Sixth Sunday of Easter Cycle A

Welcome to read homilies for the Sundays of the year. These are sample homilies which you can read with devotion. You may use them in your own homilies without asking my permission. You may also change or edit these to fit them to your audience. A unique quality of these homilies is that they are Christ-filled. From beginning to end they present to us some aspect of Jesus so that beholding his glory we “are being transformed from glory to glory into his very image” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NAB).

The Fastest Processor

Our world today is dominated by the computer industry. Everywhere we see computers, whether at our desk, in our cell phones, in our digital watches and so on. From physically big computers we have gone into very small computers, some as small as a shirt button or even smaller than this.

One of the main characteristics of a computer is its speed. A computer can do mathematical computations faster than any human being can do. It can also process huge data in a matter of seconds or split-second. What is also noticeable is that the smaller the physical size of a computer the faster is its speed of operation.

We now even have systems where several persons can use a centralized computer at the same time. The Facebook is a gigantic computer based system whereby millions can operate at the same time, looking at pictures, writing messages, uploading and downloading pictures, interacting with the rest of the world.

But everyone also notices that when we use a computer there is a time of waiting, even if this time is only a split second, before an operation can be handled. The time of waiting is longer when putting on a computer. In Facebook there is a time of waiting when logging in and out.

There is however a system which is faster than all the computers around the world combined. This system is the one used in our Gospel reading today. And it does not need a time of waiting. The operation is more instant than the fastest computer in the world.

Our Gospel reading today ends with these words: "And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him."

How could Jesus love each individual of the millions who love him and reveal himself to each of these? The answer is that Jesus is able to do this because of his resurrected body. This brings us to a fifth quality of the resurrected body of Jesus.

Let us review the first four qualities of the resurrected body of Jesus which we have reflected upon in our Easter Sunday homilies.

The first is that Jesus' resurrected body is the first object in the new creation. The second is that his resurrected body can become visible and invisible at his will. The third is that Jesus' resurrected body is very fruitful, the source of an abundant life. The fourth quality is that Jesus' resurrected body makes it easier for others to do the works that need to be done.

A fifth quality of the resurrected body of Jesus is that it can now interact with as many persons simultaneously as though it interacts with only one person. As God, Jesus can interact with a multitude of persons simultaneously on a personal level, with each of these as though he or she were the only person in the world. But Jesus is also a man like us with all the limitations of a human being. We cannot, for example, listen to one hundred persons at the same time and react to each one individually as though only that person of the one hundred exists. But with Jesus' resurrected body as a human being he can do this now because his body is resurrected.

There have been, of course, human beings who were known to bilocate, that is, to be present in two places at the same time doing different things in both locations. One of the recent ones is Padre Pio.

Here is a story from the catholicwebservices.com about an instance of Fr. Pio’s bilocation. "Mother Speranza, who founded the order of the Handmaids of the Merciful Love, said she had seen Padre Pio every day for one year in Rome. He had bilocated there. We know that Padre Pio had never been to Rome, except once in 1917, in order to take his sister to a convent she had decided to enter." Very remarkable indeed.

I know of a priest who told us that he also bilocated without his knowing that he was seen in two places at the same time.

But Jesus can now be in two or twenty or two billion places at the same time because of his resurrected body. This is because his body has spiritual qualities. And a spirit can be present in many places at the same time. This is something that was not true before his resurrection.

This statement of Jesus in our Gospel reading gives us much comfort. "And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him."

When each one of us loves Jesus he says that each one of us will be loved by His

Father and he also will love each of us and reveal himself to us. He will do this in such a way that we feel we are the only person in the world.

I had a similar experience before. In 1975 I went to a doctor of the eyes to have my eyeglasses fitted. When she was measuring the grade of the eyeglasses that fitted my eyes I felt that I was her only patient. She waited for me patiently to show any reaction to the sample glasses that she fitted over my eyes. This struck me as something unique that I shared this experience with my brothers and sisters. The result was that they all went to this doctor to have their eyeglasses fitted and they also felt the same reaction: It is as though they were the only patient that doctor had.

This is the feeling we have when Jesus loves us. We feel that we are the only person in the world he cares about. In this case it is not only our eyes that he cares about but our whole personhood, our body and all its parts, our soul and all its faculties or abilities and our spirit and all its activities.

