From disbelief to mission

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today trace the path of the Apostles from disbelief to mission after Jesus Resurrection.

On the Way

In the passage from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter and John testify to the religious authorities that they will choose to continue to obey God and preach about Jesus.

The Longer Ending of the Gospel of Mark adds the details of the role of Mary Magdalene and the disciples on the road to Emmaus in the movement of the Apostles to taking on the mission.

* [16:9–20] This passage, termed the Longer Ending to the Marcan gospel by comparison with a much briefer conclusion found in some less important manuscripts, has traditionally been accepted as a canonical part of the gospel and was defined as such by the Council of Trent.

Eileen Wirth wonders what she would have done had she lived in the time of Jesus and experienced the events that we read about today.

“Now there are more stories from the Eleven, you know, the men who were his chief disciples. I’m glad I wasn’t THAT close to him. Peter and John are refusing to obey orders from the authorities to stop preaching because they’re saying that Jesus told them to preach the Gospel everywhere to everyone. Mark my words. They’re going to get themselves killed for preaching about someone who might have been a phony or a psychopath.”

Don Schwager quotes Augustine of Hippo, 430-543 A.D., on the Great Commission.

"The command to the apostles to be witnesses to him in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even to the uttermost parts of the earth was not addressed exclusively to those to whom it was immediately spoken. They alone would not be the only ones who would carry such an enormous task to completion. Similarly he seems to be speaking to the apostles very personally when he says: "Behold I am with you even to the end of the world," yet who does not know that he made this promise to the universal church which will last from now even to the consummation of the world by successive births and deaths?" (excerpt from Letter 199, To Hesychius 49)

Friar Jude Winkler tells of the interrogation of John and Peter by the religious authorities and their decision to follow the direction of God rather than the authorities. The Longer Ending of the Gospel of Mark is canonical. It contains passages that are based on the Resurrection accounts in the other Gospels.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, believes in some kind of bodily resurrection because it localizes the Christ mystery in this material and earthly world and in our own bodies.

Today I’d like to share with you the practice of drumming, which I have used a lot in men’s work over the years. Every human culture has developed some form of drumming, the repetition of a steady beat, to encourage and inspire what writer Barbara Ehrenreich calls “Collective Joy.” [2] While drumming often supports dancing and musical performance, it also has a long history as contemplative practice.

He recommends drumming as a method to experience the contemplation through which we unite our inner tensions to witness to others in our Christian action.

References


(n.d.). Acts, Chapter 4 Retrieved April 7, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/acts/4:13 

 
(n.d.). The Longer Ending. Retrieved April 7, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/mark16.htm

(n.d.). Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved April 7, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html 

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 7, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 7, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/

Cornerstone in our challenge to be fishers

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate with our sense of frustration at the apparent difficulty in our times to see Jesus Christ as the cornerstone for full life.

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In the Acts of the Apostles, the witness of Peter in preaching and action invokes the response of arrest by the authorities.

* [4:11] Early Christianity applied this citation from Ps 118:22 to Jesus; cf. Mk 12:10; 1 Pt 2:7.

The Resurrected Jesus calls the disciples from their retreat to fishing in Galilee to become fishers of people in the Gospel from John.

* [21:12] None…dared to ask him: is Jesus’ appearance strange to them? Cf. Lk 24:16; Mk 16:12; Jn 20:14. The disciples do, however, recognize Jesus before the breaking of the bread (opposed to Lk 24:35).

Tamora Whitney reflects that Jesus is the stone that they rejected, but he is the true cornerstone on which everything else depends.

What’s true is that he is the way. Arresting the disciples for talking about it doesn’t stop it from being true. Killing Jesus didn’t stop him from being the way. He rose. He is the cornerstone. He is the salvation.

Don Schwager shares the thoughts of Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D. about Jesus in His  Resurrected Body who is spiritual but still real flesh.

"The bodies of the righteous at the resurrection will need neither any fruit to preserve them from dying of disease or the wasting decay of old age nor any bodily nourishment to prevent hunger and thirst. For they will be endowed with such a sure and inviolable gift of immortality that they will not eat because they have to, but only if they want to. Not the power but the necessity of eating and drinking shall be taken away from them... just like our Savior after his resurrection took meat and drink with his disciples, with spiritual but still real flesh, not for the sake of nourishment, but in an exercise of his power." (excerpt from City of God 13.22)

Friar Jude Winkler ponders if the return to fishing by the Apostles was a rejection of their need to evangelize. Jesus nature miracle of a harvest of 153 species is a symbol of their call to be fishers of all people. Friar Jude notes the introduction of fish in this Eucharistic meeting.

Pope Francis has recently reminded us that when we leave Mass, we leave with more life, with more strength and desire to bear Christian witness.

Pope Francis said the Eucharist is key to living an authentic Christian witness.

“While the Mass ends, the commitment for Christian witness opens. We leave the church to go in peace to bring the blessing of God to our daily activities, to our homes, to our work, to the affairs of the earthly city, glorifying the Lord with our lives,” the pope said April 4.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, revisits distorted ideas about Flesh. It is not bad, it is just inadequate to the final and full task, while posing as the real thing.

Sarx or ego is the self that tries to define itself autonomously, apart from spirit, apart from the Big Self in God. It’s the tiny self that you think you are, who takes yourself far too seriously, and who is always needy and wanting something else. It’s the self that is characterized by scarcity and fragility—and well it should be, because it’s finally an illusion and passing away. It changes month by month. This small self doesn’t really exist in God’s eyes as anything substantial or real. It’s nothing but a construct of your own mind. It is exactly what will die when you die.

Much of the reflection today connects to this idea from Fr. Richard. “Don’t hate your training wheels once you take them off your bicycle. You should thank them for getting you started on your cycling journey!”

Reflections


(n.d.). Acts, chapter 4 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved April 6, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts4:56

(n.d.). John 21:18. Retrieved April 6, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/john21.htm

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 6, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(n.d.). Aleteia English - Pope Francis: When we leave Mass, leave.... Retrieved April 6, 2018, from https://www.facebook.com/AleteiaEn/videos/1003533546477962/ 

(2018, April 4). Pope Francis: We should leave every Mass better than we entered. Retrieved April 6, 2018, from https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-we-should-leave-every-mass-better-than-when-we-went-in-74335

(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 6, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/

Communicating the Plan for Life

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite our contemplation on how the message of Christ has been communicated and how we can prepare to be more attuned to receiving it.

Reaching People

The passage from the Acts of the Apostles ties Jesus to the expectation of a Prophet to arise and lead the Jews away from their troubles.

* [3:22] A loose citation of Dt 18:15, which teaches that the Israelites are to learn the will of Yahweh from no one but their prophets. At the time of Jesus, some Jews expected a unique prophet to come in fulfillment of this text. Early Christianity applied this tradition and text to Jesus and used them especially in defense of the divergence of Christian teaching from traditional Judaism.

Luke’s Gospel builds the evidence of Jesus resurrection in a bodily presence.

* [24:39–42] The apologetic purpose of this story is evident in the concern with the physical details and the report that Jesus ate food.

An outline of apologetic purpose of Luke comes from the Bible.org website.

In Acts the motif of Jesus’ resurrection as vindication, his fulfillment of Old Testament messianic prophecies, and the charismatic phenomena on and after the Day of Pentecost are used as cumulative evidences of the messianic lordship of Jesus (Acts 2:36) and of the authority of the apostolic truth claims. Along the way Luke uses the speeches of the apostles to present apologetic arguments to a wide variety of audiences, both Jewish and Gentile.

Nancy Shirley ponders why those who witnessed miracles performed by the apostles and heard the implications of what just happened to Jesus could not accept it.

Many have witnessed these incredible things and see the various acts of the apostles resulting in healing.  Yet, they can’t seem to get it. It always makes think that if they see all this and can’t believe what hope is there in getting people 2000 years later to understand.  What does it take to convince them – they were able to personally hear the teachings of Christ. To be in the presence of this amazing “man” – they witnessed Him healing and performing miracles and still allowed His crucifixion.  The first reading emphasizes that aspect

Don Schwager quotes Jerome (347-420 AD), an early church bible scholar, in a letter to Pammachius against John of Jerusalem as he describes Jesus bodily presence after the Resurrection.

"As he showed them real hands and a real side, he really ate with his disciples; really walked with Cleophas; conversed with men with a real tongue; really reclined at supper; with real hands took bread, blessed and broke it, and was offering it to them... Do not put the power of the Lord on the level with the tricks of magicians, so that he may appear to have been what he was not, and may be thought to have eaten without teeth, walked without feet, broken bread without hands, spoken without a tongue, and showed a side which had no ribs." (From a letter to Pammachius against John of Jerusalem 34)

Friar Jude Winkler describes Peter’s kerygma at Solomon's Portico as having a very Jewish emphasis with Jesus tied to the patriarchs. Luke resonates with Stoic philosophy in the strong emphasis on  God with a plan and our duty to the plan of God to accept our status as forgiven and share this understanding with others. Friar Jude urges our attention to evangelization in our parishes.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, quotes Irish poet and priest, John O’Donohue (1956-2008) urging full awareness and appreciation for our body, rather than pushing feelings away or pretending they don’t exist.

Your mind can deceive you and put all kinds of barriers between you and your nature; but your body does not lie. Your body tells you, if you attend to it, how your life is and if you are living from your soul or from the labyrinths of your negativity. . . . The human body is the most complex, refined, and harmonious totality.
Your body is, in essence, a crowd of different members who work in harmony to make your belonging in the world possible. . . . The soul is not simply within the body, hidden somewhere within its recesses. The truth is rather the converse. Your body is in the soul. And the soul suffuses you completely. [1]

Jesus Presence in a resurrected body calls our attention to the need to address the body as we journey as disciples of Christ.

References


(n.d.). Acts, chapter 3 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved April 5, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/3

(n.d.). Luke, chapter 24 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved April 5, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/luke/24:35

(2006, February 20). 3. A Brief History of Apologetics | Bible.org. Retrieved April 5, 2018, from https://bible.org/seriespage/3-brief-history-apologetics

(n.d.). Creighton Online Ministries - Creighton University. Retrieved April 5, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 5, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 5, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/

The Body Matters in Compassion

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today offer an opportunity to consider how bodily presence is so important to give full meaning to our mission as disciples of Jesus.

Present to others

The passage from the Acts of the Apostles shows Peter continuing to exercise the mission of Jesus to show compassion and address the bodily needs of people as a revelation of the Love of God.

* [3:6–10] The miracle has a dramatic cast; it symbolizes the saving power of Christ and leads the beggar to enter the temple, where he hears Peter’s proclamation of salvation through Jesus.

In the Resurrection narrative from the Gospel of Luke, the dejected and despondent disciples on the road to Emmaus are able to be reconnected to Jesus as He breaks bread with them.

* [24:16] A consistent feature of the resurrection stories is that the risen Jesus was different and initially unrecognizable (Lk 24:37; Mk 16:12; Jn 20:14; 21:4).

Beth Samson comments that when the disciples gathered around the table, they were astonished to find that this “stranger” was Jesus. She exhorts us to consider our experience of compassion from and for strangers.

In the midst of desolation, do we welcome those who accompany us? Do we allow them to walk with us in this difficult time? Do we allow Jesus to be our companion in and through sorrow? In return, do we feel called to accompany those around us who are experiencing despair and confusion? How can we listen to their stories and walk with them in their pain?

Don Schwager shares a meditation on why was it difficult for the disciples to recognize the risen Lord.

Jesus' death scattered his disciples and shattered their hopes and dreams. They had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. They saw the cross as defeat and could not comprehend the empty tomb until the Lord Jesus appeared to them and gave them understanding.

Friar Jude Winkler positions the actions of Peter in the time when Jesus disciples continued to be connected to the Temple. Luke offers a pattern for developing a relationship with Jesus in the three resurrection accounts in his Gospel. We hear about Jesus, encounter Him in Word and Sacrament, and then, develop a relationship with Him in person.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, quotes historian Morris Berman as he shares the insight that deep knowing and presence do not happen with our thinking minds.

