5th Sunday of Easter, Do not let your hearts be troubled, have faith in me.

Today’s Gospel is Jesus’ farewell address to his disciples just before the last supper.  Jesus has been telling his disciples that he was going to suffer and be killed, and they weren’t ready to accept this.   They were disturbed by this and didn’t want to believe him.  They thought he was going to be a Messiah who would be a strong warrior who would rescue them from the rule of the Romans.  They weren’t ready for a suffering servant who would die in order to save all of us.  If you had followed someone for three years expecting to be freed from tyrannical rule, wouldn’t you be discouraged & frightened?

            Jesus knows this and tells his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You have faith in God; have faith also in me”.   Jesus wanted to give his disciples some hope to hold on to knowing that his death was near and they’d all be facing persecution as well.   He tells them something quite different from all who have come before him. He asks them to have faith in Him. Those who came before him: Abraham, Moses, and Jeremiah, all spoke of having faith in God and to follow God’s ways.   But none of them ask to have faith in them.   Jesus is different, because He is God.  He his human like each of us, but through his divine nature he reveals God the Father.  Jesus tells his disciples that there will be a place for them in His Father’s house and the he would be coming back for them.  Jesus was trying to give them a message of hope to carry them through the troubling times they would be facing.  

We all have times of trouble that we face.  When we struggle it’s good to recall these words of Jesus to not be troubled and to have faith in Him.  He understands our struggles, having suffered tremendous challenges himself.   When we are faced with challenges we can get overwhelmed with the present moment.   But the time we spend on earth is only a small fraction compared to our time we will spend in the Father’s house with Jesus for all eternity.  If we focus on the hope that Jesus offers, it can help carry us through the most challenging times.

Even though the disciples had been with Jesus for three years, they still didn’t know who he or the Father was. Jesus had been revealing the Father through His miraculous works.  He fed five thousand people with five loaves and two fish.  He healed the sick: curing the leper, the blind man, the crippled and dumb mute.    He cast out demons from a possessed man.   He saved the life of the woman accused of adultery. He restored life to the centurion’s daughter and Lazarus.   Jesus revealed the Father by bringing a little bit of heaven to this world.  He did all this through the Father who dwells in him. So He was probably a little frustrated with Philip’s response to show them the Father.  Jesus tells them the way to the Father: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

He then tells the disciples something unbelievable:  Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater than these because I am going to the Father.    This must have been stunning to them.  How could these disciples do even greater things than Jesus did?  This seems impossible on their own!  But with the help of the Holy Spirit they’d be able to do miraculous things. Jesus was preparing them for his return to the Father and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

            Is it possible for us to do even greater things than Jesus did? Can you possibly imagine healing the sick, raising the dead and feeding thousands?   I think it’s possible.   I’m going to tell a story similar to first reading in Acts, but changing the time, place, and people to illustrate how we can do even greater things than Jesus did. A few years ago some people from the parish complained to our pastor that the people of Johnson County were being neglected in the distribution of food.   So he decided to appoint someone to take care of this so he could continue to dedicate himself God’s word and prayer. So Mark, Jerry, Dan, Tammy, and Rob took on the task to start a food pantry.  How would this pantry be supplied? Through of all the parish members’ generous donations of food and money to support the pantry.   And now seven years later we have a food pantry that has served thousands of people just like Jesus did.  I just told this story Friday to the men and women in Johnson County jail to illustrate how we are today doing greater things than Jesus.   I let them know that it’s all possible due through the Holy Spirit that empowered the Baptized faithful do greater works than Jesus.

If you just think about all the places here in central Indiana we can see today greater works than Jesus did.  Healing the sick and bringing the dead to life at St. Vincent and St. Francis Hospitals; caring for widows at St. Augustine home and St. Paul Hermitage, feeding the hungry through St. Vincent DePaul food warehouse, Cathedral soup kitchen, and many parish food pantries; housing the homeless at Holy Family Shelter; and Catholic Charities serving over 75,000 annually. These are greater things that Jesus told us we could do if we believe in him.  These miraculous works are still revealing the Father to those who don’t know him.  Each of us together as the baptized faithful is doing our part to perform miraculous works that are greater than what Jesus did when he walked the earth.   Do we still have pain, suffering, and troubles in the world?  Of course we still do.  We always will till Jesus returns.   But if we have faith in Jesus and don’t let our hearts be troubled, we can continue to do great things to reveal the Father’s love and provide hope for those who are in need.   If we provide them hope we can help them believe in Jesus and lead them to that special place prepared for them in the Father’s house.

Easter, Second Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday, April 23, 2017

Jesus gives his disciples another beatitude in today’s Gospel: Blessed are those who have not seen and believed.  Who here is blessed? You are all blessed for believing in the Risen Lord. Today we conclude the Octave of Easter with Divine Mercy Sunday. Last week on Easter Sunday, we heard about the empty tomb. Today Jesus appears to the disciples after his resurrection.

