{"id":9203,"date":"2023-04-23T11:38:24","date_gmt":"2023-04-23T15:38:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=9203"},"modified":"2023-04-23T11:38:26","modified_gmt":"2023-04-23T15:38:26","slug":"3rd-sunday-of-easter-year-a-homily-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/3rd-sunday-of-easter-year-a-homily-4\/","title":{"rendered":"3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

3rd<\/sup> Sunday of Easter, Year A<\/a>
Acts 2:14, 22-33
Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11 (11a)
1 Peter 1:17-21
Luke 24:13-35
April 23, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Jesus was arrested, Peter denied him three times.\u00a0 The other disciples fled.\u00a0 Now, Peter stands up and proclaims Jesus.\u00a0 He speaks of Jesus\u2019 mighty deeds.\u00a0 He speaks of Jesus as the one they had killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What led Peter from denying Jesus three times to boldly proclaiming Jesus to those who had him killed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, Jesus had been crucified but God raised him up!\u00a0 God has power even over death.\u00a0 Peter and the others saw Jesus risen.\u00a0 Seeing Jesus risen took the Crucifixion from seeming like a defeat to a victory over sin and death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That alone would have strengthened Peter\u2019s faith but there is more.  Peter and the other disciples had just received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  Peter clearly received the gift of courage from the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What will it take to get you to proclaim Jesus to others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Baptism we receive the same Holy Spirit that Peter received at Pentecost.\u00a0 We are sealed with the same Spirit at Confirmation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you ready to proclaim Jesus to others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How<\/u><\/em><\/strong> is God calling you to proclaim Jesus to others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All parents are called to teach their children about God.  As a parish, we help the parents but teaching the faith begins at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While not everyone is called to preach Jesus in word, we are all called to proclaim Jesus in deed.  We do so by loving our neighbor as we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the sick.  We do these things in love.  Love is from God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We proclaim God to the world when we put God first.  Frank Sinatra had a song, \u201cI did it my way.\u201d  I don\u2019t want to do these my<\/em><\/strong> way.  I know there is a better way.  The best way is God\u2019s way.  God will show us \u201cthe path to life.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus shed his \u201cprecious blood<\/em>\u201d as the \u201cspotless unblemished lamb.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does knowing this change your life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first disciples struggled to understand what happened to Jesus.\u00a0 Following Jesus\u2019 Crucifixion, two of the disciples left Jerusalem and set out on the road to Emmaus. \u00a0As they travelled, \u201cthey were conversing about all the things that had occurred.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 I suspect they were \u201cconversing and debating<\/em>\u201d in an attempt to make sense of what had happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happens as they were conversing about Jesus?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJesus himself drew near.<\/em>\u201d  However, they were \u201cprevented from recognizing him.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, they assumed Jesus was just another Jew leaving Jerusalem. (Remember it was the Passover time.  So, many Jews had come to Jerusalem and were now leaving.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus initiates a conversation with the two disciples by asking \u201cWhat are you discussing?<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are surprised He couldn\u2019t guess.  To them, what had happened to Jesus was so astounding that they assumed everyone had heard about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They tell him what had happened, speaking of him as \u201ca prophet mighty in deed and word<\/em>\u201d who they were hoping would be the \u201cone to redeem Israel.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They had great hope in Jesus but now they are downcast because Jesus has been crucified.  It seems Jesus has been defeated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To add to their confusion, Jesus\u2019 tomb has been found empty and angels had said \u201che was alive.<\/em>\u201d  How could this be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It might seem they had lost faith but their hearts were not closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus began to speak to them of how it was \u201cnecessary<\/em>\u201d for the Messiah to suffer.  \u201cHe interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures.<\/em>\u201d  They began to understand but still did not recognize him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When did they recognize Jesus?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the breaking of the bread. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, we can match up what happened to Jesus to the prophecies of the suffering servant in the Old Testament.\u00a0 With the help of the Holy Spirit, when we read Scripture together Jesus becomes present among us.\u00a0 This is the first half of Mass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then we break bread.  We celebrate the Eucharist.  This is when the two disciples recognized Jesus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, many people, even practicing Catholics, do not recognize Jesus in the Eucharist.  If one looks at the bread and wine only in rational terms, it might seem ridiculous to think the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God has given us the gift of reason to learn things.\u00a0 However, reason cannot supply all the answers to questions about God.\u00a0 God is beyond our human comprehension.\u00a0 However, when \u201creason\u2019 is not enough, we have something greater, \u201cfaith.\u201d\u00a0 In faith, Jesus chooses to reveal to us his presence in the Eucharist when He says this is my body\u2026this is my blood.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you recognize Jesus in the Eucharist?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do your hearts burn within you when you hear God\u2019s Word?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your reaction to what you hear in church?  What is your reaction to what we celebrate in the Eucharist?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two disciples recounted to the other disciples of their experience with the risen Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you show your experience of Jesus with others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you leave church, do you converse with others about what you have experienced?  Converse about <\/em>Jesus and He will become present.  We may not see him as the two disciples on the road to Emmaus did but our hearts will burn with his presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s way is not popular today but that doesn\u2019t mean it is the wrong path.  Robert Frost wrote, \u201cTwo roads diverged in a wood, and I\u2014I took the one less traveled by<\/em><\/strong>, and that has made all the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

3rd Sunday of Easter, Year AActs 2:14, 22-33Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11 (11a)1 Peter 1:17-21Luke 24:13-35April 23, 2023 When Jesus was arrested, Peter denied him three times.\u00a0 The other disciples fled.\u00a0 Now, Peter stands up and proclaims Jesus.\u00a0 He speaks of Jesus\u2019 mighty deeds.\u00a0 He speaks of Jesus as the one they had killed. …<\/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":[949,29,82],"tags":[739,290],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-2or","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9203"}],"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=9203"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9212,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9203\/revisions\/9212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}