorrow and frustration, may we all remember the still small voice that reverberates within our hearts, the voice that calls us His beloved. Like Mary Magdalene, may we too, once again, turn around and meet the Lord who has come to find us.

For an audio and/or video reflection for today where I share with you the significance of today’s date (April 19th) in my life and its connection with today’s readings, please click here.

Jesus REALLY Did Rise! — Homily for Easter Sunday

Happy Easter! Jesus is risen from the dead! Alleluia! During these past weeks of Lent, we have been waiting and preparing for this day, and here it is. It is not just a day filled with Easter activities like the Easter Egg Hunt or the Egg Dyeing Competition or even the delicious Easter brunch or dinner. Today we celebrate Jesus’s triumphant victory over sin and death, the victory that has won for us salvation and the freedom from our sins. Today, we celebrate Jesus’s Resurrection from the dead.

Have you ever found yourself walking into a situation you did not expect? Or maybe you walked into something with a certain expectation but found it to be the exact opposite? In today’s Gospel we hear about some surprises the people encountered when they went to visit Jesus’ tomb. They were expecting to see Jesus’ dead body, to mourn and to grieve at the death of their beloved friend and teacher. But what did they see? The stone was rolled back, Jesus’ body was not in the tomb, but the burial cloths were there. What? How can that happen? They just placed Jesus there the other day. But today they found the tomb to be empty, no body, but just the burial cloths. Mary of Magdala had thought somebody stole Jesus’s body, but that would not really make sense. Why not? Let’s take for example if someone wanted to steal a package from a pile of packages would they open up the box, leave the bubble wrap and box there, and then go? NO! They would probably just find the package and run before someone finds out! By a similar logic, if someone wanted to steal Jesus’s body, they wouldn’t take the time to take off the burial cloths – they would just carry his body and run away.

Instead, Mary, Peter, and the beloved disciple (John) found an empty tomb with nothing there except for the burial cloths. So, if Jesus’s body was not stolen and the tomb is empty, what really happened? Jesus had really risen from the dead.

Jesus’s Resurrection is not just something we believe in because we are told by the Church and that the Bible tells us that He did. We can come to see the truth of Jesus’s Resurrection both in historical facts and in faith. It is so important that Jesus did rise from the dead, because if He did not you should not be sitting in those pews and I should not be standing here. We know that Jesus rose from the dead because there are eyewitnesses – real people – who saw the empty tomb and the burial cloths there. These eyewitnesses we will later hear about in the Scriptures seeing Jesus and speaking with Him after the Resurrection. These are historical facts, something that really happened in history, and not just a feel-good story. With the historical facts and eyewitnesses, we can come to see that Jesus did rise from the dead and with faith we can know that He also brought about our salvation. We are here because this is true. We are here because Jesus really did rise from the dead.

Do we believe this because we have been told so or do we believe because deep down in our hearts we believe? The Church Fathers tell us that in order to really believe we must encounter the Risen Lord. Have we encountered Him? How do we encounter Jesus who has really risen from the dead? We first must encounter the Risen Lord in our hearts for it is His love for us – the love that moved Him to suffer and die for us – that moves our hearts. Then we must allow the Holy Spirit to lead us deeper into this love, not just within ourselves but also sharing it with others. From encountering the Lord in reading the Scriptures to encountering Him in the person in front of us, knowing that Jesus lives in him too. And we can also encounter Him in a most special way in the sacraments.

In just a few moments the Risen Lord will be made present to us once again on that very altar. In the Eucharist Jesus is fully and really present, body, blood, soul, and divinity. The same Jesus who rose from the dead comes to meet us again at the altar. We are invited to encounter Jesus at the altar every time we come to mass. How blessed are we! Jesus Christ is truly risen from the dead, alleluia! Happy Easter indeed!