• Acts 2:14, 36-41. Peter, on Pentecost, preaches that “the whole house of Israel should know… that God has made both Lord and Messiah this Jesus whom you crucified.” The people must reform and be baptized.
• 1 Peter 2:20-25. Peter continues his baptismal instruction that the newly baptized follow in the suffering footsteps of Jesus, who brought our sins to the cross. By his wounds we are healed.
• John 10:1-10. The opening section of John’s well known “Good Shepherd” discourse. Jesus is the shepherd whose sheep go in and out for pasture.

Thoughts for your consideration: By John Gonzalez

The first reading and the gospel passage firmly affirm that Jesus Christ is Lord. Calling Jesus Lord may not sound surprising to us and in fact it may sound a bit cliché. However, when Peter made this pronouncement in first century Jerusalem it would have jarred many and angered many others. To call Jesus Messiah or anointed one would not have been a shock as other have already been deemed anointed ones of God and others would come afterwards. But Lord was a title reserved to God, for the apostles to be able to declare that Jesus is Lord means that they were aware of an amazing truth that they were willing to make such a dangerous and socially unsettling statement. It is said that if you wanted to examine amazing miracles in scripture the greatest for one to investigate is how a rag tag band of Galileans could have mobilized one of the most powerful religious movements ever seen based on an almost insane report  that an executed criminal was in fact God.

In the first reading we see the beginnings of this miraculous movement and we are told that after Peter makes this irrational declaration “about three thousand persons were added that day.” It is the ongoing pursuit of the theological community to consider “how could this have happened”? “How did they experience the resurrected Christ and furthermore how were they able to convey this in such a way as to convince others to believe in this bizarre message? One clue that we are given is in the passage that immediately follows the first reading and which we read about a couple of weeks ago. This pronouncement was visually depicted in a new communal style of living that was consistent with the healing and hospitality ministry of Christ. This week’s gospel passage tells us that Jesus Christ is Lord and Jesus attempt to describe this based on the relational and compassionate image of the good shepherd. But let us not forget that Jesus also tells us that “not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (Mt. 7:21)

The second reading helps us to make a link between the declaration that Jesus Christ is Lord and our responsibility in becoming living agents of this declaration. Through the example of Jesus we are called to be wounded healers to a world that is immersed in suffering and injustice. Peter gives us the challenge to take on the suffering of the world and to be ministers who heal by sharing in the suffering of those we encounter. Our hope in suffering springs from Jesus since it was “by his wounds [that we] have been healed.” Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that this call bears a social responsibility to be present and responsive to all who suffer in our society:

The true measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to suffering and to the sufferer. This holds true both for the individual and for society. A society unable to accept its suffering members and incapable of helping to share their suffering and to bear it inwardly through “com-passion” is a cruel and inhuman society. – Spe Salvi #38

Fr. Henri Nouwen wrote a wonderful little book called “The Wounded Healer.” This book offers us some insights into how we can be ministers of suffering especially in these times where many suffer specifically from the isolation that comes from our individualistic culture or the condition that he calls “nuclear man.” In order to accompany others in their suffering Fr. Nouwen instructs us to journey through our own sufferings and isolation so that through our own wounds we too can offer a sincere healing. We heal by relating at a very deep level to the suffering of those we encounter. We speak of social issues like poverty, immigration or criminal justice but until we can integrate through our own experience the isolated feelings of marginalization (which at some level we all experience in different forms) then we are not addressing these issues at a Christian level.

Christ healed us through his wounds. Christ heals us because he undertook our journey of isolation and injustice and through him we can enjoy the hope that comes through His redemptive suffering. This hope becomes our wellspring through which our own suffering can offer others a vision of redemption. The reason Peter’s words brought him converts rather than ridicule was because his message of redemption through Christ was not empty words but a living reality that people could also see within the communal experience of a people whose wounds and weaknesses were healed by the living God who shared in their suffering. To fully comprehend how people could have responded to what they heard in Acts 2:36-41 it helps to also understand what they saw in Acts 2:42-47.