St. John of the Cross advised us to love God in such a way as though only God and we exist. This is the situation of lovers. They have all the time to themselves.

He said, "Live as though only God and yourself were in this world, so that your heart may not be detained by anything human."

Now in his resurrected body Jesus keeps on revealing the wonders of his love to each one of us as though we are the only person in the world. This he does instantaneously with each one of us, even if there are millions of us loving him. His reaction is faster than the fastest computer in the world. As Jesus reveals more and more of himself to each of us he becomes more and more beautiful to us. We exult and say, You are the fairest of ten thousand to my soul!

There is a hymn entitled "Beautiful Savior". The author of this is unknown. It is also called the Crusaders' Hymn because it was supposedly sung by German soldiers as they entered the Holy Land during the time of the Crusades. But some doubt this origin of the hymn. It was translated by Joseph A. Seiss. With this hymn we end our reflection for today.

Beautiful Savior,

King of Creation,

Son of God and Son of Man!

Truly I'd love Thee,

Truly I'd serve Thee,

Light of my soul, my Joy, my Crown.

Fair are the meadows,

Fair are the woodlands,

Robed in flowers of blooming spring;

Jesus is fairer,

Jesus is purer;

He makes our sorrowing spirit sing.

Fair is the sunshine,

Fair is the moonlight,

Bright the sparkling stars on high;

Jesus shines brighter,

Jesus shines purer,

Than all the angels in the sky.

Beautiful Savior,

Lord of the nations,

Son of God and Son of Man!

Glory and honor,

Praise, adoration,

Now and forevermore be Thine!

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Note for the readers:

The Mass readings are from the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE). This is where our Lectionary gets the readings.

NAB stands for New American Bible (before it was revised). This is the translation I use. Unless otherwise stated the text I use is from this translation.

AV stands for Authorized Version of the Bible. It is more commonly referred to as the King James Bible. It is the version most used in English literature, therefore it is the one known more by the English speaking world.

Fourth Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday) Cycle A

Welcome to read homilies for the Sundays of the year. These are sample homilies which you can read with devotion. You may use them in your own homilies without asking my permission. You may also change or edit these to fit them to your audience. A unique quality of these homilies is that they are Christ-filled. From beginning to end they present to us some aspect of Jesus so that beholding his glory we “are being transformed from glory to glory into his very image” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NAB).

Abundance Beyond Our Wildest Dreams

Some details are so minor that we almost do not notice them or we are not fully aware of what they are. Like the period or dot at the end of a sentence. In 1980 a Filipino singing group called ASIN or Salt of the Earth produced a song entitled Ang Tuldok, which in English, is The Period. It is a song about the period at the end of a sentence. Here are some lines translated into English from that song: The period has a story and meaning. . . . All things came from a period and if you observe are returning to it.

Yes, the period is important. Without the period we would not be able to get the proper meaning of a passage. It is an important and essential detail in writing.

In our Gospel reading today there is a detail that is most important for our Christian life. It is a detail that is greater than the punctuation mark period and it makes a greater impact on our life if we understand its meaning. This detail will make us understand better a third quality of the resurrected body of Jesus.

To make a very brief review of the first two qualities of the resurrected body which we saw in our past homilies during Easter Sundays, the first is that the resurrected body of Jesus is the first object in the new creation of God. The second is that the resurrected body of Jesus can become visible and invisible as Jesus wished it to be. And now we go to the third quality of Jesus' resurrected body.

The detail I am referring to is the last word in our Gospel reading, the word "abundantly". The full sentence reads, "A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."

In our English version the last two words are in the comparative degree of the adverb "abundantly". It is comparative because of the word "more". In the original Greek it is not in a comparative degree. It is not even an adverb. It is a simple adjective. That word in the original Greek is "perisson". Its meaning is "more than sufficient", "over and above", "abundant", "out of the common", "pre-eminent", "superior". The clause has this literal translation: "I came that they might have life and they might have  abundant." The context gives us the meaning of this sentence, Jesus came that we, his sheep, might have life and might have an abundance of it.

