It is Easter
Sunday night, and the disciples, fearful and afraid are hiding in a locked
room. They are terrified that what
happened to their leader, Jesus, would now happen to them. I too would be afraid if I were in their sandals.
Suddenly,
without warning, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them: “Where
were you guys on Friday when I needed you?
Some “friends” you jerks turned to be.”
Then Jesus showed them his hands and his side. “See what happened to me because you guys all
deserted me?” he taunted them. “Well now
I am back and it is a whole new show!”
And with that Jesus blasted them all to smithereens.
The young
Sylvester Stallone plays Jesus.
Fortunately
for us, that is NOT what happened.
Instead of blaming, or criticizing, or accusing, Jesus’ first words were
“Peace be with you.” Jesus had every reason to be bitterly
disappointed, upset and angry at the Apostles.
But instead Jesus says, “Peace be
with you.”
Then Jesus
showed them his hands and his side.
Why? So they could see the
wounds. Not to shame or embarrass the
Apostles, but to show to them the ultimate proof of His love for them and for
us.
Jesus again
says “Peace be with you.” Then Jesus does something extraordinary. He sends them out on mission. “As the
Father has sent me, so I send you.”
What?!? These guys have just proven conclusively that
they are worse than useless. Not only do they desert him and run away, but like
Peter they deny that they know him. So
it is remarkable that Jesus now entrusts His mission to them.
“As the Father has sent me, so I send
you.”
But Jesus
knows what He is doing. He knows His
death and resurrection changes everything.
His death and resurrection usher in a whole new phase of history, a
fundamental and epic change in humanity.
Because now the Holy Spirit is powerfully sent into the world.
Jesus
breathed on them, just like God had breathed the breath of life into the first
man, so Jesus is now making them new with new life in the Spirit.
Jesus
said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are
retained."
This
is the initiation of a whole new relationship with God, due to the saving death
and resurrection of Jesus.
Each
of us has been baptized into that new relationship with God in Jesus
Christ. We too have been given the Holy
Spirit. This means we are to no longer to
live in the old way of force and revenge, of getting even and grabbing all we
can for ourselves, but rather to live in the new way of forgiveness and
peace.
We
do not do this because of our own inherent goodness and virtue, because we are
such great and holy people, but rather because we have been given the Holy Spirit
who empowers us to live in a whole new way.
The way of Jesus. The way of
forgiveness, not revenge. The way of
holiness, not sin. The way of Life, not
death.
The
Gift of the Holy Spirit empowers you to live in a whole new way. Follow Jesus!
This morning at this Mass, three
children, Jolene, Emmaline and Caroline, will be Baptized. They will receive the precious gift of the
Holy Spirit just as the Apostles did in that locked room so many years
ago. We pray that the Holy Spirit will
be strong in their lives, and in ours too. All this is due to the saving death
and resurrection of Jesus.
Happy Easter! Alleluia!
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