In Jesus’ first encounter with the disciples they were together on Sunday locked away in hiding.  They just experienced the death of Jesus and were in fear for their own lives.  Suddenly Jesus appears to them ere. Now try to imagine you are at your home with family and friends after a loved one died, it’s late at night, the doors are locked, and a loved one appears out of no where to greet you.  Wouldn’t you be frightened? When they saw him alive they probably feared he was mad at them as they had all abandoned him.  What does Jesus do?  He greets them with, “Peace be with you”. Probably not what they expected, but what they really needed to hear. Jesus shows his wounds on his hands and feet so they believe it’s really him.

Jesus then does something amazing: He breathes on them saying: “Who sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained”.  He sends his disciples to do His work of extending His mercy through forgiveness of sins.   Where else do we hear about God breathing?  In the second creation story in Genesis where God breathes life into the man formed out of clay. Here we see Jesus giving the power to his disciples to restore life to those who are deadened by sin through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  

The disciple Thomas wasn’t at the first appearance of Jesus and refused to believe

unless he could touch Jesus’ wounds himself.   Thomas is very much like people in our own culture today who must experience something themselves before they believe. When Jesus appears again he offers Thomas to see and touch his wounds. We don’t know if he did, but Thomas proclaims his belief: “My Lord and My God”.  Jesus came to Thomas to experience his presence to help him believe.

The Church helps us to believe by using all our senses through the healing power of the Sacraments.  We hear about Jesus through his Word in Scripture at Mass and the homilies help to put it in context of our daily lives.  But many of us like Thomas need more to affirm our belief. We can see Jesus when the priest elevates the host where we can say silently proclaim: My Lord and my God. We get to touch Jesus when we receive him in the Eucharist. We can feel Jesus comfort in receiving oil on our hands and forehead in the anointing the sick.  We can feel Jesus’ presence, by spending time in the chapel being close to Jesus in the tabernacle.

One of the most healing ways we encounter Jesus is through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  The priest in the person of Christ extends His Mercy by saying, “I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Whenever I hear these words of the priest I feel totally renewed.  My relationship with God has been restored to the original state after Baptism as a new creation in Christ. It’s very healing.  It’s good to know that I can receive it again because I’m a sinner.  I do my best to keep from sinning, but being a fallen human being I’m going to sin again.   By admitting my faults to the priest, expressing sorrow, and being forgiven I’m remaining in a good relationship with God.  

It’s fitting today that we hear about the Lord sending the Apostle to extend his mercy through the forgiveness of sins.   Saint John Paul II decreed in May of 2000 that the Second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday.  Saint John Paul II was very familiar with the message of Divine Mercy from St. Faustina, a native of his homeland of Poland.  I’d like to share some background on where this came from.

During the early part of the 20^th century there were many evils going on through expansion of Nazism and communism and a deep disrespect for the dignity of life. In the 1930s, Jesus chose a humble Polish nun, St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, to receive private revelations about Divine Mercy.

In these private revelations there were 14 time when Jesus requested that Divine Mercy Sunday be observed.  I’d like to share one of those revelations from Jesus with you:

My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the Fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. … Let no soul fear to draw near to Me. … It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy. (Diary, no. 699)

Jesus also appeared to St. Faustina in a vision with his right hand raised in a blessing and his left touching his garment above his heart. Red and white rays emanate from his heart, symbolizing the blood and water that was poured out for our salvation and our sanctification.  The Lord requested this image to be painted with the words, “Jesus, I trust in You”, inscribed under his image, and that it be venerated around the world. Jesus said about this image that: “I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish” (Diary, no. 48) and “By means of this image I will grant many graces to souls” (Diary, no. 742). The image of Divine Mercy is located in front of the altar is usually located in the confessional.
         Our Lord also gave a devotional prayer to St. Faustina with this promise: “Encourage souls to say the chaplet which I have given you” (Diary, no. 1541). “Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death. … Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite mercy. I desire that the whole world know My infinite mercy” (Diary, no. 687).

On Sunday at 10 am we will pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in the Church.  Your invited to join, but if you’re not able please pick up a Divine Mercy Prayer card after Mass.  It’s easy prayer to pray and you can use your rosary to help.  The traditional time to pray the chaplet is 3 pm if possible, but you can pray it any time. Please pray this often and share with others the Good News of our Lord Resurrection and his desire to extend his Divine Mercy to anyone who comes to ask for it.

If you would like to explore more about Divine Mercy I’d recommend to look into the Marians of the Immaculate Conception Divine Mercy web site, http://thedivinemercy.org/.  If you want to pray the Divine Mercy devotion take it with you on the go and download an app to you Smartphone. http://thedivinemercy.org/apps/

           

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