Easter 2008
READING 1:
Acts 10:34a, 37-43 Psalm 118 READING 2: Colossians 3:1-4 GOSPEL: John 20:1-9
It seems our economy is struggling. Our government has decided to borrow the money from Saudi Arabia to send each of us $300-600 so we can buy stuff made in China. We’re placing our hopes on more debt. Ten of us just returned from a medical mission trip to Haiti. While we were there the people were complaining about the rising costs of flour and rice. In Haiti, very few people have electricity and even fewer have cars but nearly everyone has a cell phone. Their elected president made a speech about their economy and told the people that their government didn’t have the resources to feed their families. He said that if they are having trouble affording rice and flour to feed their families, maybe they should consider giving up their cell phones. They are basing their hopes upon personal responsibility. If there is one thing I have learned in 19 years as a priest, it is that each individual person has a story of their own. And, their story is rarely what we expect it to be. What is your story? How is it going? What are you basing your hope upon? The apostles had a story. It was as old as the Old Testament. The Apostles hoped Jesus would be the Messiah, the warrior king who would restore the Davidic kingdom of Israel to greatness. The Last Supper was the eve of the destruction of their story and their hopes. A few days’ later two disciples were walking away from Jerusalem and didn’t recognize Jesus. They told this “stranger” that the one they had placed all their hopes upon had been crucified. He told them they were going in the wrong direction. At the Last Supper, as their hopes were about to be lost, Jesus took the bread, broke it, gave it to his disciples saying, “This is my Body…do this in remembrance of me.” This Eucharist we celebrate began just when the disciples’ story and dreams and hopes were lost; it began with a crisis. In the years 60-65, Peter and Paul had been martyred. Christians were being fed to hungry lions. And the community was falling apart; parents were betraying their Christian children, children were betraying each other, etc. The hope that Jesus was about to come again in glory to rescue them was lost. That’s when they wrote the Gospels that continue to inspire Christians throughout the world. The Good News was written in days of crisis when hope seemed lost. How is your life going? I pray you delight in every day. How would you define your hope? If you think about it, hope only makes sense when we place our hope in God. Our story may not be what we expected; the Apostles and the early Christians didn’t get what they expected either. In fact, few people ever do live the story they expected. But when we invite God to lead us forward through the surprises and crisis, we will travel in the right direction. We can expect a Resurrection experience. And that’s really Good News!
Fr. Jeff McGowan |
