Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year B

The Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year B

Acts 9:26-31

I John :18-24;

John 15:1-8

A four engine was halfway to its destination when the pilot's voice comes across the loudspeaker (which are never all that loud), "Those of you on the left side of the plane have probably noticed that one of our engines has failed. Please, don’t be alarmed. We can still fly on three engines, but we will probably arrive about 30 minutes late." A few minutes later the pilot's calm voice was heard again: "Those of you on the right side of the plane are probably aware that a second engine has failed. Please don’t be alarmed. We can make it on two engines, though we will probably be at least an hour late now."  A few minutes later the pilot spoke to the passengers: "It has just come to my attention that a third engine has failed. Please don’t be alarmed. We can make it to the airport on one engine. However, we will arrive approximately 1 ½ hours late."  One passenger turned to another and said, "Boy, I hope that fourth engine doesn't fail, or we could be up here all night!"

When traveling on a plane, we are completely dependent on the mechanics who service the plane’s engines and on the expertise of the pilot. I have to rely totally on a machine that is way too heavy to be flying through the air and will come down if there is a mechanical or electronic failure. When we go out to eat we trust that the chef is providing good fresh food.  When we switch on an electrical appliance, we depend on the manufacturer’s skill to make something that won’t blow up in our faces.  When you think about it, we are dependent on so many people. We trust them to do their job so that we can live safe and happy lives.

Mike, a helicopter pilot was home on leave from the navy and over dinner was telling his father all about the choppers he flew often in very dangerous conditions far out at sea. He concluded by saying that his life and that of the crew depended on one bolt – the bolt that held the huge whirling rotor in place. The mechanics had named this the ‘jesus’ bolt. You can see why. Without the ‘jesus’ bolt they would be doomed. Their safe return home depended entirely on this one bolt.

That is a modern parable of what Jesus is telling us in the reading from John’s Gospel today when he says, "I am the vine, and you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me" (John 15:5). You don’t have to know too much about gardening and plants to realize that a tree, shrub or any plant as far as that goes, depends on the trunk and the root system for it to be happy and healthy. To use the imagery of the ‘jesus’ bolt, you might say the trunk of the vine is the ‘jesus’ trunk because without it the vine is dead.

A man once planted cucumbers in his backyard. He had made sure that the ground was well prepared. He bought the best cucumber seedlings and set to work with the skill of a man who had planted cucumbers for many seasons. To his delight, soon he had cucumber vines all across his back yard. The plants were green and healthy. One day, he noticed that some of the leaves didn’t look as green as the others.

Not many days later, some of the leaves were as good as dead. He followed the vines with the dead leaves until he got back to the main plant. There, at the base of the main stem, he noticed that some kind had almost eaten through the stem. The cucumber plant was dependent on the main stem for water and nourishment. Life giving juices flow from the main stem to the branches and enables high-quality delicious fruit to appear. It's not possible to produce fruit without being connected to it stem. Even though the man had cultivated the ground carefully and watered daily, the cucumber vines were unable to receive that goodness and so withered and died.

The opening sentence of the second reading today states the theme that  unites today's readings: 'Little children, let us love in deed and truth and not merely talk about it' (1 Jn 3:18). The first reading from Acts shows how difficult it is to practise love in human communities, the Gospel shows how clear-cut the choice for love must be. These are no nonsense readings which do not minimize the difficulties or the demands involved in living in love.

In the first reading from Acts, Saul is in tension with believers and non-believers. First Saul tries to join the company of the disciples in Jerusalem. He has experienced conversion, but the apostles are suspicious of this former persecutor of the church. Barnabas intercedes on his behalf, and Saul is recognised by the believers in Jerusalem. Next, Saul reaches out to the Greek-speaking Jews in Jerusalem. They utterly reject his message and even try to kill him. Saul escapes to Tarsus and there takes up his work with the Gentile church. Things turn out well for him in the end, but this episode makes it clear that conversion does not insure an end to all difficulties. The decision to live and love in truth and deed has its price. The note that the church 'was being built up and was making steady progress in the fear of the Lord; at the same time it enjoyed the increased consolation of the Holy Spirit' makes this same point. The decision to work at faith and not merely talk about it requires effort and practice. Love is not static, it grows.

