This Man God Raised - Easter Sunday

Three years ago I attended my twentieth high school reunion. These events are occasions for remembering old times with friends at school, and it is a time for examination. Some of our old friends seem much the same as they did years ago, while others have changed so much it causes a shock in us. It also leads us to question our own lives: what changes have taken place in our lives? Are we basically the same as we were in high school, or have we undergone profound changes? Today's readings provide us with the opportunity to reflect on such changes, for they are not really about Jesus; they are about Peter, and by extension they are about us.

In the Gospel text we find Peter confronting the reality of Jesus rising from the dead for the first time. Mary Magdalene tells Peter the tomb is empty, and his disbelief at this statement leads him to look at the tomb himself. He sees the burial cloths, the head covering, and the empty tomb - and yet none of this has any real effect upon him. The Gospel text states that they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. At this point the Resurrection of Jesus has had no effect upon his life.

The first reading, however, provides us with an entirely different Peter than we've met previously in the Gospels. It is now a few years after Jesus' resurrection and Peter is preaching to Cornelius and a group of Gentiles about Jesus' ministry, his death, and resurrection. Peter is offering the salvation of Jesus to the nations, doing so in a bold way that leads his listeners to accept the Gospel and to live as Jesus lived. Peter becomes almost unrecognizable, like classmate from twenty years ago whom you remembered in one way but whom now is completely different. How can we account for this transformation in Peter?

Between these two scenese come a series of events that will transform Peter. He comes to encounter the risen Jesus a number of times in his life. These encounters provide a great deal of irony, for the disciples initally do not recognize Jesus when they first encounter him, but after a while they see Jesus in this new life. Peter also has his own personal encounter with the risen Lord when Jesus asks Peter about his love. This conversation is cathartic for Peter: it recalls the painful memory of his denials of Jesus shortly before Jesus' death, and it is painful to be asked multiple times whether you love someone. Yet, this conversation confirms Peter in the ministry to which Jesus has called him. Finally, Peter, along with the other disciples and Mary, receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, a transformative experience for the entire community.

Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, and for many of us this celebration is the latest in many past celebrations of this event - the central event of the Christian faith. Jesus is risen from the dead, and yet the readings also refer to our own resurrection. Just as Jesus rose from the dead and is both unrecognizable and knowable in his resurrected state, so too we see in the readings that Peter too has risen with Christ. Peter is a new person, one we do not recognize from our earlier experiences of him in the Gospels.

As we renew our baptismal vows in the liturgy of Easter, we reflect on whether we have indeed risen with Christ as Peter did. Are we the same as we were before encountering Christ, or have we too become transformed by our encounters with him - encounters that are both personal and communal? The season of Easter is a time to reflect on our encounters with the risen Jesus in our lives while we re-examine the encounters of the early Christians and the Church with the risen Jesus over the next fifty days. In our reflections we keep within our hearts the prayer of today's Easter liturgy: "Let us pray that the risen Christ will raise us up and renew our lives. God our Father, by raising Christ your Son you conquered the power of death and opened for us the way to eternal life. Let our celebration today raise us up and renew our lives by the Spirit that is within us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen."

"Lord, If You Had Been Here..." - 5th Sunday in Lent Year A

Whenever a natural disaster occurs or when a terrible evil like the Holocaust afflicts a great number of people, one of the first reactions people have is, "Where was God? How can there be a God when such calamity and evil occurs?" In a certain sense, both Martha and Mary fall victim to such thinking in today's Gospel reading. They have lost their brother Lazarus and in their grief they say to Jesus, "Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died."

The Gospel story presents an interesting contrast. Jesus was absent from Martha and Mary, and Lazarus died. Yet, after Lazarus died Jesus is present to them and he raises Lazarus to life. The presence of Jesus makes all the difference in the world. When Jesus is absent from our lives there is only death, grief, and despair. In our anguish we make the same statement as Martha and Mary: Lord if you had been here. On the other hand, when Jesus is present in our lives, anything becomes possible. There is life, joy, and hope. In our joy we make the same statement of the Samaritan villagers from the Gospel text two weeks ago: We know that this is truly the Savior of the world.

This Gospel passage is the final piece in the threefold scrutinies of catechumens before receiving the sacraments of initiation at the Easter vigil. Each Gospel text has brought us closer to the font and to the reality of Jesus Christ. In the first text two weeks ago we met the Samaritan woman at the well who came to draw water and found that only Christ could quench her thirst. Last week we encountered the man who was blind from birth and discovered that only through Christ can we see aright in our lives. This week we encounter the most dramatic encounter of all.

Death is the ultimate evil from which no one escapes. In the ancient world there was a great fear of death, for the vast majority of souls were brought to Hades, the place of shadows, where they would spend all of eternity. Only the very few - men who struggled against the gods - found their way to the Elysian Fields. In this Gospel text, there is no struggle against God, no struggle against Christ. There is only faith that Jesus can do what he promises, and it is this faith that enables all men and women to find their way to paradise.

In each of these Gospel texts, faith brought satisfaction, sight, and life. Yet, faith is not something we can provide for ourselves. In each story faith is an invitation from Jesus, and it is Jesus who brings us to faith through a series of conversations and encounters. He does not impose faith upon us and we do not come to faith on our own power. Faith only comes through an invitation and encounter with Christ.

We have encountered Christ in the sacraments and in the experiences of our lives. The phrase of Marth and Mary - Lord if you had been here - makes no sense to us. Christ is present to us always: in our moments of joy and our moments of sorrow, in our hope and in our despair, in our life and in our death. In the life of faith there are no conditional statements. We cannot barter with God, nor can we impose upon Him our own conditions and demands. Rather, it is Christ who sets the conditions and demands upon us, but no longer in the language of commands but in the invitation of a conversation and encounter. Faith means that our entire being belongs to Christ such that he is never absent from us nor we from Him.

As we journey together to the conclusion of Lent, may we give ourselves completely to Christ in the celebration of the Paschal mysteries. May our prayer today be that of the Church for the catechumens during this third scrutiny: "Lord, may your people be one in spirit and serve you with all their heart. Free them from all fear. Give them joy in your gifts and love for those who are to be reborn as your children. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen."