The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the events in our lives through which we have seen the Love of God.
Love in Nature
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles describes the first converts who realized the Love of Jesus.
* [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).1
Psalm 33 praises the greatness and goodness of God.
* [Psalm 33] A hymn in which the just are invited (Ps 33:1–3) to praise God, who by a mere word (Ps 33:4–5) created the three-tiered universe of the heavens, the cosmic waters, and the earth (Ps 33:6–9). Human words, in contrast, effect nothing (Ps 33:10–11). The greatness of human beings consists in God’s choosing them as a special people and their faithful response (Ps 33:12–22).2
In the Gospel of John, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene.
* [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. In such a view, the ascension after forty days described in Acts 1:1–11 would be simply a termination of earthly appearances or, perhaps better, an introduction to the conferral of the Spirit upon the early church, modeled on Elisha’s being able to have a (double) share in the spirit of Elijah if he saw him being taken up (same verb as ascending) into heaven (2 Kgs 2:9–12). To my Father and your Father, to my God and your God: this echoes Ru 1:16: “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” The Father of Jesus will now become the Father of the disciples because, once ascended, Jesus can give them the Spirit that comes from the Father and they can be reborn as God’s children (Jn 3:5). That is why he calls them my brothers.3
Andy Alexander, S.J. comments it is worth pausing at this time after Easter to recall how we are sometimes prevented from seeing Jesus because of our sadness and grief. He's always right here with us, but we can't recognize him because we aren't really looking for him, with expectation and an anticipation of the joy we will experience in the encounter. Instead, we are caught up, distracted, absorbed in worries, concerns, genuine problems, even crises. We are sometimes in pain or caught up in anger. We might even find ourselves blaming our Lord for our problems or for the unfreedoms of others.
The message for us is that when Jesus lets us encounter him - with the good news of his risen victory over all sin and all death - he also sends us to be witnesses of that good news to others. He wants others to see us and to say, "She/he really believes. She/he seems free and joyful. Her/his actions, care, choices are those of a person who has encountered the risen Lord." This is a week for us to hear that call, that invitation, in a fresh and new way.4
Peter Edmonds SJ, tutor in Biblical Studies at Campion Hall, University of Oxford, invites us to spend some time exploring the background and character of the Acts of the Apostles as we attempt to grasp the significance of Easter and deepen the peace, hope and joy which the season offers.
Luke was no academic theologian. He was a pastor, anxious to encourage and equip his readers with the ideals personified in the words and deeds of Jesus. He had done this in his gospel by portraying Jesus himself as their primary model. He was the exemplar of one who prayed (Luke 3:21), was ‘filled with the power of the Spirit’ (Luke 4.14) and ‘preached the good news to the poor’ (Luke 4:18). These first readers would have lived in the great cities of the Roman Empire, such as those to whom Paul addressed his letters. Luke’s method is different in that he teaches through narrative and drama.5
Don Schwager quotes “The Easter Alleluia,” by Saint Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Because there are these two periods of time - the one that now is, beset with the trials and troubles of this life, and the other yet to come, a life of everlasting serenity and joy - we are given two liturgical seasons, one before Easter and the other after. The season before Easter signifies the troubles in which we live here and now, while the time after Easter which we are celebrating at present signifies the happiness that will be ours in the future. What we commemorate before Easter is what we experience in this life; what we celebrate after Easter points to something we do not yet possess. This is why we keep the first season with fasting and prayer; but now the fast is over and we devote the present season to praise. Such is the meaning of the Alleluia we sing." (excerpt from commentary on Psalm 148, 1-2)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on John 20:11-18 notes that Jesus spoke her name, and she recognized him.
"Because there are these two periods of time - the one that now is, beset with the trials and troubles of this life, and the other yet to come, a life of everlasting serenity and joy - we are given two liturgical seasons, one before Easter and the other after. The season before Easter signifies the troubles in which we live here and now, while the time after Easter which we are celebrating at present signifies the happiness that will be ours in the future. What we commemorate before Easter is what we experience in this life; what we celebrate after Easter points to something we do not yet possess. This is why we keep the first season with fasting and prayer; but now the fast is over and we devote the present season to praise. Such is the meaning of the Alleluia we sing." (excerpt from commentary on Psalm 148, 1-2)6
Friar Jude Winkler explains in the continued kerygma in Acts, that Jesus is called Lord as a way among Jews to avoid using the name of Yahweh. The convert numbers cited by Luke are probably exaggerations. Friar Jude reminds us that Jesus was not initially recognized in three appearances after His death.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Mirabai Starr, a mystic and author, to help answer what does Julian of Norwich, a fourteenth-century Catholic anchoress, who spent the majority of her adult life cloistered in a small stone cell attached to a church, have to teach us here and now?
Most of all, Julian of Norwich promises that, in spite of appearances to the contrary, all is well. Not just that creation was beautifully made to begin with, and that it will all work out in the end, but that everything is all right at every moment, if we could only look through the eyes of love. Such a perspective is difficult to sustain, Julian would be the first to admit. In rare moments of unitive consciousness—watching the sun rise, maybe, or giving birth, or singing to God in community—we may have fleeting glimpses of the cosmic design and see that it is good. But then the veil drops again and we forget. [1]8
On our journey, we receive the grace of hearing and recognizing the Lord in the Love that is revealed to us.
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