Today's second reading is a consoling message that makes simple the requirements of faith: we must believe in the name of God's Son, Jesus Christ, and we must love one another as God commanded. In a sense, this reading bridges the passages from Acts and John. Acts shows the cost of loving one another. The Gospel shows what it means to believe in the name of God's Son, Jesus Christ. The first letter of John explains how we can remain in Christ, 'from the Spirit that he gave us'. As God is greater than our hearts, so too might we hope that God is greater than our fears that we will have neither the courage to practice love nor the sense to know what it means to remain in Christ. The letter of John assures us that the Spirit is a gift already given.

The Gospel is at first glance a beautiful image of unity with Christ:  'I am the vine, and you are the branches'. The point of the passage is Jesus' open invitation, 'Abide in me as I abide in you'. Whereas the closed suspicion and rejection of the Jerusalem community were troublesome to Saul after his conversion, the openness of Jesus presents its own problems to those who stand on the edge of wholehearted conversion. Jesus says quite simply, make a choice to bear abundant fruit or make a choice to do nothing. We either live as part of the true vine or we do not. The message of this passage puts before us the sombre choice that we are either fruitful branches, by which John means we live in love, or we are branches cut off from the living vine. Little is concealed by the choice required by the Gospel. The truth is that our deeds are love or they are not.

The readings of the fifth Sunday of Easter also call for conversion. We are called to be doers of the word. Gifts given are to be shared, and we are cautioned about the cost of rejection by other believers and non-believers and about the necessity of letting God prune away those growths that sap our energies to grow in love and to bear abundant fruit in the Risen Christ. Such is God's invitation, 'Live in me and let me live in you'.

In a similar way, as Christians, we need our true vine, Jesus Christ. When Jesus says, "I am the vine, and you are the branches" he is talking about the very special relationship that exists between him and us. We are dependent on him for everything we need in our daily life - from food, health, family and good friends to love, forgiveness, hope, comfort and eternal life.

Apart from him we would be like the cucumber vine with its wilting leaves. Without being joined to the main stem and roots we would die. As Jesus said, "If you stay joined to me, and I stay joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit. But you can’t do anything without me" (John 15:5 CEV).

We were joined to Jesus at our baptism. You might say that when the water of baptism was poured over us we were grafted into the vine, Jesus. We were intimately connected to him, his death and resurrection, and received from him all that we need to sustain our lives. We are connected to him when we come here to worship, and when we hear his Word. It doesn’t matter how much we think we know about the Bible or how many times we have read it, we need the life-giving nourishment that God’s Word offers. As we read and study it, God’s Word offers us strength in the face of new situations.

We are joined to Jesus when we receive his body and blood in Holy Communion. We are refreshed and freed from the guilt of our sin. Our faith is strengthened as we are nourished through God’s Word and Sacrament. The Holy Spirit works through these and enables our life in Christ to grow, to be made stronger, and to keep us close to God when the chips are down.  If we don’t eat and drink every day we become sick and maybe even die. Likewise as branches of the true vine, Jesus, we are kept healthy and alive because we are connected to the source of life. The translators of the New Testament have used various words to describe this connection. Whether we talk of ‘abiding’, ‘remaining’, or ‘being joined’, one thing is clear being connected to Christ is crucial. It is the only way to a complete life. When we plant a cucumber patch we expect to have a crop of cucumbers. From the grape vine we expect a crop of juicy grapes. And so it is with us. Jesus is the vine, we are branches and from the branches Jesus says he expects to find a lot of fruit. To be joined to Christ, to be a branch that is grafted into the vine Jesus means to "bear fruit". The kind of fruit that should be evident in our lives is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self-control (Galatians 5:22,23). The fruit we bear shows itself in very practical ways.

