A reflection on the readings of April 14, 2024 — the Third Sunday of Easter
In our parish office we like to have a bowl of chocolates to offer to people who stop by. We are always amused at the fact that once St. Valentine’s Day is over, all the heart-shaped chocolates become ridiculously cheap. The same happens after Easter Sunday. Although Easter chocolates were pricey this year, on the Monday after Easter, all the bunny- and egg-shaped chocolates went on sale.
The truth is, however, that Easter may be over for the commercial world but not for us. In the Church, not only do we continue celebrating Easter, but the celebration continues giving us spiritual food for our souls and helps us grow in our relationship with Christ. Today’s readings provide us with two important reminders to keep in our hearts as we continue to pray this Easter season: the presence of God and the continuity of God.
The presence of God
Today we are reminded about the presence of God. Similarly to last week’s Gospel, today’s readings show us that we find the Church gathered in an upper room, scared and skeptical. If we think about it, the reaction of the disciples was understandable. The apostles had been through a lot in just a few days. The crucifixion of Jesus was a true scandal — even for his disciples. Moreover, until immediately before the Lord appeared to them, the crucifixion seemed be a physical, emotional, and spiritual defeat.
Simply put, Jesus — the friend, the teacher, the companion with whom they had many adventures and memories — had died. His physical presence was absent. Consequently, they had to struggle with emotional mourning. The death of any person close to us comes with emotional struggle.
They also had to deal with the fact that their leader, who had brought hope of a new life for the people of Israel, had been defeated by his adversaries. Subsequently, they also had to deal with a spiritual crisis. “Where is God in all this?” “Wasn’t Jesus supposed to be the Messiah?”
Here is where we return to the original point. Everything that his apostles were experiencing was normal and to be expected. In today’s gospel, the disciples were mirroring Thomas’s reaction a little bit, taking on an attitude of “unless I have tangible proof, I will not believe.” But they were not left alone.
In the midst of their struggles, the Risen Christ appears to them: “While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst.” Time and again, the Gospel shows us that every time the apostles were caught in a storm and seemed that they were alone in their journey, Christ intervened to help. Today we see that Christ continues to intervene for his disciples, for the Church, up until the end. The presence of Christ is real and fulfilling.
The presence of Christ fills the void in the soul of his disciples that come after fear, doubt, sin, or any other spiritual wound that life brings. That same presence is the one we enjoy today. We only need to stop looking at Jesus as if he was a ghost or a hallucination. Rather, we must acknowledge the many ways he comes into our life. Christ is present in our prayer life — when we talk to him, when we feel an answer coming out of nowhere, when we feel peace in the middle of chaos, when we keep walking with our crosses. Christ is present in the sacraments as well; It is Christ who forgives sins, it is Christ who baptizes and it is Christ whom we find in that consecrated bread and wine at Mass. Christ is also present in our neighbor; we all are made in God’s image and we can find Him in our family and friends as well as in the immigrant, the mentally afflicted, the elderly, the rich and the poor.
Today’s gospel shows us that Christ comes not with a spirit of revenge or wrath but to bring us peace. He greets them with the words, “Peace be with you.” He asks them, “”Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts?”
His disciples had abandoned him and denied him, even after they had claimed they wouldn’t. But they were sorry, and Christ knew it. He now comes to them with a message of peace: “Peace be with you.” This is the encounter we all have the opportunity to experience with Christ — in the sacraments, in our prayer life, and in the life of the Christian community.
The second reading reminds us: “If anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one.” When we fail, the presence of Christ in our midst is a presence that heals, that strengthens, and that fulfills.
The continuity of God
With this, we arrive to our second point: God keeps his promises. Today’s Gospel also shows us that the prophecies are to be fulfilled. What the prophets foretold for centuries, what the people of God were taught and came to expect, what they had learned from the times of Abraham and Moses, had to happen.
The Son of God was going to suffer, die, and rise again. God is a God of continuity. Peter, in the first reading, showed us this truth: “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.” With these words, Peter reminded the people that the promise of God was made centuries before the crucifixion. With the Resurrection, Christ reminds us that God is faithful and keeps his promises. God has fulfilled his plan of salvation and did it in a way that no human being was able to expect.
Similarly, we can also rely on God’s fidelity. Just as the seasons change, life brings us cold moments and warm moments. While it is easy to see and even praise God in the moments of warmth, we cannot forget during cold periods that God will keep his promises to us. Just as his plan of salvation developed over time — it wasn’t in a single event — his promise for each of us will be developed in due time. We have to be patient, but today’s Gospel shows us that God’s fidelity and love for us will come to our aid to bring us safely to the path that leads to Him. God did not abandon us. His fidelity reminds us that he will not abandon us in the future.
Image: “The risen Jesus appears to the disciples” (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) by Nick in exsilio
Father Bernardo Lara is a priest of the Diocese of San Diego and pastor of three Southern California parishes: Sacred Heart and St. Margaret Mary in Brawley and St. Joseph in Westmorland.
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