My dear friends, the Lord give you peace. Let me just preface today’s homily by letting you know that I have been away from my computer and technological means for the last ten days, so that if you found the homilies a little silent on recent happenings, just know that I had prepared beforehand the homilies I had the website upload automatically for each day I was absent. That said, we get to today, the Saturday of the first week of Easter, or the seventh day of the Easter Octave. Either way, it is a beautiful day, because once again the Lord is blessing us with marvelous opportunities to get closer to him, the source of all our strength, hope, peace, joy and, in a word, all that is good.
Our first reading today at mass begins with this historical recollection which is very telling and very important to keep in mind for the coming days, especially given the passing of Pope Francis and the upcoming Conclave and election of the next Successor of Saint Peter.
We are told that, “Observing the boldness of Peter and John and perceiving them to be uneducated, ordinary men, the leaders, elders, and scribes were amazed.” Now this is important, because we have two groups of leaders mentioned here: the ones chosen by Jesus, and the ones who had lost their way, even though they were legitimately appointed by God. For this reason, in one instance our Lord reminded the apostles to listen to the Pharisees for they sat on the “chair of Moses” but to not do as they did—in other words not practice what they preach. A problem arises however, when even what is being preached, at times, not always, cannot in good conscience be adhered to.
The Church has been rocked by scandal after scandal, and yet it continues to witness, as a collective whole, to the resurrected Christ and his presence in the world. The truth is, we are all sick of the scandals, but we are not all doing our best
to pray so that they are lessened in the Church, and that we merely become whom Jesus wishes us to be in the world – his salt and his light.
But then there’s another kind of scandal – those who are shocked at goodness. Again, the leaders were amazed, scandalized so to speak, at the boldness and truth coming out of these simple, uneducated men, Peter and John, because Peter and John weren’t speaking to them about theology or philosophy or any scholarly work contemporaneously circulating among the Jewish people. No. They were speaking about what they themselves had witnessed, heard, and seen, and how it all attested to the truth that Jesus was indeed the long-awaited one, and much, much more than anything they ever imagined that to mean. In a word, he was God in our midst.
These apostles were merely conveying to the world their personal, intimate and extraordinary journey with Jesus, and this is what we need to remember to keep central as the cardinals deliberate the next Successor to Peter – we need a man who is profoundly in love with Christ and who can help us to be likewise. We certainly do not want to see a friend of the system of the world, or a political ally to one particular leaning, or an ambiguous teacher. The apostles were clear, simple, and to the point. They didn’t shy away from calling sin a sin and illuminating their countrymen’s conscience, and we are called to be the same kind of refreshing, courageous light to others, even if it means we will suffer for it as these two did.
There’s a lot at stake and much suffering to be alleviated. The Body of Christ is persecuted, beaten and crucified to this day. Martyrs are pouring out their blood out of love for Christ as we speak, but we also need to come to their defense, so that we, together with all those who suffer for Christ, can do as he instructed in today’s readings -- to, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”
May he continue to bless you and walk by your side as we rejoice in his Easter victory on our behalf. Our Lady, Mother of the Risen Lord, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
Add comment
Comments