If you are joined to Christ you cannot look the other way when someone is in need.  If you are joined to Christ you don’t cross the street to avoid the person with whom you have had a disagreement. As a branch attached to Christ we don’t hold back our forgiveness, we try to be understanding and helpful, we want to be encouraging instead of being negative and critical.

Being connected to Jesus means that you will seek reconciliation instead of adding fuel to disharmony. It means showing love and patience to those whom you think don’t deserve it. In other words, being joined to Jesus has practical implications for the way we live our every day lives. This nice picture of the vine, branches and fruit is not some theoretical thing. It isn’t a matter of having a nice warm feeling about being closely connected to Jesus. It isn’t something we nod our heads in agreement here in this church and then forget about it until next time. Bearing fruit isn’t an optional extra.

To have a good crop of grapes it is necessary for the vines to be pruned. Pruning is essential for a good harvest. It isn’t too long before the vine looks lovely and leafy with bunches of grapes hanging from the new growth.  Jesus is saying that all the useless foliage in our lives need to be cut away. We may think this foliage makes us look attractive especially to the world, but it may not in anyway help us to bear fruit that will bring glory to God.

In business greed, selfishness and disregard for the feelings of people or for their needs might be the way to get ahead, but must be pruned away to allow the fruit of generosity, kindness and humility to grow. It might be acceptable to others to indulge in sex outside of marriage, run down people behind their backs, or participate in some harmful act that endangers our health and lead others astray but these must be pruned away if we are to show the fruit of care, understanding, and self-control. You might think that it’s okay to be unkind, grumpy and intolerant of your spouse or children, but these must be pruned away if you are to grow the fruit of love, peace, and patience.

To bear the kind of fruit that Jesus is looking for means to prune away all this foliage so that the Holy Spirit can cause real fruit to grow – the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience and self control. Jesus, we receive the nourishment we need to live as his disciples. We receive the forgiveness we need for our failures; we grow in our understanding of what it means to be a baptised person in everyday living.

We are still in the Easter season. Because the vine lives, so do the branches. The life of Christ flows to us though the Word and Sacraments. As Jesus said,"I am the vine you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit…," - the fruit of faith and good deeds. May the life-giving sap of Christ’s love make us all fruit bearing branches.

Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year B

 4th Sunday of Easter B

Acts 4:8-12;

1 John 3:1-2;

John 10:11-18

This Sunday is known as the Good Shepherd Sunday, one of the most popular images of pastoral care where the shepherd leads his large flock and protects them from harm.  Today, all Catholics are united as one throughout the world to pray for religious vocations and call upon the grace of Our Lord Jesus to shine on His Church by blessing it with an abundance of religious vocations.

In today’s passage Jesus emphasizes the self-sacrificing element in his own life: “The good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep.” He contrasts the good shepherd who owns the sheep to someone who is simply hired to look after them.  During the time of Jesus, there were many herds consisting of thousands of sheep, their sheer number requiring highly skilled men to look after them and know how to cure their ailments.  The flocks spent most of the year in the open and only in winter were they under some shelter.  They were attacked often by wild animals and even robbers could come to steal the sheep which made the shepherds to possess some weapons with them. Normally the shepherds were praised for their courage like David the king.  The work of the shepherd was never easy. He had to be living with them, protect them, care for them, take them to good pasture land and look after them.  Often the rich landowners did not like the shepherds as they trespassed through their property often.  Since they lived away, the Jewish community often identified them with outcasts like the publicans and sinners.  However, this imagery of the Good Shepherd is often used in the Bible, both in the Old and in the New Testaments.

In his life Jesus cared for the lost sheep and promised to lay down his life for the sheep. He calls himself a Good Shepherd who knows the sheep, cares for them and loves them. He also speaks of the mutual knowledge between the sheep and the shepherd and the extent to which the shepherd would go in search of the sheep. Jesus’ image of pastoral care, a search that continues until a find can be made, involves the depth of love for the person, which makes him sacrifice a great deal to discover the other.  The good shepherd challenges in his own way of searching for the lost or gone astray:  for Jesus says “I have come to seek out and save the lost.”  Jesus also says that there are the other sheep that do not belong to his flock and he has to bring them to the fold.