In his book Coming to Our Senses, historian Morris Berman makes the point that our first experience of life is not merely a visual or audio one of knowing ourselves through other people’s facial and verbal responses; it is primarily felt in the body. He calls this feeling kinesthetic knowing. We know ourselves in the security of those who hold us, skin to skin. This early knowing is not so much heard, seen, or thought. It’s felt. [2]

Fr Rohr summarizes our reflection with the truth that we need spirituality to help heal the brokenness of our identity and our world. True spirituality is always bringing us back to the original bodily knowing that is unitive experience.
References


(n.d.). Acts, chapter 3 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved April 4, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/3

(n.d.). Luke 24. Retrieved April 4, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/luke24.htm

(n.d.). Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved April 4, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 4, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 4, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/

Proclaim grace, healing, and justice

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today offer a opportunity to reflect on the impact of the Easter message on our daily experience of encountering Jesus and testifying to His Presence.

Proclaim with action

The testimony of Peter, described in the Acts of the Apostles, results in repentance and Baptism for many in Jerusalem.

* [2:38] Repent and be baptized: repentance is a positive concept, a change of mind and heart toward God reflected in the actual goodness of one’s life. It is in accord with the apostolic teaching derived from Jesus (Acts 2:42) and ultimately recorded in the four gospels. Luke presents baptism in Acts as the expected response to the apostolic preaching about Jesus and associates it with the conferring of the Spirit (Acts 1:5; 10:44–48; 11:16).

In the Gospel from John, Mary Magdalene becomes the proto-Apostle after her encounter with Jesus after the Resurrection.

* [20:11–18] This appearance to Mary is found only in John, but cf. Mt 28:8–10 and Mk 16:9–11.

Barbara Dilly finds there are three main themes in the lessons today that sum up Lent, Easter, and the days that follow in a coherent faith response. They are “repent, rejoice, and report.”

And now for the third response to God’s love that is expected of us.  Like Mary, we are to report what Jesus has told us. There is no need to weep!  We have not been abandoned! God is with us! Easter is indeed about sharing that good news with all the world.  We don’t have to go around reciting Bible verses to do that. It should be evident in the way we live our lives, that we are authentically real about our human shortcomings, but ever confident in our efforts to live loving good lives.

Don Schwager reminds us that the Risen Lord Jesus reveals himself to us as we listen to his Word.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the foundation of our hope - the hope that we, too, who believe in him will see the living God face to face and share in his everlasting glory and joy. "Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy.  As the outcome of your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:8-9). Do you recognize the Lord's presence with you, in his word, in the "breaking of the bread," and in his church, the body of Christ?

Friar Jude Winkler explores the continuation of the kerygma proclaimed by Peter and the connection to the Hebrew “shema” in the choice of words in the passage. The description of Mary Magdalene searching for Jesus body resonates with the search for the Lover in the Song of Songs, Friar Jude notes.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, quotes Saint Irenaeus of Lyon and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin as he reflects on how Christianity has been negatively and uselessly trapped in guilt about being “flesh,” while the great messages of the Gospel—grace, healing, and restorative justice—have largely gone unheeded.

We must begin by trusting what God has done in Jesus. We cannot return to a healthy view of our own bodies until we accept that God has forever made human flesh the privileged place of the divine encounter. We have had enough of dualism, enough of the separation of body and spirit, enough over-emphasis on the body’s excesses and addictions. We must reclaim the incarnation as the beginning point of the Christian experience of God. We are not followers of Plato, but must return to the Hebrew respect for this world and for all the wisdom and goodness of the body. The embodied self is the only self we have ever known. Our bodies are God’s dwelling place and even God’s temple (see 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

The messages we proclaim to others about our relationship with Jesus will be transmitted by our body language even before we speak a word.

References


(n.d.). Acts, chapter 2 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved April 3, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/2

(n.d.). John, chapter 20 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved April 3, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/20:1

(n.d.). Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved April 3, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 3, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 3, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/

Power in praise

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to review our reluctance to live large in the Spirit of brothers and sisters of Jesus.