• Ezekiel 37:12-14. God will raise his people from the grave, place his spirit within them and settle them upon their land.
• Romans 8:8-11. The Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us and will bring our mortal bodies to new life.
• John 11:1-45. For God’s glory and for the sake of greater faith among his disciples, Jesus calls Lazarus back to life.

Thoughts for your consideration: By John Gonzalez

There are many points of reflection in this week’s long Gospel passage. What was the special friendship between Jesus and Lazarus? What role did Martha and Mary’s faith have? Why did Jesus weep? Why was he perturbed and deeply troubled? How can we relate Thomas and the pessimistic realism of the disciples? These are only a few points of interest that we can contemplate as we consider this passage. But the focus of this passage and the three readings for this weekend is the centrality of the resurrection of the dead. The resurrection of Lazarus foreshadows the cosmic resurrection that begins with Christ and becomes the basis of our Christian hope. As Paul tells us in another epistle, “if there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised then empty [too] is our preaching; empty, too, your faith” (1 Cor. 13-14). It is not important for us to know how the resurrection will take place or what it will look like. What is fundamental for our faith is to know the promise that God made Ezekiel, the promise that God has placed his Spirit in us so that we may have eternal life.       

Theologian João Batista Libânio reminds us that “Humans are utopian beings.”  Many political and economic ideologies promise a form of utopian social vision. João treats the resurrection and Christian eschatology within this framework of a utopian vision. Christianity does indeed offer a promise of hope and we understand the resurrection of Christ as the “firstfruits” of that promise. Christian eschatology has us living in a transitional phase where that promise is being fulfilled starting with the resurrection of Christ but eventually culminating in the final establishment of the Kingdom of God where the power of sin and death are finally defeated by the love of God. The social injustice that placed Christ on the cross is defeated through the intervention of God’s great love. For João this divine intervention is what separates the enduring Christian promise of hope from the fleeting social utopian visions. Whereas utopian visions offer a pretense of hope based on a particular social structure the resurrection demonstrates God’s promise to intervene within our social experience and to validate the social aspirations and hope of all who struggle for justice and dignity. “Through the resurrection of the dead, which is God’s fundamental act of love, the eschatological significance of God’s preference for the poor appears more clearly.”[i]        

Pope Benedict XVI dedicated his second encyclical to the central teaching of Christian hope. In it he refers to the incarnation that Christ shares with all who suffer and the deeply related promise that he offers through the promise of the resurrection. The general promise that God makes to Ezekiel in the first reading is offered to us directly in our own struggles and suffering which Christ shares with us.

“God now reveals his true face in the figure of the sufferer who shares man’s God-forsaken condition by taking it upon himself. This innocent sufferer has attained the certitude of hope: there is a God, and God can create justice in a way that we cannot conceive, yet we can begin to grasp it through faith. Yes, there is a resurrection of the flesh. There is justice.” (#43)

Paul describes this incarnational experience to the Roman community in the second reading when he reminds them that the “Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you.”  Not only has Christ shared in the struggle of humanity but he also imparts on us the Spirit of eternal life that we witnessed in the resurrection of Lazarus and in his own resurrection. This Spirit promises to validate all our struggles in bringing the love of God into a suffering world and pursuing justice for all who are marginalized and persecuted. Sin and death will not have the final word, God has intervened in Christ, he continues to intervene through us and His Kingdom will be victorious in the end.    

• Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18. By a covenant God renewed the promise to Abram (Abraham) of many descendants and their own land.
• Philippians 3:17-4:1. We eagerly await the coming of our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will then give a new form to our lowly body.
• Luke 9:28-36. At Jesus’ transformation, Moses and Elijah appear and speak with him of his “exodus”.

Thoughts for your consideration: By John Gonzalez

In the fourth Chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans St. Paul offers a wonderful perspective on the faith and hope that Abraham had when God made his covenant with him:

He believed, hoping against hope, that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was, “Thus shall your descendants be.”