Now the question we can ask is, Why is this word “perisson” or “abundant” important for us? It is important because it tells us what kind of life Jesus was referring to. He said that he came that we might have life. Well, we as human beings have already our human life when he came. Certainly therefore Jesus did not mean that he came in order to give us human life because we have this kind of life already. The kind of life Jesus was referring to was a life of abundance, a life "more than sufficient", "over and above" our human life, "abundant", "out of the common" life, a "pre-eminent" life, "superior" to our human life.

And this is the life that Jesus had after his resurrection. His life was no longer a mere human life, it was a life superior to his life before his resurrection.

There is an axiom in philosophy which is common sense. In Latin it sounds, Nemo dat quid non habet. Literally translated it sounds, No one gives what he does not have. Or a better translation is, You cannot give what you do not have.

Jesus cannot give this superior kind of life to us if he does not have it. He obtained this superior kind of life by his resurrection. His body now was superior to his former non-resurrected body.

Why was the resurrected body of Jesus superior to his former non-resurrected body? It was superior because now it was no longer subject to pain and decay. It was a glorified body. It fully possessed the abundant life that Jesus promised for us.

And having obtained this superior kind of life he gives it to us. It is the life of a resurrected body. This is the life Jesus gives us. And he is giving it to us now, while we are still on this earth.

John tells us in his letter, "See what love the Father has bestowed on us in letting us be called children of God! Yet that is what we are. The reason the world does not recognize us is that it never recognized the Son. Dearly beloved, we are God's children now; what we shall later be has not yet come to light. We know that when it comes to light we shall be like him" (1 John 3:1-2). We are God’s children now, as divine as God is, but we do not appear as such.

Yes, we are God's children now, with the resurrected life of Jesus but it does not appear that we are so. When we shall appear as God's children we shall be like Jesus with his resurrected life.

This is the gift of the Holy Spirit referred to in our first reading. And Peter says that this gift is for all those far off whomever the Lord our God will call. This is the gift of the new life, a resurrected life, a life superior to our natural life now, a truly abundant, superior kind of life.

Our Responsorial Psalm is appropriately the Psalm about the Good Shepherd since today is Good Shepherd Sunday. Here is described what Jesus does for us in this new life we have with him.

The LORD is our shepherd; we shall not want, because we have Jesus’ own resurrected abundant life.

In verdant pastures he gives us repose;

beside restful waters he leads us;

he refreshes our souls with his ever abiding Spirit.

He guides us in right paths for his name's sake.

Even though we walk in the dark valley

we fear no evil; for Jesus is at our side.

With his rod and staff that give us courage.

He spreads the table before us in the sight of our foes, supplying us with abundant heavenly food;

He anoints our head with oil;

our cup overflows.

Only goodness and kindness follow us all the days of our life;

and we shall dwell in the house of the LORD for years to come.

What a beautiful assurance this Psalm gives us. It describes what Jesus in his resurrected, exalted life does for us.

Our second reading tells us the sad reality of our present life. We suffer now for doing what is good. But Peter tells us in his letter to be patient. Because Christ also suffered for us. leaving us an example that we should follow in his footsteps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds we have been healed. For we had gone astray like sheep, but we have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of our souls. And now that we have returned Jesus gives us the best, a foretaste of the resurrected life through his own resurrected life in us.

What a comforting thought! In the midst of our suffering, of our pains, of our discomfort, of our lack of many things, Jesus is there as our shepherd and guardian. And because he is already risen he is giving us his own risen life so that we are filled with joy.

This is the reality of our Christian life. As Psalm 23 tells us, Only goodness and kindness follow us all the days of our life; and we shall dwell in the house of the LORD for years to come.

Paul the Apostle has a statement which provides us a glimpse of the abundance in stored for us. He said, quoting some words from Isaiah the Prophet,

“Eye has not seen, ear has not heard,

nor has it so much as dawned on man

what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

What God has prepared for us is a body like the resurrected body of Jesus which has wondrous capabilities, abundant in all possibilities which we cannot even imagine now. We like to look at circuses which display the wonderful movements of the human body, we gaze with wonder at the beautiful bodies displayed in magazines, we are enthralled at the sight of bodies flying in space or diving into the ocean depths. All these bodies we see will sooner or later die and be decayed. But the resurrected body God gives us which has the same qualities as the resurrected body of Jesus will never die, never decay. It will go on forever with abundant capabilities beyond our wildest dreams.

Let us pray. We bow our heads.

