| Readings for April 22, 2012
The Scripture readings for this 3rd Sunday of Easter remind us that even as we are bathed in the joy of the Resurrection, the dark days of Jesus' arrest, trial and Crucifixion are in the very recent past for all disciples of the Christ. From an atmosphere of death and darkness, we travel in fits and starts with Jesus' disciples - on the road to Emmaus, to the Upper Room, to the Resurrection - and soon, to the Lord's return to the Father.
In our first reading from Acts, Peter initially chastises the crowd: "You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be release to you. The author of life you put to death...' But our spirits brighten as he reminds us and the crowd in Jerusalem: "...but God raised him from the dead; of this, we are witnesses. Now I know...that you acted out of ignorance...but God has brought to fulfillment what he had announced beforehand" through the prophets, that we repent of sin and be converted to Christ.
The Responsorial Psalm continues this theme of our journey with Christ from the Cross to the Resurrection: "... answer me, O my just God....have pity on me, and hear my prayer." Days before the Resurrection, similar words crossed the lips of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, at Golgotha from the cross. With the psalmist, with our Lord, with his followers - we travel from anguish to the peace of the risen Christ. By the closing stanzas, we and the psalmist are able to "fall peacefully asleep," for the Lord brings us comfort and security.
In the First Letter of John, we again travel from darkness into the light. Here, the author encourages us to avoid sin. "But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one. He is expiation for our sins..." - for our sins and those of the entire world. If we keep his word, the author assures us, "the love of God is truly perfected" in us. With Christ as our Advocate, we move from the darkness of sin into the light of God's true love.
Reflecting on these readings, surely our hearts are as open to the Resurrected Lord as were those of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. The Gospel of Luke picks up their story as they recount their wondrous experience to the Eleven and those gathered with them in Jerusalem. Mid-story, Jesus appears in the midst of this gathering, and "they were startled and terrified." Jesus reassures them and us that he is no ghost. "Why are you troubled?...Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have." From fear, the mood shifts to incredulity, joy and amazement, Luke tells us. To reinforce the point that he is the very human, very alive Son of God, Jesus asks them for food and eats a piece of baked fish in front of them. Definitely not the action of a ghost.
Now this very real, very alive Jesus speaks to them, opening "their minds to understand the Scriptures," much as he opened the minds of those two travelers to Emmaus. It was written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead and "that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things." We are witnesses and we are travelers on this same journey, from darkness to light, from sin to the radiance of God's presence in our lives. Not only are we witnesses to the light, we are to be the light to the world.
On this 3rd Sunday of Easter, our reading from Luke ends there.
But Luke's gospel continues for a few short, action-packed verses, with Jesus promising his followers that the Father will clothe them with power from on high. He takes them beyond Bethany, blesses them and is raised into the heavens before their eyes. These disciples returned to Jerusalem full of joy and praising God, not fearful and grief-stricken. They have seen the Light; they have seen the Lord, and they are confident in the knowledge that this Jesus whom they loved is the Christ, the Messiah to them and to the world.
Judy Horak has been a member of Ascension Parish since 2004 and the Parish Schola since 2005. She is the communications director for the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth in Des Plaines, IL, and holds a master's in pastoral studies from Catholic Theological Union.
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