What would Easter have been like the very first time? I think that it would be a time of great perplexity. We hear in John’s gospel that Mary of Magdala was the first to find the tomb empty. She ran to spread the news, but I think her message was not of belief—but rather a message of concern for someone had potentially stolen the Body of Christ. The 
gospel of John ends with disbelief and confusion—the disciples did not understand what had happened. Yet, there was one “beloved” disciple that did understand and believe. It is in the early followers felt the same way! We should not lose sight of the notion that we live by faith, and seek understanding. We should almost create a sense of a blending of Christmas and Easter—in the sense that Easter morning, and the resurrection should become our North Star; the guiding light by which we should live our lives. The death of Jesus was not the end, He was raised to new life. His destiny is in fact OUR destiny, the new life that is created through Him will be shared with all those that seek Him. We should let Christ in, so that we may open ourselves to the unexpected ways that God will work in our lives.
Thoughts/Questions to reflect on:
–Psalm—We hear, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the corner stone.” God in fact does exalt the lowly and humbles those that are exalted. How are you living this in your daily life?
–Today we “feast with joy in the Lord”. How are you keeping the Easter feast in your family?
–When the disciples finally entered the tomb, they “saw and believed.” What has been your journey into belief?
Nothing can keep us from God. Death is not even powerful enough to accomplish this. The stone on the tomb was not removed by an act of human hand, it was divine—it is God’s LOVE that does this. Today we come face-to-face with this empty tomb, but NOTHING will or could ever separate us from the LOVE of God in Christ. There exists NO BARRIER to the LOVE of God! Remember that and celebrate in JOY the Risen Lord Jesus Christ!
And this exchange of gifts, as described by St Augustine—“God became man, so that man might become God.”
Christmas gives you.” [Pope St Leo]. Christmas, the Incarnation, gives us the best of both worlds! “God became man so that man might become God.”
included. There might be many things happening in your life, and it might pass you by, or you might fail to see the importance, but this Canticle of Zachary, is a great hymn of gratitude to God. It allows us to discover the spirit around us, and it welcomes the new day-one fill with Love and Compassion of God’s unending Love.
enemies. This litany leads to a great celebration of those last of the great prophets who “will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.” Zachary’s canticle radiates the new order the high priest’s own son; he will bridge the old and the new. He will become the mouthpiece announcing the coming of the Messiah who is to come.
Elizabeth, as they were well beyond their child bearing years, and yet they had been blessed with a baby. Not only were they now blessed with this gift of new life, they were also greeted with the notion that this young baby boy—John—would be someone with an important vocation, “For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.” This was reaffirmed as Zachary had been struck “dumb”, but when he finally was able to speak, he spoke of the blessing that God had given to them. God had truly been so good to them, and it was all such a welcomed and joyous gift. They could not have known that the greatest gift of all was soon to be given. The gift of the Father’s Son, Jesus Christ, would soon be upon them and the whole world. He would soon come to begin His mission of salvation.
Sometimes the words of “gratitude” and “thankfulness” are not easily found in our own vocabulary. We often hear people refer to the act of “giving thanks to”, but never do we hear giving thanks because. We forget that at times we fail to be thankful for what God has granted us. When we see others that need more than we—we should not grumble but rather give thanks. When we are interrupted because someone calls, or comes to see us—we should not become irritated, but rather to welcome it as a visit or call from Christ. The Gospels tach us to have gratitude, to come to understand that all we have is a gift from God, and that we should always remain truly grateful for these gifts.
On the feast of the most Holy Trinity we read from the Gospel of John. It is quite interesting that the word “Trinity” is not mentioned at all in either the Old or the New Testament. Trinity comes from a Latin-based word meaning the number three or triad. Although in the New Testament there are many texts that speak of God as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; there is never a direct reference to the Trinity.
familiar with. This Spirit of Truth has a particular task that is bestowed upon them, which is to guide the disciples through the truth—bringing to them the message that is heard from the Father, Son, and Spirit. The Spirit of Truth also functions to glorify the Son—and to then take from the Son, whom has everything the Father has—declaring it all to the disciples—HOW WONDERFUL!