Jesus as a shepherd shows a deep sense of commitment and responsibility towards his own.  He is a leader who is concerned about the other and hence there is attractiveness in him. Secondly there is knowledge of the shepherd. Every good shepherd knows that his sheep knows him and he knows his own sheep. There is mutual understanding and love between them. This mutual bond of love and intimacy is often compared to the mutual relationship between Jesus and his Father.  The shepherd knows his sheep and the sheep acknowledges its shepherd. Jesus does not call us in some general, abstract, impersonal way: "Hey, you!"  Rather, he knows who we are, what we need, and the person we are coming to be.  The sacredness of who we are is safe with Jesus because it is a reflection of his own sacredness.  At times we may want to be someone other than ourselves, we may live vast tracts of our life according to this mistake, but Jesus only wants us to be the person we are made to be, the one he redeemed us to be, and so he calls us each by name.

What a great gift it is that he knows us by name and calls out to each of us as though we were the only sheep in all the world.  Already he knows us, and invites us to know him, to love him and follow him.  But a further step is necessary.  It is necessary that we listen.  Even the voice of Jesus goes unheard unless something within us makes the choice to listen.

So the art of listening is not easy.  Yet it is the foundation of discipleship.  Like all true listening, listening to the Shepherd comes at a cost.  But while listening to other people may sometimes drain us, listening to the Shepherd always leads to our enrichment.  The Shepherd has nothing to gain, while we have everything to gain, yet still this listening is not easy.

Why is it so hard to listen to the Shepherd's voice?  Because true listening leaves us open to be touched and changed by the truth we hear.  That's risky business!  So often the truth, if we hear it, overturns our prejudices, challenges our self-image, shakes up our view of the world.  Most of us are at least a little uneasy about having our boat rocked. Listening is also hard because much of our society is arranged to keep us from hearing deep truths.  Many people are paid to make noise so that we do not hear the true music. We may even become so accustomed to noise that we forget there is a true music.

Something else that makes listening hard is that what we hear is usually a blend: the voice of the Shepherd mixed with lesser voices.  St. Paul puts it this way: the treasure comes to us in clay pots. [2 Corinthians 4:7.]  We need to distinguish the one from the other, and not confuse the pot with the treasure. Yes, listening is hard.  It takes practice.  But the saving grace is that the Shepherd never ceases to call us.  There is no shortage of messages that come from him, and each one we are to hear is addressed to us by name.  There is no situation where he does not speak.

What we do in Christian worship is to listen to the Shepherd's voice.  We hear that voice, or at least have opportunity to hear it, through scripture and sermon and sacrament, in moments of silence and through the sound of music, through the words of familiar prayers and fresh prayers. We hear that voice, or at least can hear it, when we worship together, but something more is involved: we are here to be trained. Trained to recognize the Shepherd's voice when he speaks during the other hours of the week, and in situations where we may be surprised to find him. 

Thirdly, the good shepherd deeply desires that many other sheep should come to identify themselves with him.  This in fact is the call of the kingdom of God that there may be one flock and one shepherd.”   In this sense an invitation for the universe to be united together with its God and Lord. Finally the good shepherd wishes to lay down his life for the sheep.  We have a God who is ready to die for others and Jesus emphasizes that, in giving his life for his sheep, he is doing so of his own will. His death is to be the living proof that “the greatest love a person can show is to give one’s life for one’s friends”. This is the proof that Jesus is truly a Good Shepherd.

In the Reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter and John answered their calling to serve the Lord Jesus. Having been arrested for preaching the resurrection of the Lord, they stood before the rulers, the elders and the scribes to account for their actions. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter answered that his actions of good works were performed in the Name of Jesus Christ Who had been crucified and raised from the dead by God.  Testifying in the Most Holy Name of Jesus, Peter added that Jesus, the Stone that was rejected by the authorities, the builders, had become the Cornerstone.  He tells the people that as the leaders of the people, they had rejected Jesus, the promised Messiah, He who was the Cornerstone of God’s people, the Church.

