3rd Sunday of Easter - A (April 26, 2020)

As He Speaks to Us

Luke 24: 13-35

The two disciples did not recognize Jesus, who was walking with them. 

St. Luke explained that “their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.”

Apparently, it was not just because their physical eyes did not recognize Jesus. 

Their vision was obscured by their disappointments, doubts, and sadness. 

Yet, as they later recalled, even when they had not recognized the Risen Lord, their hearts were still “burning within [them] while he spoke … and opened the Scriptures to [them].”

In these days, we are dealing with our own anxieties, fears, doubts, and sadness.  We pray that the Risen Lord help us recognize him walking with us.  May our hearts burn within us as he speaks and listens to us, and open the Scriptures to us.    

Image source:  William Brassey Hole,  

Jesus appearing to two disciples on the road to Emmaus,   

www.wikigallery.org.

2nd Sunday of Easter (April 19, 2020)

“Peace Be with You”

John 20:19-31

 

The disciples locked themselves behind closed doors. 

They were fearful. 

They probably had doubts and anxieties about what could happen to them.

They probably got impatient with each other and with the whole situation.  Some of them probably got on the others’ nerve.  At times, some might feel they needed some space.

In these days, we often find ourselves behind closed doors.

We are going through what the disciples went through. 

We are impatient, antsy, worried, afraid, doubtful …

But we do not just lock ourselves behind a physical door.

There are times when we lock the doors of our hearts and souls out of shame, fears, doubts…

To those fearful disciples, the Risen Christ came and gave them His peace.

So is He to us. 

May we recognize the Risen Christ present with us and experience His peace.

Easter - A (April 12, 2020)

“They Did Not Yet Understand”

John 20: 1-9

We had a cold snap on March 23. 

It was a cold, wet, dreary, and windy day.

The magnolia tree was just budding. 

We thought the flowers would not survive the day.

Then, the sun with its warm rays returned.

 

On that first Easter Day, the disciples “did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.”

Holy Week - 2020

Palm Sunday - A

Readings

Pope Francis' Message for Holy Week 2020