Easter Tuesday - Piercing The Darkness

First reading	Acts 2:36-41 ©

You must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus

On the day of Pentecost, Peter spoke to the Jews: ‘The whole House of Israel can be certain that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.’

  Hearing this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the apostles, ‘What must we do, brothers?’ ‘You must repent,’ Peter answered ‘and every one of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise that was made is for you and your children, and for all those who are far away, for all those whom the Lord our God will call to himself.’ He spoke to them for a long time using many arguments, and he urged them, ‘Save yourselves from this perverse generation.’ They were convinced by his arguments, and they accepted what he said and were baptized. That very day about three thousand were added to their number.

We have just completed a forty-day journey through the desert as seen through the eyes of a simple man on a pilgrimage.  Our own walk may have been very different than his or perhaps we did not walk at all.  It is of no consequence because now we have a reason to be hopeful.  We have a reason to be joyful.  We have a reason to want to announce the good news that death has lost its sting, that sins have been forgiven.  We should be walking with a spring in our step for Jesus Christ has Risen Today!  Yes, we are two days away from the day which we memorialized the Resurrection with great ceremony and ritualistic celebration.  The Church asked us to reflect, fast, give alms, and repent for forty days. Today she bids us rejoice for fifty days -  From Easter to Pentecost -  and to be ready to tell everyone we meet why we are so happy.  The pagan world welcomes Easter as the time when the cold and gray of winter are banished.  They give a bunny the power to bring candy to children.  They play hide and seek with eggs.  This is all great fun, even politicians in Washington get into the act.  At the White House, there was an Easter Egg rolling contest.  Easter, for pagans, fades into nothingness when the sun rises on Easter Monday.  It was fun while it lasted, but now there is work to be done.  The childish things like bunnies and hard-boiled egg hunts are put back on the shelf and the serious business of business returns.  For a Catholic especially we realize that the festive season has just begun.  In the words of a song that is sung on Holy Saturday at the vigil Mass, "We will sing to my God who has delivered us from death, into life into freedom through the sea."  

Let me exhort you.  The death of Jesus on the cross was for you, personally.  The resurrection on Easter Morning was for you personally as well.  Jesus did not destroy death for the world, He did it for you.  How can you be silent about that?  These next weeks between now and Pentecost, give vent to the joy.  Let everyone you know how happy you are about the gift that Jesus gave you.  Your joyful face should cause people to wonder why you are so happy.  If they ask, tell them, tell them, tell them.  If they don't ask, tell them anyway by the way you live your life, with joy.  Be a little kinder, be more gentle, be helpful, let the love that is bursting through the walls of your soul escape into the wild.  The joy is the Spirit of God in you.  Don't hold it in, dispense it freely.  People will notice and more importantly, you will notice the difference in how people treat you. 

Brothers and sisters, the world is in darkness this day.  The pagans have not a clue that they are loved beyond measure by God who knows them better than their own mother and father. They see the grave and live their life in abundant poverty of spirit.  Give them the gift or at least make them wonder why you are so different than they are.    

CHRIST IS RISEN 

CHRIST IS TRULY RISEN 

I Want You !

They strengthened the spirits of the disciples

and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying,  

"It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships

to enter the Kingdom of God."

The 21st Century has brought to the Church more martyrs for the faith than were created in the early years of Christianity.  What is it about the name of Jesus that fills the pagans with such fear?  Is it that they know, instinctively that the victory of Jesus against His enemies is a done deal and they want to try and change that?  Is it that the power of Love that Jesus represents is too powerful for them to overcome so that they have to resort to violence?

On July 26, 2016, Father Jacques was peacefully saying Mass for his congregation when two Muslim men entered the church and murdered him by slitting his throat. Jacques was reported to have said, "Satan go" when he was confronted by his killers. Both of these Muslims pledged allegiance to the so-called Islamic state. 

Jacques is but one of many modern martyrs that have been killed by followers of a perverted version of Islam. What distinguishes a Christian martyr from an ordinary believer?  Well, of course, there is the fact that the martyr is dead. But it is before death that the martyr distinguishes him or herself. This type of person has given their all to Christ and they have held nothing back.  Their life is one of service and of love. Well, many good Christians live that way and are they any less holy than a martyr?  No, because holiness does not come to us because of our actions, it comes to us because of the attitudes we hold inside.  To be holy, one does not have to stand on the street corner shouting scripture but one must hold that scripture in their heart and act on it.  A martyr goes one step further in that they will act on scripture even in the face of death.  Their commitment to Christ and His Church is total.  Their whole life is a testimony to the love of God and their loyalties are forever united with the precepts of Christ.  They are in effect, whole people, or holy. Of course, you can be holy without being a martyr, or can you? 

Each of us has a decision to make. Do we follow the world or do we follow Christ?  Do we acknowledge Jesus as Lord of All, including Lord of us?  If we do, then the stuff of martyrs is within is. A blood martyr has given their all and sacrificed life for Jesus and has given us an example of total commitment.  On the other hand, there are modern day people that give their all in an unbloody way by caring for the poor, the homeless.  There are those who sacrifice comfort and safety to help those that cannot help themselves. These people are the bloodless martyrs and they, like those who sacrificed their physical life, are shining examples of what we should be like. 

In America, it is becoming more and more likely that we may see our fellow Christians, Catholics, and Protestants alike may be called to the ultimate sacrifice for Jesus.  The craziness of radical Islam is not unknown in America.  Each of us has to be ready to step forward when our name is called.  We must be proud and loud and ready to serve our Master. 

They Asked. He Spoke, They Didn't Listen

My sheep hear my voice;

I know them, and they follow me. 

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. 

No one can take them out of my hand. 

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,

and no one can take them out of the Father's hand. 

The Father and I are one."

Well, here He went and did it.  The crowd asked Jesus to tell them plainly who He was and he did it.  "The Father and I are one." Those words could not be plainer. The crowd heard what he said and immediately picked up rocks to stone Him. He walked away from them and went across the Jordan River. 

The people in our story could hear, but they did not listen. One hallmark of a Christian is that they hear the voice of Christ in their life.  They try, through the daily tribulations of life, to do what He commands. The command of Jesus is simple but powerful.  He commands us to love others as He has loved us.  At the Last Supper, He showed us by washing the Apostles feet.  The next day He showed us by dying on the cross for us.

It is this love we are to show one another.  It is a love that can be expressed only with the help of Grace in our lives. This Grace comes upon the wind, in the voice of the Good Shepherd.  We, His flock, must listen for His voice.

 The voice of the world will be much louder and at times more persuasive. But we listen for His voice and we are not drawn away from Him because it is His voice that we yearn for, and only His voice impels us to move. 

Today, the Lord has something to say to YOU.  Listen to what He says. Follow His voice and you will be doing His will and you will be safe with His arms around you as you feel the beating of the Sacred Heart as it beats as one with yours.