The Second Reading reminds us of the love of God the Father for us. So great is the love of God that it results in our being called His children.  The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Jesus. As God’s children know, we do not know what we will be like after the resurrection of the bodies because it has not been revealed to us. What we do know is that we will be like Jesus glorified. During our eternal life, we will not have a physical form because Jesus no longer has a physical body. There are two things that the Holy Bible tells us. First of all, after the resurrection of the dead, at the twinkle of an eye, our bodies will be transformed into imperishable and immortal bodies. Secondly, those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

The readings of today are intimately linked with the second theme of this Sunday. Not only is it Good Shepherd Sunday, it is also “Vocations Sunday”. On this day we are especially asked first of all to pray that the Church may be provided with the leaders needed to do its work of spreading the Gospel.  We know that at the present time there is a critical shortage of such leaders, at least in the traditional sense of priests and religious. But, while we may earnestly pray that our Church be supplied with the leaders it needs, we must be clear of the term vocation.  We have for too long given a much too narrow meaning to the word ‘vocation’. We tend to limit it to a calling to be a priest or a member of a religious institute. But, in fact, every single one of us has a vocation, as we are being called by God to be spouses, parents, teachers, doctors, and civil servants, running a business, salespersons… or whatever. That is the calling which demands fidelity to God and to the tasks personally chosen. God is calling every single one of us to work for the Gospel. For a small number it may be as priests or religious but God is calling each one of us to make our own unique contribution based on the particular talents He has given us.

Today's gospel, gives us a picture of ministry. It talks of shepherds, from the Latin word "pastor," which is what we call an ordained minister who is responsible for ministering to a Christian community or parish. To understand the work and life entailed by the priestly vocation we need to go back to Jesus' teaching on the good shepherd.

The life of the shepherd in biblical times was one of personal self-giving and sacrifice. His work was that of watchful care and closeness to the flock. There were two kinds of shepherds. There was the hired hand for whom keeping the sheep was just the available job. He moved from flock to flock depending on the conditions of service and he would not risk his life for them. Seeing wolves or thieves coming, he would flee for dear life and leave the flock at the mercy of the invaders. Jesus said that he is not that kind of shepherd.

Then there is the shepherd-owner of the flock who grows up with the flock and stays with the same flock all his life. He knows each and every sheep in the flock individually. He calls each one by name and could tell you the personal story of each one of the sheep, when and where it was born, the problems it has had in life, its personal characteristics, etc. He attends to the individual needs of each and every one of them. He knows which ones are likely to lag behind after a long walk and he would carry them in his arms. He knows which ones were likely to stray from the flock and he would keep an eye on them when they came to dangerous places. He knows which ones are pregnant and need special food. When attacked by wolves or thieves he would risk his life and fight to defend his flock. He is the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep.

Jesus is the good shepherd. He laid down his life for the flock, that is, the church. In a general way he invites everyone in the church to share in the work of caring for the flock in our own little ways. But he also calls some people from among us to a life-long commitment to the work of shepherding the flock of God. These people are called to share more closely than the rest of the believers in the life and work of Jesus the Good Shepherd. If today you should hear God's voice calling you to this way of life, harden not your hearts. And if you do not hear God calling you to this way of life, then do everything in your power to encourage those who are called to it and who struggle even with faltering steps to follow the footsteps of Jesus the good shepherd.

Third Sunday of Easter, Year B

Third Sunday of Easter  Year B

Acts 3:13-15, 17-19

1 John 2:1-5

Luke 24:35-48

If the point of last Sunday's gospel was on experiencing the risen Lord, the point of today's gospel seems to be on sharing our faith with others. Christ wants his followers to be his witnesses. Witnessing, like a coin, has two sides. One side has to do with seeing an event, having knowledge of something through personal experience and not on hearsay. The other side has to do with being able to give an account of it before others.