Father God, by raising Jesus our Good Shepherd from the grave you gave him a new body resplendent with possibilities which only you know. And the same kind of body Jesus is giving us. Thank you for this wonderful gift of your Spirit. We glorify you now and forever. Amen.

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Note for the readers:

The Mass readings are from the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE). This is where our Lectionary gets the readings.

NAB stands for New American Bible (before it was revised). This is the translation I use. Unless otherwise stated the text I use is from this translation.

AV stands for Authorized Version of the Bible. It is more commonly referred to as the King James Bible. It is the version most used in English literature, therefore it is the one known more by the English speaking world.

Second Sunday of Easter Cycle A

Welcome to read homilies for the Sundays of the year. These are sample homilies which you can read with devotion. You may use them in your own homilies without asking my permission. You may also change or edit these to fit them to your audience. A unique quality of these homilies is that they are Christ-filled. From beginning to end they present to us some aspect of Jesus so that beholding his glory we “are being transformed from glory to glory into his very image” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NAB).

The Second Creation Has Already Begun

According to the scientists, even those who believe that it was God who created this world, creation began some 13 billion years ago. This began with the famous Big Bang wherein a very great mass of matter exploded and ultimately became the stars with their planets including our own universe.

So the world was not created in 6 days as we read in the first chapter of the Bible. According to the commentary in our translation, the New American Bible, the reason why "God's creative activity is divided into 6 days (is) to teach (us) the sacredness of the sabbath rest on the seventh day in the Israelite religion." The creation of our world was actually accomplished in billions of years, not in 6 days.

That was the first creation. The second creation is nearer to us in time. It began only more or less 1,984 years ago. While we did not see how the first creation was done, we have an idea of how the second creation began. We are seeing the first creation in our everyday lives. We do not see the second creation, but we can feel it happening in our heart.

We know that the second creation has already begun because of a detail in our Gospel reading which is mentioned twice by John the writer of this Gospel. That detail is in verse 19 and again in verse 26. The doors were locked but Jesus came inside the room. How was he able to come inside the room when the doors were locked? John used the plural "doors". In other words all entries or passages to that room were locked. But Jesus came inside anyway. How was he able to do this?

He was able to do this because he had a new body already, one that could, as it were, pass through heavy objects. This body is the first object in the second creation. The second creation had begun in the resurrected body of Jesus. Actually Jesus did not need to pass through any door to come to that room. He was there all the time. We know he was there because he knew the conversation of the apostles and that Thomas had said, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." Rather his body, a real body, became visible when he wanted to be seen by the apostles gathered there.

St. Ambrose, the bishop of Milan who baptized St. Augustine, has a beautiful description of the effect of Jesus' resurrection on our world. In his address on the Resurrection of Jesus he said, "The universe rose again in Him, the heaven rose again in Him, the earth rose again in Him, for there shall be a new heaven and a new earth." Notice the past tense used by St. Ambrose. The universe rose, the heaven rose, the earth rose. A new universe was formed within this old universe. And this began with the resurrection of Jesus, more or less one thousand nine hundred eighty four years ago.

The scientists propose 10 possible ways our world will end. Kier Harris has a very readable and interesting summary of the 10 theories on How the Universe Will End written online last April 11, 2014. He starts with the Big Crunch theory which is the opposite of the Big Bang and ends with the Eternal Universe theory which means that our universe will die and live again as it were in a never ending cycle. We do not bother ourselves with these ten theories on how the world will end. They are interesting but they are only theories, guesses backed by some kind of evidence.

Peter the Apostle of Jesus told us plainly how this world would end. He wrote, "The present heavens and earth are reserved by God's word for fire. . . . The day of the Lord will come like a thief, and on that day the heavens will vanish with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and all its deeds will be made manifest." (2 Peter 3:7, 10).

What is not known by many is that this process of ending this universe is already being done. Paul the Apostle comments in his first letter to the Corinthians that "the world as we know it is passing away" (7:31). Yes, this universe which we know is passing away and a new creation is ongoing.

A new kind of body has been introduced into this world, the resurrected body of Jesus. And that is the kind of body that we will have. The process of putting on this body has already begun, in Jesus completely and in us, partially. Paul in his second letter writes, "This means that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old order has passed away; now all is new!" (5:17)

Yes, the new creation is being formed now. The second creation has already begun. Jesus triumphantly declares, “See, I make all things new!” (Revelation 21:5). 

