{"id":2142,"date":"2017-04-30T12:23:29","date_gmt":"2017-04-30T16:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2142"},"modified":"2017-04-30T12:23:29","modified_gmt":"2017-04-30T16:23:29","slug":"3rd-sunday-of-easter-year-a-homily-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/3rd-sunday-of-easter-year-a-homily-2\/","title":{"rendered":"3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

3rd<\/sup> Sunday of Easter, Year A<\/a>
\nActs 2:14, 22-23
\nPsalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
\n1 Peter 1:17-21
\nLuke 24:13-35<\/p>\n

Once again, we hear a story of the disciples right after the tomb was found empty.\u00a0 This time it is two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus.\u00a0 We are not told why they are going there.\u00a0 That is not the point.\u00a0 The point is the encounter they have with Jesus.<\/p>\n

Now, when I say \u2018encounter\u2019 I do not simply mean their conversation with Jesus.\u00a0 That is very<\/em><\/strong> important but the conversation is much more than just a conversation.\u00a0 They had been \u201choping that he would be the one to redeem Israel<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

They were looking for a Messiah to set them free from the Romans but instead Jesus was crucified by the Romans.<\/p>\n

They came to believe that Jesus was the one they had been waiting for because of his miracles and his teachings.\u00a0 Now they are not sure.<\/p>\n

With all this in mind, the two disciples were walking along the road.\u00a0 As they walked, they were conversing about Jesus and all that had happened.\u00a0 Once Jesus was crucified, it would have been easy to think he was just another prophet at best, and at worst, a false prophet.\u00a0 They could have given up on Jesus but they hadn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Instead, as they walked, they conversed \u201cabout all the things that had occurred<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 It didn\u2019t make sense to them so they talked about it.\u00a0 Here is lesson #1 for us.\u00a0 When we don\u2019t understand something about our faith, instead of giving up or thinking it is too hard to understand, we need<\/em><\/strong> to talk about it with others who share our faith.\u00a0 It might be at home or at dinner.\u00a0 It might mean starting or joining a small Christian community of parishioners just like us.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s go back to the disciples as they walked.\u00a0 Jesus appeared to them without them being able to recognize him.\u00a0 He asked them what they were discussing.\u00a0 They are amazed that he couldn\u2019t guess.\u00a0 To them what has happened to Jesus is so important, they couldn\u2019t imagine anyone talking about anything else.<\/p>\n

Jesus had filled their hearts with hope.\u00a0 Even the fact that Jesus had been crucified did not end their hope.\u00a0 Even in what seemed devastating to them, they still spoke of his mighty deeds and words.\u00a0 I think we see them recall Jesus\u2019 words that he would be raised on the third day when they identified the current day as the \u201cthird day<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Otherwise, it won\u2019t be significant.<\/p>\n

They were devastated but they still had hope.\u00a0 Here is lesson #2 for us.\u00a0 When we suffer, when things seem difficult or impossible, it is not the time to give up.\u00a0 There is always hope in Jesus.<\/p>\n

They couldn\u2019t understand what had happened.\u00a0 It is in this context that Jesus told them it was \u201cnecessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

They were focused on the promise of a messiah, an heir to David that would sit upon his throne over Israel.\u00a0 From these, they expected a messiah who would be King of Israel on Earth.<\/p>\n

Their expectation was based on what was in the scriptures but it was shaped by their human desires.\u00a0 Jesus \u201cinterpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 He showed them how the prophets foretold what happened in Jesus\u2019 passion.\u00a0 That means it all happened as God foretold.<\/p>\n

So, another lesson for us might be is to always be mindful that what we expect, that what we want isn\u2019t always what\u2019s best for us.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t want Jesus to be crucified but it was necessary for the forgiveness of our sins so that Heaven is possible for us.<\/p>\n

The two disciples were amazed by what Jesus said.\u00a0 They do not want their \u2018encounter\u2019 with Jesus to end.\u00a0 They invited him to stay with them.<\/p>\n

As they eat, \u201che took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them<\/em>.\u00a0 With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 What did they recognize?\u00a0 In his breaking bread with them, they recalled the Last Supper, when Jesus gave us the Eucharist.<\/p>\n

In a few minutes, we were will break bread.\u00a0 It is the Real Presence<\/em><\/strong> but do we recognize Jesus in what we receive?<\/p>\n

At Jesus\u2019 disappearance, they realized their hearts were burning in the presence of Jesus.\u00a0 Do our hearts burn with the faith that Jesus gives us?\u00a0 I would hope that all of us have hearts on fire in faith but I know that isn\u2019t the reality.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t mean we don\u2019t have faith.\u00a0 We are here, aren\u2019t we?<\/p>\n

We might say we come to church for various reasons.\u00a0 Honestly, I know some of you are here because mom and\/or dad make you come.\u00a0 Maybe you come to make your spouse happy.\u00a0 Maybe you come because that is what we are supposed to do.\u00a0 It is.\u00a0 Our church still calls us to come every Sunday to celebrate Mass.<\/p>\n

While you might feel like you are here for one of the reasons I just mentioned, I say that you are here because of the seed of faith within you.\u00a0 If you are here because mom and\/or dad say so, then you are honoring your mother and father<\/em>.\u00a0 If you are here to make your spouse happy, then you are here because of love and love starts with God.\u00a0 If you are here out of obligation, then that obligation must mean something to you.\u00a0 You might be here to make a human being happy but if you are listening to what I am saying, then God means something to you.<\/p>\n

So, every one of us has some faith.\u00a0 For some, it might not seem like much faith.\u00a0 Others might feel on fire with faith.\u00a0 Either way, what we need to do to nourish our faith is to talk about it.\u00a0 Maybe it is a conversation with the people you live with.\u00a0 Maybe it is friends or a prayer group that I referred to earlier as a Small Christian Community.<\/p>\n

Whatever it is, we need to do what the two disciples did when they realized it was Jesus who had spoken with them.\u00a0 They went and told others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A Acts 2:14, 22-23 Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11 1 Peter 1:17-21 Luke 24:13-35 Once again, we hear a story of the disciples right after the tomb was found empty.\u00a0 This time it is two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus.\u00a0 We are not told why they are …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[29,9,82],"tags":[124,290],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-yy","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2142"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2142"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2143,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2142\/revisions\/2143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}