That we are called to be witnesses of Christ means that we are called first to have a personal experience of Christ and then to share this experience with others. Many Christians, unfortunately, only go halfway as they focus on knowing Christ more and more without a corresponding interest in sharing the knowledge. Yet, faith is like a flame: the more a piece of wood passes the flame to others the more brightly it burns, but if it refuses to pass on the flame, it stands in danger of losing even its own flame.

The grandfather of the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber was lame. One day they asked him to tell a story about his teacher, and he related how his master used to hop and dance while he prayed. The old man rose as he spoke and was so swept away by his story that he himself began to hop and dance to show how his master did it. From that moment he was cured of his lameness. When we tell the story of Christ, we achieve two things. We enable others to experience him and we ourselves experience his power even more. We can see that happening in today's gospel.

There are two points in today's readings that might draw our attention. First, in the Gospel of Luke, we hear the experience of two followers of Jesus, totally disillusioned by his death and burial, really sad and downcast—and yet Jesus Himself came to them. They were on their way to Emmaus, a small village outside of Jerusalem and that name is now known to us because of their experience. The earlier part of this Gospel tells us that they were debating and discussing. Most likely they were debating and discussing about Jesus, wondering if they had been totally deceived by Him.

Part of our Christian experience at times is about disillusionment and being sad, really wondering if God is present in our lives, wondering if Jesus is our Lord and wondering if God cares about us at all. Sometimes we walk through those times and only very slowly does our faith deepen. At other times we seem to be given other gifts of faith that allow us to believe without such effort. Some people even seem to be given extraordinary gifts of faith by which without any effort of their own they are able to remain in the divine presence and rejoice.

In these matters of faith, we can come to trust in God who knows best what truly will help us grow humanly and in divine grace. We can profit by comparing our walk of faith with that of others only if we have complete trust that God chooses us just as we are right now and is there striving to bring about what is absolutely the best for us right in the here and now. Even when we fall and sin, God is right there trying to help us walk in faith once more.

It is as though Jesus Christ is standing right beside us each moment and saying: see my hands and me feet! Touch me! I am truly with you. It is like an echo of that great Easter Homily of Saint John Chrysostom: it does not matter when you come to the Lord, what matters is that you begin to follow Him and He will love just as much as He would have loved you. God’s love is so much better than our own, so much stronger, so much more powerful. Yet we hesitate to believe that God could love us so much.

 
The image of how much God loves us is always Jesus crucified. God is not only willing to die for us, God in Jesus Christ has died for us and gone through the pains and sufferings of a most cruel death. All this has been done so that we can live a new life. We often prefer our old life of sin because of the pleasures and the comfort involved in it. But we are challenged to see that it is not truly life but leads to a death.

The Gospel story begins with the two disciples coming back from Emmaus, very excited because they had seen the Risen Lord. He had walked with them, he had explained the meaning of his death in terms of the Hebrew Testament prophecies and he had broken and shared the bread at table with them.  It was only at the breaking of bread that they recognised him. For them this was an event where Jesus comes unexpectedly into their lives and they needed faith to recognise him.  This is how we encounter Jesus too.  The Gospel tells us that suddenly there was Jesus among them. He uses the same greeting: “Peace with you!” But the disciples could not believe and they think they are seeing a ghost. But it is Jesus who reassures them.  He tells them not to be afraid and he asks them to touch him and feel him and have no doubts. This is the real Jesus, the Jesus they have always known. This is the Jesus who continues his ministry which he was doing before his passion and death. Yes, the two disciples met the risen Lord on the way to Emmaus. They came back to Jerusalem to share their experience with the apostles. We read that "While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you'" (Luke 24:36). Christ makes himself present in the process of sharing their faith experience with the other unbelieving disciples. Now the eleven apostles and their companions are in turn enabled to experience the risen Lord. And it takes no stretch of the imagination to see that for the two who shared their experience this would be a big strengthening of faith, a big empowerment.