Actually Jesus is described as the first fruits of this second creation. We find this is the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians. He says, “Just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will come to life again, but each one in proper order: Christ the first fruits and then, at his coming, all those who belong to him. (15:22-23).

And we who belong to him, who are now being transformed into his image in the second creation, rejoice. This is the evident in our first reading. The first Christians “ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people.”

Our second reading is very explicit on this rejoicing. Peter tells even us several centuries after he wrote this letter, “Although you have not seen him you love him;

even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, as you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

That is the real reason why we rejoice during this Easter season. Jesus is risen! Yes, but this also means that we are being raised with him unto a completely new life. Our souls are saved, as Peter says.

Let us pray thanking God for raising Jesus from the dead and for raising us from our old life. We bow our heads.

Father God, you raised your son Jesus from the grave and started the second creation in him. By means of this you also begin to transform our life to be like his. Thank you for giving the resurrected body to your son Jesus. Thank you also for transforming our lives together with him. By the power of the Holy Spirit we respond to your creative action in our life. Amen.

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Note for the readers:

The Mass readings are from the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE). This is where our Lectionary gets the readings.

NAB stands for New American Bible (before it was revised). This is the translation I use. Unless otherwise stated the text I use is from this translation.

AV stands for Authorized Version of the Bible. It is more commonly referred to as the King James Bible. It is the version most used in English literature, therefore it is the one known more by the English speaking world.

Easter Sunday Cycle A

Welcome to read homilies for the Sundays of the year. These are sample homilies which you can read with devotion. You may use them in your own homilies without asking my permission. You may also change or edit these to fit them to your audience. A unique quality of these homilies is that they are Christ-filled. From beginning to end they present to us some aspect of Jesus so that beholding his glory we “are being transformed from glory to glory into his very image” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NAB).

Special Love

One of the obvious things we notice after the Lord was resurrected is that he was no longer seen by anybody as when he was not yet resurrected. Before Jesus was resurrected, that is, up to the time he died and was buried, anybody could see him. The disciples saw him, the soldiers saw him, the chief priests who condemned him to die saw him, the multitudes saw him. But after his resurrection Jesus was seen only by those to whom he wanted to be seen.

Our Gospel reading tells us that on the first day of the week early in the morning three persons went to the grave of Jesus: Mary of Magdala, Peter and John. They no longer saw Jesus in his tomb. In the later part of the Gospel which is not part of our reading we read that these very soon saw Jesus.

Of these three persons one is described as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Almost all scholars agree that this disciple was John the writer of this Gospel. This is not the only instance when John describes himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. There are four other instances where John describes himself as the disciple whom Jesus loves. So there are five instances in all. The first is John chapter 13 where he describes himself as reclining close to Jesus (23). The second is in chapter 19 where John describes himself with the mother of Jesus at the foot of the cross. Then we have the passage in our Gospel reading. The fourth instance is in chapter 21 where John cried to Peter "It is the Lord" when he saw Jesus on the shore (7). And the fifth and final one is still in this chapter where he described himself as following Jesus and Peter (20).

Five times John identified himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved.

Does this mean that Jesus did not love the other disciples? He certainly did. John's description of himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved only tells us that John felt that he was the object of Jesus' special love, the kind of love which he described Jesus had towards the sisters Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus.

John wrote, "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus very much" (11:5).

Why did Jesus love them in a special way?

Before we answer this question we cite another incident where this time it was not John who noticed that Jesus loved someone in a special way. This was written by Mark. Presumably because Mark was Peter's disciple it was Peter who told Mark that Jesus loved this person in a special way.

This was the incident when someone came to Jesus to ask him what he must do to share in everlasting life. Jesus told him to observe the commandments. To which the man replied that he had kept all these commandments since his childhood. Then Mark wrote, "Then Jesus looked at him with love and told him" to sell what he had and to follow him. Jesus loved this man in a special way and Peter observed this and handed down this information to Mark who wrote the Gospel.

Now we go back to our question: Why did Jesus love certain persons with a special kind of love?

The cynic may answer, "We do not know, ask Jesus why he does so."

Our experience gives us the answer to this question. Do we not feel a special love for certain persons? If this happens to us, this could happen to Jesus who was a full human being like ourselves.

