REFLECTIONS FOR EASTER
SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER
We could not have chosen a better opening prayer, first reading, and Gospel for the
day of Pope John Paul's death. The opening prayer reminds us that we no longer
look for Jesus among the dead. The same is true of John Paul II. We do not look for
him among the dead. He is with the risen Lord in peace, he is alive and lives with
the Lord of Life.
We pray further: "increase in our minds and hearts the risen life we share with
Christ." The entire prayer is a reminder of our own resurrection we are called upon
to share with Jesus Christ. That is the resurrection John Paul II now shares with
Christ. Finally the prayer reminds us that we are called to grow as a people toward
the fulness of eternal life we share with Jesus. That was John Paul II's role to call
us as a peole to share the fulness of God's life.
The first reading tells us of the early church and how they lived. "They devoted
themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the
breaking of bread and to the prayers." We are told that they held all things in
common. sold all their proerty, and distributed them to each according to each
one's need.
When I first looked at today's reading it struck me how firmly they believed in the
message and the life of Jesus Christ! They believed so much that they were willing
to literally give up everything they had to search for that great treasure to be found
in their common faith. If we had such faith, our lives and our world would be quite
different.
How did they come to this faith? They devoted themselves to the teaching of the
apostles, the communal life, the breaking of bread, and prayer. All Peter and the
apostles could do was the first. They were able to teach. The apostles could not
live the communal life, they could not force the Christians to break bread and
devote themselves to prayer.
The same is true in our day. All John Paul II could do was teach. He did that very
effectively. Like the early Christians we are called to do the work. We are called to
work for a more equitable sharing of the earth's resources. We are the ones who
have to come together and break bread in the Eucharist and pray.
The Gospel also was pertinent to John Paul's life. Jesus appears to a group of
frightened men. They are closed up behind locked doors. They are afraid. Jesus
penetrates the fear. the locked doors and offers them peace. John Paul II offered
the world peace. Jesus tells these frightened apostles "The sins you forgive, are
forgiven." Whose sins most needed to be forgiven that first Easter Sunday night?
Certainly their own sins ranked very high on that list, if not at the very top.
Last Tuesday night I was invited to the Pax Christi meeting in Tupelo, Mississippi.
After the meeting the chairman of the group took me to dinner. He told me that he
was a recent convert to the Catholic church. His wife was a devout Catholic and he
had promise not to interfere in any way with her faith.
As they began to have children his wife saw the necessity for them to have a
common faith to pass on to their children. He agreed but had taken no steps to act
on this common agreeement.
For Christmas they went to her parents home in another town. Everyone went to
church but he stayed home. As he watched television he heard the Pope's
Christmas message. The entire message was about peace. John Paul II spoke
about peace beginning in our own heart and spreading out to our family, our
community and to the entire world.
This message impressed him so deeply that when he returned home he enrolled in
the local RCIA program and was baptized as a Catholic. This message of the Pope
was the same message as the risen Christ spoke on the first Easter evening: The
sins you forgive will be forgiven, beginning with your own.
THOUGHTS FOR EASTER WEEK
One of the books of the New Testament tells us that over 250 persons witnessed the
resurrection of Jesus. However, no more than 20 or 25 names are listed. Who were the other
persons who witnessed the Resurrection of the Lord?
Magdalen, Johanna, Salome, "the other Mary", as well as the eleven apostles are listed among
those who witnessed the resurrection of the Lord. But who were the others?
Mary, the mother of Jesus certainly must have been one of them. Jesus was so solicitous for her
welfare. He entrusted her to John's care as he hung on the cross. Mary was there when the
Spirit appeared on Pentecost.
One thing we forget about Mary. Mary had to forgive the eleven apostles in the same way that
Jesus forgave them. It was easier for her once she experienced the risen Lord but still she was a
mother whose son had been brutally murdered. These men who were her Son's closest
followers had abandoned him. They probably would not have been able to save Jesus.
However, it sure would have been more comfort to Jesus if they had been there and not run
away like a bunch of cowards. Peter even denied that he even knew Jesus. That Mary was there
with them during that time from Easter to Pentecost was evidence of their reconciliation.
Another person who might have been there was the woman at the well. She was one of the first
Christian missionaries. She had everything going against her. She was a woman in a society
much more male dominated and oriented than our own today. She was a Samaritan. Jews did
not talk to Samaritans who were thought to have abandoned their Jewish faith. And then she
was a public sinner. She had violated one of the most sacred of their laws. She was a divorcee,
not once but five times. The man she was living with was not her husband.
Despite all that went against her Jesus realized that she had something to offer him. As he sat at
the well he asked her for a drink of water. No matter what our background, our religious
upbringing or lack of it, our moral conduct we do have something to offer to Jesus Christ.
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