The readings today reflect the Christian spirituality of hoping against hope. In Genesis, Abraham accepts this promise that God makes with him in faith and he does so until his dying day since even then his only son, Isaac, never possesses the Promised Land as his own. In the second reading Paul, who at this time is mindful of his own impending death, instructs the early Christian community to place their hopes not in the tangible goods of this world whose “God is their stomach and their glory is in their “shame.”” Instead Paul tells them to place their hope in their “citizenship” in heaven and in Jesus Christ who “will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body.”

And then we finally come to the Gospel passage where immediately sandwiched between the first and second affirmation of His own passion and death Jesus is transfigured with Moses and Elijah in the presence of the apostolic pillars of the early church. In this instance Peter, James and John are shown the transfigured glory that is to come and they placed their hope and faith in this new covenant even though they could neither comprehend it in the moment nor easily accept that negative social ramifications that is accompanied with following the transfigured Christ.

Like Abraham, Paul, and the first Apostles we too are called to hope against hope. We are called to place our hope not in the tangible and social dimensions of our reality but in a mystical and unseen purpose that transcends these social dimensions. This message from Scripture is all the more vital for us who are living in these difficult times. We have placed our hopes in economic and political ideologies that have unraveled. Here in the United States and throughout the western world we have become complacent with a certain lifestyle that is no longer sustainable. Even now, as we are struggling with the economic and social challenges of our time, are solutions are still based in the hope of bringing back a social model that was comfortable for many of us. But this is not the hope that Scripture is offering us.

Our hope is in a cosmological vision that transcends our reality but which also dictates our reality. The reason our former lifestyle is no longer feasible is because it was never sustainable. The principles of Catholic social teachings are calling us to envision a hope of a transfigured world where the love of God is visibly expressed through the deepening of our relationship and concern for one another and for the dignity of creation itself. In the Encyclical Spe Salvi Pope Benedict XVI tells us that: “Our hope is always essentially also hope for others; only thus is it truly hope for me too.”

Let us take some time to reflect on the readings and to consider the Christian message of hoping against hope in relationship to shared concern for all living things and in light of the social, economic and environmental situation we are facing. I also encourage any Catholic who would like to deepen their understanding of Christian hope to download or purchase the Encyclical Spe Salvi and to meditate on the pastoral message that Pope Benedict XVI is offering us in this encyclical letter.

The Christian faith has shown us that truth, justice and love are not simply ideals, but enormously weighty realities. It has shown us that God —Truth and Love in person—desired to suffer for us and with us… Hence in all human suffering we are joined by one who experiences and carries that suffering with us; hence con-solatio is present in all suffering, the consolation of God’s compassionate love—and so the star of hope rises. – Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi

The basic thesis for Pope Benedict XVI is that in the midst of great suffering (social or personal) one can experience some deep meaning that can bring a new vision of true hope that is grounded in the will of God for all of humanity. From this we can begin to address personal and social issues. Below is the link and video link of Pope Benedict’s Easter message. Here I would like to offer a quote from his Urbi et Orbi message in which Pope Benedict identifies many of the issue that impact our global family.

At a time of world food shortage, of financial turmoil, of old and new forms of poverty, of disturbing climate change, of violence and deprivation which force many to leave their homelands in search of a less precarious form of existence, of the ever-present threat of terrorism, of growing fears over the future, it is urgent to rediscover grounds for hope. Let no one draw back from this peaceful battle that has been launched by Christ’s Resurrection. For as I said earlier, Christ is looking for men and women who will help him to affirm his victory using his own weapons: the weapons of justice and truth, mercy, forgiveness and love. – Pope Benedict XVI, Easter Message 2009

Pope Benedict’s encyclical and message of Christian hope identifies the Paschal Mystery not only in its historical significance but also in the meaning of social and personal suffering in our lives which is usually the place where we struggle to identify Hope. In this way Pope Benedict’s social and spiritual message is firmly grounded in the Passionist tradition which has seen the redemtive quality of Christ Passion, Death and Ressurection in the suffering of the world today. Consider this powerful quote from our own Fr. Don Senior, CP on the fourth vow of the Passionist which is to keep alive the memory of the Passion:

But there are other reasons for the Passionist vow. Jesus’ death on the cross was a death in the cause of justice. He was executed because he challenged accepted values. He sided with the poor and the outcasts. He condemned oppressive structures. Jesus was a prophet and prophets meet strong opposition.