Even today Jesus still has a special love for certain persons.

How do we know that he has a special love for certain persons? I suggest three signs that tell us Jesus has a special love for a particular person. And these sings apply even today.

The first is found in Psalm 127:2. This verse says, “It is vain for you to rise early, or put off your rest, you that eat hard-earned bread, for he gives to his beloved in sleep.” The commentary on this in our New American Bible says, “Our Lord taught the same truth, that God’s blessings come to those who do not worry but trust in his loving providence.” Those loved by Jesus in a special way are enveloped by his loving providence. Their needs are provided for in providential ways, as though God is visibly there giving them what they need on time. Some of you can identify with this situation. You have experienced instances when God, although invisible, was there to give you what you needed at a particular time, such as food for the table, the money for the tuition fee of your child, or the amount for the hospital bill, etc.

The second sign is found in two psalms, Psalm 60:7 and 108:7. These two verses say the same thing word for word in our translation, “That your loved ones may escape; help us by your right hand, and answer us!” Those who are specially loved by Jesus escape calamities or sudden accidents. Again some of you can identify with this situation. You are prevented from riding a plane or a bus which later on you found out met an accident. Tradition tells us that of the twelve Apostles only John the specially loved by Jesus escaped a martyr’s death. Even when he was thrown into a cauldron of oil he escaped unhurt.

The third sign that a person is loved by Jesus in a special way I find in the first book of Samuel, chapter 16. The prophet Samuel and Jesse were looking for the person whom God chose as the next king of Israel. None of the sons of Jesse who were present qualified. Jesse called for his youngest son who was tending the sheep. When he appeared, the Holy Spirit remarked, “He was ruddy, a youth handsome to behold and making a splendid appearance” (12). This was God’s favorite, David, a man after God’s heart, we are told in another part of Scripture (Acts 13:22). The third sign is that there is a comeliness, an attractive quality in the person beloved in a special way by Jesus. Again many of you can identify with this sign. You have seen people who have a certain attractive quality in them. They may not be physically beautiful, but there is a comeliness in them very difficult to describe. They may be disabled or differently abled physically, even with no hands but their face shows a comeliness not of this world. They are specially loved by Jesus.

We here are all specially loved by Jesus. The proof that we are specially loved is not only by these three signs. We are loved specially because of all the persons in the world it is us with whom he shares his resurrected life. Jesus is risen, Alleluiah! He has resurrected, Alleluiah! And it is this resurrected life that he shares with us. We too are special in his eyes. In baptism he poured his resurrected life on us, in addition to our natural life given to us by him also through our parents.

Our second reading tells us this plainly. Paul tells us, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.”

We have been raised with Christ because his resurrected life is in us. Christ is seated at the right hand of God. We are there in Christ. We have already died, and in a sense we are already resurrected. Our bodies are not visible as resurrected, but our spirits are living the life of resurrected Jesus. That is why Paul says, our resurrected life is hidden. It is not yet seen by all. But as the first reading tells us this is visible “not to all the people, but to us,the witnesses chosen by God in advance”. We possess these three signs I have spoken of a while ago. We are providentially cared for by God himself, we are preserved from all dangers, and we exhibit a comeliness in our manners. We are indeed specially loved by Jesus. He shares his very own resurrected life with us. This is the real cause of our rejoicing today.

Let us pray with bowed heads. Lord Jesus, thank you for resurrecting. Thank you for sharing your resurrected life with us. Thank you for making us your special friends, as you made John the Apostle your special friend. Help us to make this known to others to whom you have given the grace of baptism so that they too can enjoy the life you give. Amen.

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Note for the readers:

The Mass readings are from the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE). This is where our Lectionary gets the readings.

NAB stands for New American Bible (before it was revised). This is the translation I use. Unless otherwise stated the text I use is from this translation.

AV stands for Authorized Version of the Bible. It is more commonly referred to as the King James Bible. It is the version most used in English literature, therefore it is the one known more by the English speaking world.

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle C

Welcome to read homilies for the Sundays of the year. These are sample homilies which you can read with devotion. You may use them in your own homilies without asking my permission. You may also change or edit these to fit them to your audience. A unique quality of these homilies is that they are Christ-filled. From beginning to end they present to us some aspect of Jesus so that beholding his glory we “are being transformed from glory to glory into his very image” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NAB).