We run into problems is the fact that we are given several different reference points to try and explain the Trinity. One of the most popular is the shamrock—followed closely by the image relation of using the sun. God is of course more than a leaf on a clover, and more than the sun [Father the sun itself, Son is the light, and Spirit the heat]. No matter what image that you use, all of the references lack in some way, creating an incomplete and problematic approach to trying to explain the presence of the Trinity. It is, of course, best to go back to the Scripture for the understanding.
Taking a look at this mystery we can see that it is nearly impossible to fully understand it. The mystery of the Trinity is not something we can understand in this world, and we should not try to understand it. We should engage in a deeper relationship to get to know God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. There is no distinct answer that can ever be given, but then why would you want to solve that mystery. By maintain the mystery of the Trinity we care thus called into a developing relationship. We can be continually filled with wonder and LOVE!
Seeking forgiveness is a sign of humanity. This is something we do not always seek to do, which is why we often find ourselves in situations that are hard to control, full of grief and ultimately difficult for us to understand. But a even bigger task that we are given is to not only seek forgiveness, but to forgive those who have done wrong unto us… That one sure is hard for most EVERYONE to do! But that forgiveness of others is in fact the pathway to salvation. Do not seek to admire Christ by asking for forgiveness, seek to be a follower of Christ and deliver that forgiveness!
Do not compare the gifts that each of us have. They all come from the same place. What a boring world it would be if we all had the exact same thing [though we do in the redemption of Christ]. Instead of comparing, let us look toward asking ourselves how we can use the gifts that we each have for the good of ALL GOD’S PEOPLE.
Gospel Acclamation: John 14:18
In fact, we often do this too well! It is easier for us to want to believe that things should all blend in and be the same. We are then able to find those things that are different and easily call them out. But have we forgot that Christ did not pray for us to be the same? He prayed for us to be united. If we actually looked closer at what we felt were different we might actually see that they have more in common than they often do different. IF we spend more time trying to find that common ground rather than trying to find ways to set people, and even groups, apart, then we will actually find ourselves in a position to better understand and fulfill Christs prayer for all of us.
In the psalm we find Israel worshiping among other nations who serve other gods. In present day, idols are not foreign gods, but rather the things that we allow to take a higher place than God in our lives. Chaos and despair are bound to rule when we allow things such as: money, power, fame, drugs, pornography, hate or anything “thing” come before God or take a place above God. When we can find the personal will power to place all of these things below God, and submit ourselves to the powerful God—allowing him to become: “Most High over All the Earth”; it is THEN that we will find peace and unity among all the nations.
disciples huddled in the Upper Room, He again reminds them that Peace should be with them. He reminds them: “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” Christ NEVER tires of offering this offering of Peace.
Gentiles receive the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection and are brought into the early Church with their Jewish brothers and sisters. Then we are given a vision of the Holy City [Jerusalem], becoming a beacon for the world and all nations to “walk by its light”, and to be shared to all peoples.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”
Those in the early Church were faced with great adversity. Even our Apostles suffered greatly [John is the exception as he died from old age on the island of Patmos] –they were martyrs of the violence inflicted unto Christians by the Romans. Because of this persecution, many people would have had reason to doubt Jesus, to doubt the word of God—to flee from His promise of Salvation. Yet, He gives us the message that NO ONE can take them from the palm of His hand. Even in death, we are not separated from our Heavenly Father. Our Good Shepherd gives us Eternal Life, something that NEVER changes.
God’s people, that we are a community with Him. That we cannot be taken from Him. Even though we receive the call individually, we come to our Lord as a community. As a GROUP of disciples that are there to listen to the Lord and to go forth and bring others to Him. In this multitude we experience diversity, knowing that ALL are welcome.
Dr. Lawrence V. McCrobie 
You must be logged in to post a comment.