Living Large

The proclamation of the basic truths of Jesus life, “the kerygma,” is described in the passage from the Acts of the Apostles.

* [2:14–36] The first of six discourses in Acts (along with Acts 3:12–26; 4:8–12; 5:29–32; 10:34–43; 13:16–41) dealing with the resurrection of Jesus and its messianic import. Five of these are attributed to Peter, the final one to Paul. Modern scholars term these discourses in Acts the “kerygma,” the Greek word for proclamation (cf. 1 Cor 15:11).

The Gospel from Matthew tells of the witness of the women to Jesus resurrection and the plot of the authorities to counter their declaration.

* [28:11–15] This account indicates that the dispute between Christians and Jews about the empty tomb was not whether the tomb was empty but why.

Amy Hoover notes we may be asked to choose love and joy over fear everyday in our relationships with others.

How were the Marys able to choose joy so easily?  I think the answer to this question is that they were in relationship with Jesus.  They had open hearts to him and what he taught. They knew him intimately. They spent time with him.  They had faith in his message and the God he revealed to them. We are invited into this same relationship.  We are invited to choose joy over fear. We are invited to choose the perspective of love over despair. We are invited to see with the eyes of Christ.

Don Schwager quotes Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D, on the Easter Alleluia whereby we experience the power of praise of God.

"Our thoughts in this present life should turn on the praise of God, because it is in praising God that we shall rejoice for ever in the life to come; and no one can be ready for the next life unless he trains himself for it now. So we praise God during our earthly life, and at the same time we make our petitions to him. Our praise is expressed with joy, our petitions with yearning. We have been promised something we do not yet possess, and because the promise was made by one who keeps his word, we trust him and are glad; but insofar as possession is delayed, we can only long and yearn for it. It is good for us to persevere in longing until we receive what was promised, and yearning is over; then praise alone will remain." (excerpt from commentary on Psalm 148, 1-2)

Friar Jude Winkler notes the Pentecost courage of Peter as he adds details to the references in the speech from Acts. The culture of Jesus time did not usually accept the witness of woman. Matthew tells of the choice of women as witness to Jesus Resurrection.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, considers incarnation and our deepest fears using the words of Marianne Williamson. Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, considers incarnation and our deepest fears using the words of Marianne Williamson.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. . . . You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. [3]

We are reminded by Thomas Merton to make ready for Christ.

Make ready for the Christ, Whose smile, like lightning,Sets free the song of everlasting gloryThat now sleeps, in your paper flesh, like dynamite. —Thomas Merton (Thomas Merton, “The Victory,” The Collected Poems of Thomas Merton (New Directions: 1977), 115.)

References


(n.d.). Acts, chapter 2 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved April 2, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/2

(n.d.). 28:20. Retrieved April 2, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/matthew28.htm

(n.d.). Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved April 2, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 2, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 2, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/

Easter bread and Easter fools

The texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary for Easter Sunday, the Resurrection of the Lord communicate the mystical, counter-intuitive message of death and resurrection through powerful symbols.

Life Symbols

In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter speaks the Kerygma or initial and essential first teaching of Christian belief to Cornellius, a Roman army officer.

* [10:36–43] These words are more directed to Luke’s Christian readers than to the household of Cornelius, as indicated by the opening words, “You know.” They trace the continuity between the preaching and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth and the proclamation of Jesus by the early community. The emphasis on this divinely ordained continuity (Acts 10:41) is meant to assure Luke’s readers of the fidelity of Christian tradition to the words and deeds of Jesus.

In the First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul exhorts us to cast out the yeast of corruption.

* [5:7–8] In the Jewish calendar, Passover was followed immediately by the festival of Unleavened Bread. In preparation for this feast all traces of old bread were removed from the house, and during the festival only unleavened bread was eaten. The sequence of these two feasts provides Paul with an image of Christian existence: Christ’s death (the true Passover celebration) is followed by the life of the Christian community, marked by newness, purity, and integrity (a perpetual feast of unleavened bread). Paul may have been writing around Passover time (cf. 1 Cor 16:5); this is a little Easter homily, the earliest in Christian literature.

