The past week we had the incredible experience of viewing the total eclipse of the sun. I hope you were able to take a few minutes to see the incredible phenomenon. Many people traveled from around the world to see the eclipse. I even heard about one young man named Evan that traveled from Wales in the United Kingdom to Evansville, Indiana to view the eclipse, to celebrate his birthday was April 8. There were all kind of parties and special events throughout central Indiana leading up to this once in a lifetime event. A friend of mine from Cincinnati invited me months ago to meet him in Greensburg, Indiana, as he thought it would be cool to
play golf during the eclipse. We finished the last hole when the totality approached with temperature cooling and sunlight dimming. We were next to the county fairgrounds where large crowds of people were cheering and blowing horns as the darkness appeared and the streetlights turned on. It was a much more memorable experience than I had anticipated and was something that I could witness to others of how impactful it was. I was amazed at how quickly the sky brightened and temperature increased after the moon passed to allow powerful rays of the sun to shine again. The immense power of the sun is something that we can take for granted, without an event like the eclipse to remind us of its ever-present power to bring us warmth and light. In the same way, we can take for granted the ever-present power of the Son of God, to bring us peace through the forgiveness of sins and eternal life, without the experience of the Lord’s resurrection, which really and truly happened 2000 years ago.
In today’s Gospel we hear about the disciples who encountered the risen Jesus on their way to Emmaus and had returned to Jerusalem to share their experience. They were telling other disciples how they finally recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread, when he shared the Eucharist with them.As they were telling their story, Jesus appears to the other disciples. They were probably a bit anxious and afraid to see Jesus. They had abandoned him in the garden of Gethsemane and left him with the guards to be taken prisoner, put on trial, tortured, and then crucified to death. They bailed out on Jesus and left him alone. What they did would be hard for anyone to forgive. Also, it must have been frightening to have someone who they thought was dead appear to them. Jesus recognizes that the disciples are troubled and speaks these words of comfort to them: “Peace be with you.” He knows they are troubled and puts them at ease by offering them his peace. It’s probably not what the disciple’s expected to hear, but what they needed. To show them that he is alive and not a ghost, he shows them his hands and feet and invites them to touch him. He even asks them for something that any person who is truly alive needs: food to nourish their bodies! So, the disciples, give him some baked fish which he eats in front of them. Jesus is showing them he is fully alive in a glorified body. Jesus then explains to them how his resurrection was foretold in Scriptures said that he would suffer, die, and rise from the dead after three days. Finally, Jesus gives the disciples’ get their mission: You are witness of these things to go and preach repentance for forgiveness of sins in His name.
Jesus’ encounter with the disciples in Jerusalem is a model of our encounter with the Lord each time we come to Mass. We bring our own struggles, anxieties, and stresses just like the disciples. We have broken relationships that need mending. Health concerns for ourselves and our loved ones. Many other challenges that seem impossible to overcome. To add more fuel to the fire we have sinned against God, others, and ourselves. We, like the disciples, may be troubled, and question whether we can be forgiven by Jesus. But each week as we come to Mass, we experience the same encounter with Jesus as the disciples did in Jerusalem. The Mass begins with priest, in the person of Jesus, offering the greeting of “Peace be with you”. We are welcomed with the peace of Jesus.
We are then given the opportunity to recall our sins, not to be condemned, but to ask forgiveness, where the priest says: “May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.” Our minds are opened to the Scripture in the homily to make sense of what Jesus’ resurrection means in the context of our lives. We are then nourished in a meal where Jesus’s body and blood is truly present under the appearance of the bread and wine in the Eucharistic. Our bodies are nourished so we can become what we eat: The presence of Jesus to others, so we can love God and our neighbor. We are finally sent out to witness like the disciples by the priest or deacon to “Go announce the Gospel of the Lord.”
It can be easy to take for granted the incredible gift that Jesus has given us: the forgiveness of sins through the sacrifice of his life for each of us and the whole world. This should fill us with great joy so we can be witnesses to our families, friends, and co-workers! If we let our minds be opened to the true gift of all that is offered at Mass, that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist and through his sacrifice he can forgive our sins, it should bring us peace to help us through our troubles. Our troubles may still be there, but with Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist it gives us grace and peace to help us through any challenging time.
With the recent experience we all shared with the eclipse, it can be a reminder that the power of the sun, can’t be overcome by darkness. It may be dark for a time, but the light of the sun soon overcomes the darkness. Let this experience remind us that power of the Son of God, who overcame the darkness of sin by his death, and shines his redeeming light of mercy on us through his resurrection, if we ask his forgiveness, so that we can live with him for eternity. Let us not take this gift of grace and mercy for granted but seek to be witnesses as his disciples to all the nations.
