Third Sunday of Easter

CONTRIBUTED BY FATHER PAUL S. VOISIN, C.R.

Father Paul is a Waterloo native, was ordained to the priesthood as a Resurrectionist on May 14, 1977. He has served in pastoral ministry in Kitchener and Brantford, Ontario, education and pastoral ministry in La Paz, and formation and pastoral ministry in Cochabamba, Bolivia. He served as Provincial Superior of the Ontario-Kentucky Province from 2005 to 2008 and the Vicar General of the Diocese of Hamilton in Bermuda, and Rector of St. Theresa’s Cathedral from 2008 to 2017. He is presently the Superior General of the Congregation of the Resurrection in Rome, Italy.

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER

April 15, 2018

GATHERINGTIME

Introduction to the Word:

Some years ago I was in Chicago for a meeting with the American Resurrectionist Provincial Superior. One day while he was driving me around, all of a sudden a car carrying three young men turned into the passenger door of his vehicle. We immediately stopped, and then followed the other car into a nearby parking lot. Right away one of the young men from the other car said that we ran into them. All of a sudden, another young man came from out of nowhere – it appeared – and asked the American Provincial and I if we were all right, and said, “That guy drove right into you!” I think we both breathed a sigh of relief – we had an independent witness. He stayed with us until the police came, and gave his testimony to the officer.

Warm-up Activity:

Have you ever been a witness?

It can happen easily enough, like it did to me that day.

What was your experience of being a witness? Did it happen in court?

Jesus says to us in the gospel, “You are witnesses to this”.

What have we been witnesses to, in our following of Jesus Christ? Share with one another how you have been a witness to the life of Christ in you.

The Table of the Word

Perhaps many of us grew up in an age when programs about the courts first appeared, like Perry Mason. There have been myriads of such programs since then. For most of us that was our introduction to courts, and judges, and lawyers, and accused/defendants, and to witnesses. Jesus has called us to be his witnesses, because we have seen, we have heard and we have experienced. That is, after all, what makes one a witness - like the young man who witnessed our accident in Chicago. As followers of Jesus we all (should) have a story to tell. The Lord has been active in our lives, and we need to share that with others. We may have tremendous events, experiences, graces, and insights to share. There may have been significant things that have happened to us. However, there may also have been the simple, ordinary, and everyday, which we can also bear witness to. No experience of God is too small to share! Just as the early disciples followed Jesus, they had a lot to share with those who sought salvation. Now, after the resurrection, they had even more to share. Can you imagine that zeal which we hear of in the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Christian Letters of Paul, John and Peter, to be witnesses of Jesus? Our zeal should motivate us to be witnesses here and now, of how God has worked in history, in revelation, and in the here and now.

Penitential Rite:

The Lord Jesus calls us to be witnesses.

Lord Jesus, for the times we have remained silent, and not shared our testimony of your life in us, we pray … Lord, have mercy

Christ Jesus, fill us with renewed Easter joy to share our new life with others, we pray ...

Christ, have mercy

Lord Jesus, may we bear witness to you in all we say and do … Lord, have mercy

Let us pray:

Fill us with Easter joy, Lord God,

and help us to bear witness to the resurrection of Your Son.

We have experienced Your unconditional love.

We have been saved through the death of Your Son,

and share in His life.

Give us courage to share what we have seen,

what we have heard and what we have experienced.

May our daily lives also bear witness

to that life of God in us,

too great a gift to keep to ourselves.

We ask this in the name of Jesus,

of whom we are witnesses.

Amen.

SCRIPTUREREFLECTIONTIME

(As Christians we believe that the WORD of God we hear proclaimed each Sunday is an empowering Word, and that God is present in the Word proclaimed. This is the Word that God wants us to hear today. The dynamic of the Small Christian Community, namely, reflecting on our life-story within the context of this Word, and sharing the insights of these reflections, is such that God’s Spirit becomes present, and the gifts of the Spirit are experienced as empowering and life-giving.)

FIRST READING:(Acts 2:13-15, 17-19)

Peter said to the people: “It is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, the same Jesus you handed over and then disowned in the presence of Pilate after Pilate had decided to release him. It was you who accused the Holy One, the Just One, you who demanded the reprieve of a murderer while you killed the prince of life. God, however, raised him from the dead, and to that fact we are witnesses. “Now I know, brothers, that neither you nor your leaders had any idea what you were really doing; this was the way God carried out what he had foretold, when he said through all his prophets that his Christ would suffer. Now you must repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out.”

The Word of the Lord.Thanks be to God.

SECOND READING:(1 John 2:1-5)

I am writing this, my children, to stop you sinning; but if anyone should sin, we have our advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, who is just; he is the sacrifice that takes our sins away, and not only ours, but the whole world’s. We can be sure that we know God only by keeping his commandments. Anyone who says, “I know him,” and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, refusing to admit the truth. But when anyone does obey what he has said, God’s love comes to perfection in him.

The Word of the Lord.Thanks be to God.

GOSPEL:(Luke 24:35-48)

A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke. Glory to you, O Lord.

The disciples told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognized Jesus at the breaking of bread. They were still talking about all this when He Himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you!” In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, “Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.” And as He said this He showed them His hands and feet. Their joy was so great that they still could not believe it, and they stood there dumbfounded; so he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” And they offered Him a piece of grilled fish which He took and ate before their eyes. Then He told them, “This what I meant when I said,while I am still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms, has to be fulfilled.” He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and He said to them, “So you see how it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in His name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.”

The Gospel of the Lord.Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Pause for a brief reflection on the scripture readings.