What does Jesus do to those who experience him? First, he communicates peace to their troubled hearts. Then he tries to convince them that the same Jesus of Nazareth who suffered and died the shameful death on the cross is the very one who is now alive in glory with God. He goes as far as eating broiled fish which, of course, he does not need, in order to make the point. Then he opens their minds to understand the Scriptures and how they point to him. Finally he commissions them to be his witnesses. "You are witnesses of these things"(Luke 24:48). This is what Jesus did when he appeared in the gathering of the disciples that Sunday morning 2000 years ago. And this is what he does when he appears in the Sunday gathering of the faithful here today.

Notice how active Jesus is. He is the one who gives them his peace. He is the one who strengthens their faith and takes away their doubts. He is the one who opens their minds and explains the Scriptures to them. He is the one who declares them his witnesses. The disciples do not do much in the encounter except open their eyes to see him, their hearts to let in his peace, their minds to receive his instruction. And in the end when he says, "You are witnesses of these things," they would be expected to respond, "Yes, Lord," and then go out and try to be just that.

Today, we read of the return of these two Disciples who walked away to a distant village perhaps out of total disappointment over the events that had taken place about Jesus.  The disciples could not make sense of Jesus’ recent death. Nor did they make out what was going on when Jesus appeared to them.  Jesus has his own way of strengthening the faith of the disciples and like the well known parable of the foot prints on sand; he is able to carry the persons in trouble in his arms. This is a beautiful story of how a friend can convince another and teach the doctrine, by emphasizing the events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  Jesus comes to them to teach them, eat with them, give them the mission and the promise to be there with them till the end of times. How do we witness to Christ? Here many wayside preachers get it wrong. It is not by threatening people with eternal hellfire. It is not by arguing with them on controversial theological issues. It is simply, as the two disciples on the way to Emmaus did, by telling the story of our personal encounter with Christ. It is sharing with them why we are Christians. As St Peter tells us, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15).

In the First Reading, “God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out.”  Peter says that they all acted in ignorance and in this way the plan of God is fulfilled.  The Old Testament tells us that God will send the messiah and this Messiah would suffer while bringing redemption to people. But to all people there is an invitation to change their lives and repent and listen to the good news which is Jesus himself.

In the Second Reading John says: “By this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commands. Whoever says, ‘I have come to know him’ but does not obey his commands is a liar and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him.” Jesus here invites us to be persons who constantly study and try to understand and enter more deeply in the mystery of the Word of God.  It was only after they understood the Scriptures that the disciples were able to understand the life, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus.  He invites us to be a community which shares and cares and in which everything is shared and where none are unnecessarily in need, in particular the sick and the marginalized. He calls us to build unity and peace and bring about the harmony in the present day divided society. That is what is meant by the term God is love.

We discover here something new. There is a reversal of roles from the earlier life of Jesus. During his life time Jesus had given them the meal.  Even at the last supper he broke the bread and gave it to them. Now it is the disciples who provide the food for Jesus. The entire new community is itself the Body of Jesus and it does what Jesus did. Then, as with the disciples going to Emmaus, Jesus teaches them about the meaning of his suffering and death. Then he tells them about the prophets and makes them realize that the mission of the kingdom has been there from the beginning. Jesus now continues the teaching mission but all in a new light, the light of the Resurrection. Therefore Luke says that he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

The disciples have a new mission - to preach in the name of Jesus and to proclaim the kingdom of God. This involves conversion to Jesus’ way and experiencing the forgiveness of their sins. It is a call to experience a total reconciliation with Jesus and his Way, with all their brothers and sisters and with the whole of creation. Finally it is a call to be his witnesses through their lives, words, and actions, manifesting a community of unity and love.  You distribute the Body of Christ when you give a check to a worthwhile charity. When you give food to a hungry person, you are distributing the Body of Christ. In prayer groups, when you share the Good News and tell others about the joy you find in your faith, you are distributing the Body of Christ. Let us go forth with the power of today’s Gospel message firmly implanted in our lives, renewed and reflecting the words of St. Augustine: “You are the Body of Christ. In you and through you the work of the incarnation must go forward. You are to be taken. You are to be blessed, broken, and distributed, that you may be the means of grace and the vehicles of eternal love.”