John J Parsons, writing on the website Hebrew for Christians connects Yeshua and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. He offers three examples of the symbol of leaven for Christians; the evil within us, the leaven of affliction connecting us to Jesus and the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, and the leaven of the spread of the Kingdom of God in the earth, (Luke 13.20-21).

Julie Kalkowski comments on our role as leaven to spread the Kingdom of God. She hopes that maybe this generation will get it right.

Easter Bread

They will throw out the old “yeast of malice and wickedness,”  and replace it with the new yeast “of sincerity and truth.”

As Easter people we are called to be the yeast that can help others rise.   Not an easy or clear-cut task … but our world badly needs the hope that Easter brings. So, bring in the new yeast and maybe by remembering we are all God’s children, we will be able to help our broken brothers and sisters who have given up hope.  Now that would be another Easter miracle!

The traditional Easter Bread of Lebanon, Qurban, has roots in the Greek-Catholic church in Lebanon.

According to Chef Ramzi, this holy bread recipe is from the Greek-Catholic church in Lebanon. It represents the body of Christ and is distributed at church, sold in  stores and bakeries; traditionally it was made at home on certain occasions and given to the priest to bless, keep some and give out the rest.

The Pane di Pasqua is a symbolic Italian Easter bread.

It is no surprise that bread has incredible significance around many cultures’ Easter tables. Just as bread for centuries has been the prime source of bodily sustenance for daily life, Christ, whose resurrection Christians celebrate on Easter, is considered “the bread of life,” (John 6:35), in whom believers will find their daily, spiritual sustenance. This Italian Easter bread is braided with eggs, which also hold incredible Easter significance as signs from nature of new life, just as we are celebrating new life in the risen Christ.

On April 1, this article on Becoming a Fool for Christ by Daniel P. Horan, OFM, points to the the Life of Francis of Assisi and the challenge that Paul addresses with the Jews and the Greeks over Jesus Life, Death and Resurrection. (1 Corinthians 1:23)

This sense of Christian foolishness was a truth that St. Paul recognized early in his ministry to first-century Gentiles, who could not easily reconcile the God of Jesus Christ with the Hellenistic worldview they otherwise held (1 Corinthians 1:23).

The Gospel of John represents the ascension to the Father to be glorified as taking place with the resurrection as one action.

* [20:17] Stop holding on to me: see Mt 28:9, where the women take hold of his feet. I have not yet ascended: for John and many of the New Testament writers, the ascension in the theological sense of going to the Father to be glorified took place with the resurrection as one action. This scene in John dramatizes such an understanding, for by Easter night Jesus is glorified and can give the Spirit. Therefore his ascension takes place immediately after he has talked to Mary.

Friar Jude Winkler fleshes out the speech of Peter taking note of the kerygma or first preaching with very Jewish elements and Jesus eating meals in a glorified body. The interplay of love and authority in the relationships of the beloved disciple and Peter in the Gospel indicate essential revelation in Love.

Easter Sunrise

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, notes that many do believe in the bodily resurrection, as he does, but, in a way, that asks little except a mere intellectual assertion of a religious doctrine. Fr. Richard asserts that we can go much further than that. He chooses to believe in some kind of bodily resurrection because it localizes the Christ mystery in this material and earthly world and in our own bodies, the only world we know and the world that God created and loves.

That Jesus’ physical wounds do not disappear is telling. The mystical, counterintuitive message of death and resurrection is powerfully communicated through symbol. The major point is that Jesus has not left the human sphere; he is revealing the goal, the fullness, and the purpose of humanity itself, which is “that we are able to share in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), even in this wounded and wounding world. Yes, resurrection is saying something about Jesus, but it is also saying a lot about us, which is even harder to believe. It is saying that we also are larger than life, Being Itself, and therefore made for something good, united, and beautiful. Our code word for that is heaven.

Love, leaven, bread for the Body, and fools for Christ are some of the powerful symbols that communicate the message of death and resurrection at Easter.