COMMENTARY:

Peter says to the people “We are witnesses”.Peter tells them that they have been witnesses to the death and resurrection of Jesus. They handed Him over. They denied Him. They asked for the freedom of Barabbas and the crucifixion of Jesus. And they – some of them – had seen Him risen from the dead. They had seen a lot, heard a lot, and experienced a lot. However, we are sinners. Peter calls them, as he calls us, to repentance and conversion so that our “sins will be wiped away”. We are also witnesses to the forgiveness of Jesus, and the call to conversion that He proclaimed, continuing that earlier preaching of John the Baptist.

John, in his Letter, will not allow us to divorce our profession of faith from our daily living. It is never enough to profess Jesus as the Christ, without lives that reflect it. It is not enough to say “I know Him” if we do not keep His Commandments. We have been redeemed in Christ, and His life is now intimately united to ours, if we open ourselves to His grace, and to the sharing in His life. We are witnesses when we share that life with others.

In the gospel Jesus tells us that we “are witnesses”, witnesses of God’s forgiveness. We are to “preach … repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Of all the things that Jesus could tell us to bear witness to, that is the most wonderful. What a beautiful sign He gives us of that forgiveness in His resurrection from the dead. In His resurrection, He has done the impossible and the improbable, beyond our imagining. He has given us new life, and raised us up. The physicality of this gospel reiterates the truth of His resurrection from the dead – not only did they see Him and hear Him, but they touched Him, and He ate in their presence.In this Easter season, and throughout the liturgical year (and our lives), we are to make present that risen Lord, to dispel the fears and doubts of others, so that they can experience the peace of Christ. Jesus greeted the disciples with “Peace be with you!” That is His message for us, a message to be passed on, not only by our words, but by our confidence in God and by the way we live out the faith we profess. Being a witness of Jesus Christ is a full time job. If we take is seriously, it ‘consumes’ us, because the Lord lives and reigns in our hearts, minds and spirits.

(Allow about 5 – 10 minutes for the participants to react to the Commentary to identify a newly discovered insight or idea.)

Questions for Reflection and Discussion:

1.“We are witnesses”(Acts 313-15, 17-19)

In this Easter season we read in the Acts of the Apostles how the disciples of Christ bore witness to Him. They put themselves at risk in preaching the Good News, and continuing the ministry of Christ.

a)Is there a particular part of the Acts that has touched you, and motivated you to be a witness?

b)How did they react to the indifference, rejection or hostility that they experienced?

c)How have you “repented and turned to God” during this Easter season (in particular)?

2.“I know him”(1 John 2:1-5)

This reminds me of occasions in which Jesus used this phrase, “I do not know them” (Luke 13:27), and also in a parable (Luke 13:27).It also strikes at the moment when Peter denied knowing Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75).

a)Can you identify a moment when your words or actions may have led the Lord to say, “I don’t know you”?

b)Can you identify a moment when your words or actions have led the Lord to say, “I know you”?

3.“You are witnesses to this.”(Luke 24:35-48)

In our human condition we often have doubts, and seek ‘proof’ of what we believe. The disciples did the same!

a)Putting yourself in the place of the disciples, would you have been agitated, and with doubt?

b)Can you think of a time when you were agitated and doubtful?

c)How did the Lord’s peace influence your agitation and doubt?

CARING - PRAYING TIME

1. Word for the Week:“You are witnesses”

2.Suggestions for the Week:

This week, this Third Week of the Easter season, the Risen Lord is asking you to be His witness. It will not be on a stand in court, before a judge. It will not be on a street corner, or from a pulpit. You will bear witness – as you always do – without even recognizing it sometimes. This week, make a special effort to bear witness to others by what you say and do. The Lord is counting on you! Be more conscious in each conversation, in each encounter, that this is an opportunity to bear witness to Jesus Christ. It is a chance to encourage love, forgiveness, peace, patience and compassion. Not only your words bear witness, but your peaceful confidence and your acts of charity. After all, you do have something to share, because you have seen, heard and experienced the love, truth, and power of God.

3. Intercessions:

In this Easter season we experience the grace of the Lord’s resurrection in a unique and special way. The liturgy of the Church brings us the Word of God, with the witness of the early Church in the Acts of the Apostles, and the life and ministry of Jesus in the gospels, in particular in His resurrection appearances.

Let us pray:He is Risen!

That we may be faithful witnesses to the risen life of Jesus, and be sources of hope to all we meet, we pray …

That those in fear and doubt may turn to the Lord and experience His peace, we pray …

That our families and faith communities may be enriched by our words and actions, we pray …

That this Easter joy that is ours will encourage others to open themselves to the power and grace of the risen Lord, we pray …

And how can we help you in prayer this week?

Let us pray:

O Risen Lord,

the Way, the Truth, and the Life:

Make us faithful followers of the spirit of your resurrection.

Grant that we may be inwardly renewed,

dying to yourselves so that you may live in us.

May our lives serve as signs of the transforming power of your love.

Use us as your instruments for the renewal of society,

bringing your life and love to all,

and leading them to your Church.

This we ask of you, Lord Jesus,

living and reigning with God the Father, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

With hands and hearts united in gratitude for God’s favours on us today, we pray that all those in our influence be moved to be open to your Word and your Spirit, while we say as one, OUR FATHER …

Celebrating the Word, Resurrection Ministries of the Congregation of the Resurrection Ontario-Kentucky Province (including the former Resurrection Centre), 265 Westmount Road North, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G7. (Celebrating the Word was founded by Father Frank Ruetz, C.R., now deceased). For information or subscriptions: E-mail website: The Scripture version used in this commentary is the New Revised Standard Version (copyrighted by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA).

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