06.04.2008 - 3rd Sunday of Easter
- year A
First Reading; Acts 2,14,22-33 Psalm 16 Second Reading; I Peter 1,17-21
Gospel Reading; Luke 24,13-35
I believe in the one Lord, Jesus Christ: he whom the Father sent as our Lord
is the man called Jesus. The angel who announced his birth to Mary and later
to Joseph also revealed what his name was to be and it was a name which was
very common among the Jews. This name means "God saves", "God
is saviour", a meaning which corresponds to "God with us": it
is clear that if God is with us, we are saved and there is no need to fear anything!
The name of Jesus is a great gift: "in all the world no other name has
been granted to mankind by which we can be saved" (Acts 4,12). It is in
the name of Jesus that the apostles heal the sick man at the gate of the Temple
in Jerusalem:
"it was by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified and
whom God raised from the dead; through him this man stands before you fit and
well" (4.10). In Samaria Philip brought "the good news about the kingdom
of God and the name of Jesus Christ" (8,12): the name of Jesus is good
news! This is a truth we can experiment ourselves. To invoke the name of Jesus
or simply to pronounce it, frees us from fear, doubt, weakness and incapacity.
It is not a name to use as some technique or as magic. It is a name to be spoken
with love, entering into a relationship with him, living with him moments of
beauty but also of difficulty and suffering and above all of being willing to
listen to him. He is "Christ", the Greek word for Messiah in Hebrew.
Christ means the anointed one: whoever was consecrated king or high priest was
anointed. Christ is the anointed one, who bears the full royalty and the perfect
priesthood which is pleasing to the Father! He is consecrated by God, consecrated
to be his spokesman, his prophet and for us the "king" who bears God's
authority in our world and the "priest" who offers God our sacrifices.
The name of he whom the Father sent is "Jesus" and his task for us
is revealed in the term "Christ"!
After the resurrection of Jesus and after Pentecost, the apostles are no longer
as they were before. They become courageous and go out to meet the crowds who
had been hostile towards their Master. In this way they are able to announce
to everyone the experiences and the facts that changed their lives. Today we
listen to Peter and the others' first speach to the crowd gathered around their
house. The say what God has done: the inhabitants of Jerusalem killed Jesus,
despite the fact that he helped the weak and healed the sick; but God rose him
up from the dead and sent his Spirit to mankind! God is able to use mankind's
evil to pour out his love over them and renew their lives. In listening to Peter's
words I can almost expect a manifestation of the Father's omnipotence even today!
We are in many ways in a similar position: men and women seem only able to decide
the opposite to what God asks of them! What will he do in this era of ours?
Surprise us for sure!
The two disciples who had left Jerusalem shocked and disappointed were also
surprised! First they were helped by a mysterious pilgrim to understand the
Scriptures and to see their fulfilment in the facts they had witnessed and which
had left them so sad and depressed. Then they were given proof that Jesus was
there with them, well and alive! They were the first to receive life that manifested
in the joy and decision to return to where they were coming from! There they
told of their experience and began once again to live together in their community.
They were surprised to have discovered that he who had invited them to supper
was the Lord, risen from the dead. He had helped them to see in the Word of
the Scriptures what had happened and then in breaking bread he had made himself
known to them! We are here to break the bread: and Jesus is present here. We
don't "see" just as Cleofa and the other disciple didn't, but just
as they discovered that it was he who had spoken to them and given them the
bread of communion of faith and charity, so too we can know that it is Jesus
who is speaking to us and giving us the bread of communion, of life and of joy.
Let us, therefore, accept St Peter's invitation as he wonders at the faith of
the Christians to whom he is writing. They live far from Jerusalem, in Galatia,
today in Turkey, and they had never seen Jesus. Neither have we seen him, but
we love him and trust in him. We believe and love the Lord Jesus through our
temptations and trials. Peter continues and exhorts us to behave in a way that
gives glory to God the Father! He will judge us with his love and we will be
careful not to dispel his love for us and all men and women with our sins! We
will be happy to live differently to the rest of the world for it refuses us.
In this way we can offer Jesus proof of our love for him!