No Need to Ask

Every Christian knows that Jesus performed miracles. What most Christians are not aware of is that there were times when Jesus performed them on his own initiative. During these times nobody asked him a favor but he gave it anyway. The story in our Gospel reading today tells us of this instance when Jesus performed a miracle without being asked for it.

Of course, many of Jesus' miracles were requested by people, directly or indirectly. His first miracle was indirectly asked by his mother. She told Jesus that the diners in the banquet had no more wine. This was an indirect request by Mary in effect saying, "Please, provide wine." In Mark chapter 8 it is related that some people brought a blind man and they begged Jesus to touch him (22-26). This was a direct request by the people.

But there were cases when Jesus worked a miracle without being requested to do so. One such case is related in John chapter 5. As Jesus was walking by the Sheep Pool he noticed a man who had been sick for a long time, thirty eight years. He took the initiative of asking this man a question and healed him there and then.

In our Gospel reading today there was this case again of Jesus taking the initiative of working a miracle and this is no ordinary miracle. It was a very special miracle, raising a dead man to life. Ostensibly Jesus was going to the city of Nain, about 8 kilometers from Nazareth, Jesus' hometown. There was a large crowd accompanying him and his disciples. As he approached the gate of that city a dead man was being carried out for burial. Luke the writer says that Jesus was moved with pity for the dead man's mother and that he told her, Do not weep. Then he touched the bier where the dead man was laid and Jesus addressed the dead man, Young man, I tell you, arise. The dead man sat up and spoke something, indications that he had life again. Then Jesus finished this miracle by giving the risen man to his mother.

Raising the dead to life was not performed by Jesus only. Elijah did it with a widow's son (1 Kings 17). Elisha, Elijah's successor, did it with the Shunammite's son (2 Kings 4). Peter and Paul also performed such miracle, Peter in the case of Tabitha (Acts 9) and Paul in the case of Eutychus (Acts 20). It is interesting to note that in all these instances they were not requested to raise the dead. Even the other two instances of raising of the dead by Jesus were not requested of him, the raising of Jairus' daughter (Mark 5) and the more sensational raising of Lazarus back to life.

For most of us we think that death is the end of life. Scriptures tell us it is not the end. Life can  be restored even after it is taken away. In all the instances of raising the dead, compassion had a principal part to play, especially in the case of Jesus.

These resurrections of a physical  body are signs of a more important resurrection, the resurrection of the soul from death, from a life separated from God. Paul reminded the Christians, "But God is rich in mercy; because of his great love for us he brought us to life with Christ when we were dead in sin. By this favor you were saved. Both with and in Christ Jesus he raised us up and gave us a place in the heavens." (Ephesians 2:4-6)

Now some of us may say, Would that Jesus would raise some of our dear departed ones today. We do not realize that Jesus continues to raise the dead today. He is the same compassionate Jesus. During his physical lifetime he raised the dead but these persons with their lives given back to them merely continued the life that they had started, lived and left. It is as if they just paused their life by dying, then resumed life as usual after they were brought to life again. But now Jesus raises us from death in sin to a completely new life, a life with God himself. Paul says, with Christ and in Christ God raises us up and gives us a place in the heavens so that now we live a heavenly life. Because of this heavenly life in us now Paul tells us, "Since you have been raised up in company with Christ, set your heart on what pertains to higher realms where Christ is seated at God's right hand" (Colossians 3:1).

We were dead in sin. We could not take the initiative. But Jesus had compassion on us. He raised us up from death on his own initiative, just like what he did to the son of that widow in Nain. Our baptism reflects this process of Jesus raising us up from sin. We were raised to a completely new life, a heavenly life, life with God in the heavens. So great is God's mercy and compassion for us.

Let us say one of the shortest and most effective prayers in all of history as we bow down our heads.

O God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Amen.

Second Sunday of Easter Cycle C

Welcome to read homilies for the Sundays of the year. These are sample homilies which you can read with devotion. You may use them in your own homilies without asking my permission. You may also change or edit these to fit them to your audience. A unique quality of these homilies is that they are Christ-filled. From beginning to end they present to us some aspect of Jesus so that beholding his glory we “are being transformed from glory to glory into his very image” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NAB).

