Barriers No More

“On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’”

John 20:19

This is a homily I wrote and delivered on last year’s Divine Mercy Sunday. First published April 24, 2022 as “Through the Locked Doors.”

Happy Divine Mercy Sunday, brothers and sisters! And Happy Easter!  We are still in the Easter Season. The Church gives us a special Sunday for the Second Sunday of Easter – Divine Mercy Sunday, a day to reflect and give thanks for the great love and mercy that God has towards us, so much so that He suffered and died for us. Last Sunday we celebrated the fruit of that suffering and death: the Resurrection, and today we give thanks for that.

Do we have any magicians here? Anyone know how to walk through walls or doors? In today’s Gospel we hear that the disciples were gathered in a room behind locked doors out of fear. What happened? Jesus appeared to them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus “came and stood in their midst,” we are told.  Jesus’s glorified body is different than our bodies. It is no longer bound by time and space. Jesus can even walk through locked doors! In other words, there is nothing that can stand in Jesus’ way, not sin, death, and not even locked doors. Jesus suffered, died, and rose from the dead so that the disciples no longer needed to stay in a locked room and be afraid. “Peace be with you,” He says to them. Peace, not fear. “There’s no need to fear, I am here.”

The disciples were afraid of the Jews perhaps because of what they might do to them now that their leader was dead (as far as they know). When Jesus was arrested the disciples fled and Peter even denied Him, and yet the first words Jesus spoke to the disciples were “Peace be with you.” Not “why did you leave me?” or “Why did you deny me? What happened?” But, “Peace be with you.” Jesus did not call out the disciples on their cowardice or weaknesses or abandoning of Him. Instead, he comforted them and calmed their fears, “Peace be with you.”

My brothers and sisters, Jesus says to us to today, “Peace be with you.” Is there something on our minds that causes us anxiety? Are we worried about something? Is there something that is causing us unrest? “Peace be with you.” Jesus went through the locked door and consoled the disciples. What are the barriers that are keeping us from living the life Jesus won for us with his Resurrection? Jesus can walk through those barriers too. He wants to give us peace so that we might live life fully and freely. Today we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. God is very merciful. There is no sin that can keep us away from the love of God. Jesus did not hold their cowardice and denial against the disciples. Rather He went to them, comforted them, and gave them His peace, His very self. When we approach God with a humble and contrite heart, and when we are truly sorry for our sins and for the times when we have fallen short, God does not shun us, rather He embraces us, saying “Peace be with you. I love you.”

Jesus’ divine mercy is a mercy that can knock down locked doors and fortified walls. His mercy is free, unconditional, and unlimited. He suffered, died, and rose again so that we can have this gift, a gift that leads us to eternal life. Although we may not know how to walk through locked doors, Jesus does and that is what matters. He can and He wants to. He wants to knock down all those things in our lives that keep us from Him and His love, but we must invite Him in. Are our hearts open? Jesus comes to us and says to us today, “Peace be with you.” What is our response?

Not only does Jesus give us His peace and mercy, He also gives us His body. In just a few moments, right there on that altar, the very same Jesus who died for us and who went through those locked doors, will once again comes to us and be made present to us. He joins together heaven and earth so that we might hear Him say to us, “Peace be with you.” When we receive Him today may we thank Him for loving us so much and may we also ask Him to break down the locked doors in our hearts that may keep us from Him, because He can and wants to. Happy Divine Mercy Sunday.

For an audio/video reflection I offered last year on Divine Mercy Sunday, click here.

What We Really Need

“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

First published April 20, 2022.

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.

For another reflection I offered on this passage four years ago, click here.

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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 “Obstacles to the Heart.”

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The Stone Removed

“On the first day of the week,
Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.”

John 20:1

Alleluia! Jesus is risen! He is truly risen! The Paschal Lamb that was slain for us and whose blood washes us clean is risen and He dies no more. What a joyous day! Death has been conquered and Jesus has the final say. And we, Christians, who have been baptized in Christ and in His death, will also share in His Resurrection.

When Mary of Magdala went to the tomb to visit Jesus she found that the stone covering His tomb had been rolled over. She immediately thought someone had stolen Jesus’s body. So, what does she do? She runs to Peter. Here we can see that Peter has a special role in the life of the community then, and hence we say Peter is the first Pope and all the popes that came after were successors of St. Peter. There is a primacy that is given to Peter and his office. We can see this in the Gospels. Jesus first calls Peter before any other Apostles. Jesus brings Peter with Him wherever He goes — up the mountain where He was transfigured and to the Garden of Gethsemane. And now, after Jesus has died, when problems arise, they go to Peter, the visible head of the Church and representative of Jesus. After Mary tells Peter and John about the stone being rolled over, they run to the tomb. Why? Did they run because they wanted to see if the tomb was really empty? Did they run because they thought somebody stole the body? Did they not believe Jesus’s word that He would rise on the third day? So, why did they run?

Perhaps they ran because they were hoping to see Jesus there, but instead they found some burial cloths. If Mary came to us today and told us the same thing, what would we do? Would we run? Would be doubt and question? Would we run to see the empty tomb and rejoice in the Lord’s triumph over sin and death? The stone from Jesus’s tomb was removed so that the disciples might come to see and believe. What are the stones in our lives that remain unturned that keep us from seeing Christ and believing in Him? Jesus wants to roll them away just as the stone from His tomb was removed. Let us allow Jesus to remove the stones that close us off so that we might gaze into the empty tomb and come to believe. And may we exclaim, “Alleluia! He is risen!”

Happy Easter to you!

For a Easter homily I wrote and delivered last year, click here.