His cross reminds us that Christians must listen to the cries of the poor. We are in solidarity with those whom society may forget or even exploit. The cross is a sign of justice. To remind the world about the cross is to challenge the world for its injustice and neglect. Passionists are pledged to that challenge. -Fr. Don Senior, CP

Here are the links of Pope Benedict’s Easter Message for 2009. I offer you this for your thoughts and consideration as we begin to celebrate our Easter season. Let me know what you think of the global challenge to the Easter message.

Pope Benedict XVI’s Easter Message 2009

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5axrSsEU_U0

• Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46
• 1 Corinthians 10:31–11:1
• Mark 1:40-45

Thoughts for your consideration:

“Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.”” In this weeks Gospel reading this phrase jumps out at me. Jesus expresses two social values with this encounter with the leper.

The first value he expresses is compassion. Compassion is derived from the Latin cum-patire which means to suffer with. Compassion is quite unlike pity. In taking pity you are moved by some experience of suffering but pity does not entail an active response. However if you express compassion then you are moving into the realm of action. Had the passage read “Moved with pity Jesus shook his head and walked on,” then pity would have been all that Jesus would have expressed. But instead Jesus expresses a compassion where he actively suffers with this person by touching him, an act which would have rendered Jesus unclean.

In showing compassion Jesus also expresses another social value, solidarity. Leviticus reminds us that a leper was cast out of the community. This was not an act of biblical oppression; rather it was a way to preserve the overall health of the larger community. The leper places his social status on the will of Jesus who represents the will of God. Jesus expresses verbally to the leper that the will of God is to be in solidarity with all who are marginalized and exiled from being part of the human community. He brings the leper back into right relationship.

Above you will find some quotes regarding Catholic and Christian social teaching. The teaching by Pope Benedict XVI through his recent encyclical, Spe Salvi, is very informative on our social responsibility of promoting solidarity through an ethic of compassion. It bears highlighting one more time.

A society unable to accept its suffering members and incapable of helping to share their suffering and to bear it inwardly through “com-passion” is a cruel and inhuman society.

This value continues to support the Catholic social value of developing a preferential option for the poor. This Catholic social principle has encountered some difficulties based on our distaste for discussing issues of classism between the rich and poor. So instead Pope Benedict has taken this principle and changed the subject to be the suffering members. We do not have to make a list of who are the suffering members. Like Jesus we will know the suffering members of society when we too are “moved with pity.” But as Jesus did and as Pope Benedict suggest we must individually and as a society move from pity to an active value of compassion whereby we suffer with our marginalized neighbors and bring them into solidarity with the entire human community.

Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group:

• When have you observed or been part of a group of people being “left out” because of some form of discrimination?  Have you experienced some healing of this division?
• In the gospel Jesus heals the person who is ill.  He makes some “clean.”  How would you describe the cleansing or absolving or healing that is needed in our social situation today?

The very reason we have hope is because we believe in a better world than the one we are experiencing now. If there was no suffering and nothing was wrong, then there would be no reason for us to even have hope. Hope does not just affirm that there is pain and suffering in our world, it also chooses to believe that we can do something positive about it. Through hope we pledge to take responsibility for the personal and social suffering we witness in the aspiration that a better world is possible. As Pope Benedict reminds us in his recent Encyclical:

The true measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to suffering and to the sufferer. This holds true both for the individual and for society. A society unable to accept its suffering members and incapable of helping to share their suffering and to bear it inwardly through “com-passion” is a cruel and inhuman society.

In his inaugural speech President Obama shifted the focus from his message of hope to the pragmatic realities of a suffering world. The goal of hope is still there, but now as we venture forth to accomplish this hope we must do so by taking compassionate responsibility to the suffering in our society:

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow, to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

The hope for our future is based on this new era of responsibility to the suffering of our world. As a Catholic and as a Passionist I very much welcome this vision to usher in this new era that is so consistent with our Catholic social tradition and Passionist spirituality.

Peace,

John