THIRD
SUNDAY OF EASTER
23 April 2023 –
Holy Spirit Parish
Acts 2:14, 22-33
1 Pt 1:17-21
Lk
24:13-35
Praised be Jesus
Christ!
Our Gospel today is about
the appearance of Jesus, the Risen Christ, walking along the road to Emmaus
with two disciples. It concludes: “So they set out at once and returned to
Jerusalem where they found gathered together the Eleven and those with them who
were saying, ‘The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!’ Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and
how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.” The encounter with Jesus and not just
discussion or academic study is what enabled these men to sort out the tragedy
of Calvary and the confounding news of the empty Tomb. “Then the two
recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in
the breaking of bread.”
Traditional
Catholic common wisdom teaches us that although it is good to know our faith
chapter and verse, what is ultimately decisive is that we get out of bed on
Sunday morning, every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation, and move across the
threshold to take our place at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
One
of the great puzzles of the Christian life is how we come to understand and personally
embrace the conviction that being Catholic demands something of us, yes,
something intellectual of us, but that we have to integrate that information
learned in school or at catechism into our personal lives. For children, no one
can substitute the role of parents in achieving that goal. Most people who fall
away from the practice of the faith, who give no evidence of true belief, may
have twelve years of Catholic school behind them or years of catechism classes.
Most of them, when they abandon the practice of the faith, do not stomp away
from the Church out of protest and shaking a fist in anger or disgust refuse to
fulfill their obligations as Catholics. Rather the majority are those who just
quietly drift away at some point after they leave their parents’ home. Confession
even growing up at home never played a part in their lives, maybe the folks did
not take them to Mass on Sunday, and then on their own they just stopped going to
Sunday Mass all together.
As
I say, it could be that other than Catholic school, they had no witness to the
faith at home from either parent or, as statistics claim, maybe their dads gave
no witness of faith to the children and failed to support their moms’ efforts
at raising the children Catholic. Miracles of grace do happen, but when they do
they normally just underline how faith comes to be the center of our lives
thanks to the witness of mom and dad.
The
Alleluia verse says, “Lord Jesus, open the Scriptures to us!” How do we
come to understand the Scriptures and the importance of faith in our lives?
Obviously, being
Catholic, being a true believer demands prayer and reflection on our part. At
some point after the age of reason, we have to make the faith our own. There is
a study element to the life of faith. The Gospel account of the discussion on
the road to Emmaus is definitely part of what makes the basis for our
profession of faith. Faith can’t really be an effortless or purely emotional thing.
Nonetheless the point of our faith is not so much that we are always studying doctrine,
although that is an essential part of what it means to be Catholic. The
obligation to study our faith, to learn our prayers and our catechism is not so
in a simply academic kind of way. Intellectual ability is not an essential requirement.
A simple faith can be both beautiful and profound. Anyone can learn enough to
come to the knowledge and love of Christ, because although what is taught about
the Lord may be mysterious or maybe in some ways enigmatic, it is not an
elitist thing. Even the simplest person can reach an appreciation of the love of
God for us. If faith needs explanation, it is less for academic reasons and
more for matters of the heart, matters of personal knowledge and love. The
Missionaries of Africa (popularly known as the White Fathers) when they
evangelized the former Belgian colonies of central Africa required four years
of catechism and literacy before the baptism of adults. Knowledge is essential
even if it was not enough to keep the genocide, Catholic neighbors slaughtering
each other, from taking place in Rwanda. Rather, the issue for us when it comes
to faith is that like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, we need help
sorting out the person and message of Jesus Christ. On our own we just don’t
quite get it. Obedience to the two great commandments, You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and you shall love your neighbor
as yourself, demand some thinking through on our part, they don’t just come
second nature, because they demand sacrifices of us, sometimes even heroic
sacrifices of us.
We
can no more drift through life, going with the flow, than did Jesus Christ. The
Lord, in obedience to the will of the Father, offered Himself up for all of us on
the Cross. He was lifted up in sacrifice upon the Cross for the sake of the
salvation of the world. We have things to ponder and His loving witness to
embrace. Continue in the glorious joy of Easter, allowing Christ to enlighten you
and your family by His grace! Set your Sunday apart as the Lord’s Day to
contemplate the Lord’s sacrifice and victory for our redemption!
And
he said to them, “Oh how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that
the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these
things and enter into his glory?”
“Lord Jesus, open the Scriptures
to us; make our hearts burn while you speak to us!” Alleluia! Alleluia!
PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI
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