Matter Matters Now

There is a detail in our Gospel reading today that is not much discussed by commentators or those who study the Bible. But it is a very important detail both for knowing more of Jesus and for knowing more of ourselves. It is mentioned twice. John the Evangelist mentions this detail at the beginning of his story of Jesus' appearance to his disciples. He repeats this detail at the second appearance with Thomas present.

This detail is that the doors of the room where the disciples hid for fear of the Jews were locked. John writes "doors", plural. Either the room had more than one door or that there was more than one door leading to that room. There was certainly a door in the first floor which would lead to the room where the disciples were.

We notice certain implications of this detail. This meant that Jesus did not open any door of the room to get inside that room. The disciples just saw that Jesus was already inside the room.

But John emphasized that Jesus had a material or physical human  body. He was not just an appearance like a ghost. Jesus showed his hands and his side to the disciples. In the second appearance Jesus told Thomas to put his finger in his wounds. In the Gospel of Luke the materiality of Jesus' body is even made clearer. Jesus invited his disciples to touch him to prove that he was not a ghost, but that he had a real body. Then Jesus took a cooked fish and ate it in their presence. In another passage of John's Gospel Jesus is described as taking bread and fish and giving these to the disciples after they caught 153 pieces of fish.

These incidents clearly described Jesus as having a material, physical body after his resurrection, the same body that he had before the resurrection but it had now an added characteristic or property because it could enter or appear in a room without passing through doors. Even if the doors were closed and locked this body could still enter that room.

A good question to ask is:  What has happened to Jesus' body? Why is it able now to enter a locked room?

The answer from the Gospels is that Jesus' body is now able to appear and disappear at Jesus' wish. In the Gospel reading for today we are not told what Jesus did immediately after he appeared and talked with his disciples in that room. But there is a story in Luke's Gospel which can tell us what Jesus did after he appeared to those disciples in that room.

In Luke's Gospel we read the story of Jesus appearing to two disciples on the way to Emmaus. During the meal after their journey Jesus blessed the bread and gave it to them. They recognized Jesus, then he vanished.

Most probably that is also what happened in our Gospel reading. After conversing with his disciples Jesus just vanished.

It is very clear then that Jesus' body after his resurrection is real, is material, is physical. It is not a ghost. But it can appear and disappear at the wish of Jesus. This fact tells us more about Jesus' body. It is no longer limited by time and space. It does not need time to get to a certain place. It can appear any time at any place by the wish of Jesus.

This body of Jesus is still matter but it has no longer the limitations of matter. It will no longer suffer pain because pain is a limitation of matter. In Jesus' body is fulfilled the description we read in the book of Revelation: " . . . there shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the former world has passed away" (21:4).

Jesus has truly become the first-born of the dead as we read in Colossians (1:18). In his letter to the Romans Paul tells us that Jesus is our first-born brother. He is our first-born brother and we are born after him.

In other words, what Jesus is now that we will be. We will also have a material body which can appear and disappear at our wish. Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrance, OP, is bold enough to tell us in his writings that the seed of this glorious body is already in us by faith. Our bodies contain already the seed of that new body which we will have after our resurrection, a body no longer subject to pain, suffering or decay, but one that is full of light and glory.

That is why we can truly rejoice during this Easter season and always, because the resurrected life of Jesus is already in us, the seed of a glorious body, able to appear and disappear whenever and wherever we want. This seed is in our mortal, suffering bodies now, to be planted during our burial to blossom fully in eternity. 

Matter now matters, matter now is important because the matter in our body contains the seed of another matter, that glorious matter originally prepared by God for us but which Adam lost by his sin. Three verses before the passage we cited that Jesus is the first-born of the dead, Paul says that Jesus is the first-born of all creation. This means that the resurrected Jesus is the first matter of the new creation. The ordinary matter that we see around us now will be renewed to another form of matter, one that will have no more limitation. That wonderful world of new matter is being created through our own bodies by the resurrected life of Jesus in us. In Revelation Jesus exclaims, "See, I make all things new" (21:5). This is truly a reason for us to rejoice during this season of Easter.

As we bow our heads we pray.

Lord Jesus, thank you for this seed of another kind of body in our bodies which you won through your resurrection. Thank you for making us new, with a matter that will have no more limitations. Amen.