ONE MORE TIME

 

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER

John 21:1-19

 

          “I’m going fishing,” Simon Peter said.  “Us, too,” said the other disciples.

Biblical scholars and commentators have often speculated why they did so.  Some say they were returning to their old way of life now that Jesus was gone.  Some say that maybe they were simply hungry.  I have often thought that maybe Simon Peter and the others were simply feeling lost and confused.  So often when we feel that way we just turn back to what we know, to what is familiar.  It gives us some comfort and a distraction from the grief and worry we are experiencing.  How often have we, in the midst of a loss or terrible worry, have found some comfort or distraction in the simple things like working, cleaning the house, washing the car.  The disciples did what was familiar – and comforting  - to them.  They went fishing.

          Whatever the reason, this much we know:  they failed.  No fish.  Maybe it was just bad luck.  Maybe the fish weren’t biting.  Maybe they just couldn’t concentrate.  Maybe they weren’t as good at fishing as they thought.  Whatever the reason – they failed.  That is, until Jesus showed up and said, “One more time!”  And, so one more time they threw the nets over the side and …. well, another miracle! Just like the first time. (Luke 5:1-11)

          Fishing wasn’t the only thing they failed at.  They failed in their mission.  They had become students of the teacher.  Then they became witnesses to Jesus’ miracles, his compassion, his forgiveness, his healing and his divine and all-encompassing love.  Then they became part of His work.  But it came to a screeching halt when their teacher, their leader, their friend, their God died on the cross.  Their mission was done.  They failed.  That is, until Jesus showed up - again - and said “Follow me”  - again. (Matthew 4:18-22)  One more time.

          And as we know, a miracle happened.  Their mission didn’t end – it continued.  A Church was born and continues. We’re proof of that.

          And what about us?  Do we often feel as if we have failed in life?  I know I have – and do – often.  But Jesus says, “One more time.” And we keep going.

          Do we sometimes feel like we have failed in our mission of faith, as followers of Jesus?  I know I do – often.  But Jesus says, “One more time.”  Keep going.  Don’t give up.  I’m working with you and through you – even if it doesn’t feel like it sometimes.

          We fail.  Jesus appears.  He urges us “one more time.”

 

“Call Me Ishmael”

 

Jesus Will Love.

 In this weeks Gospel John 20:19-31 Jesus appears to the disciples. The disciples were in hiding after the crucifixion when Jesus appears and says “Peace be with you”   Then he shows them his hands and side.  Then he breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone's sins, they are retained” 
One of the disciples Thomas wasn’t there when Jesus first appeared. He didn’t believe. He needed to see for himself.  8 days later Jesus  reappears and this time Thomas was there. Jesus  shows Thomas all that he needed and tells him to believe.  He also says “You believe because you can see me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”  This reading touched me in many ways. 1 being how Jesus made it clear that we as people can receive the Holy Spirit and forgive sin. The other being that Thomas a disciple still had doubts on whether or not Jesus actually appeared to the other disciples. This was another example that we will have doubt and question Jesus and it’s perfectly fine. 
         When Jesus  told the Disciples to receive the Holy Spirit he also said that they had the power to forgive or retain sins.  We as people have a choice to forgive or retain sin. Forgiveness of sin is an incredible power that we have been given.  You can choice to free yourself and someone else of a wrongdoing by choosing to forgive them. Over the years I have found that when I forgive someone it actually frees me.  When I can truly let go of the pain I’ve felt by someone else’s misdeeds I feel lighter.  I feel refreshed. I feel free.  I believe that this is the power that Jesus gave the disciples and us. He also gave us the power to retain.  Unforgiving is the opposite of freedom. It’s the retaining of sin. It’s the holding on to the pain.  It’s the carrying of a heavy burden. Yet, it’s also a choice.  Have you had a hard time forgiving someone? Have you been retaining sin?  Have you been trapping someone or  even yourself in the past.  Have you been trapped by sin and unable to move forward? What has that done for you?  We have been given a special power from Jesus. The power is to move forward and forgive.  That power allows us to be new. It allows us to see someone with new eyes. That’s the Holy Spirit at work. It makes the old new.  It makes the dirty clean. Our work is simply  believing. Like Thomas we will have moments of disbelief but that is part of the journey  we each have as a Christian. 
          We all have our doubts. Doubts about the outcome of a particular situation.  We have doubts about our ability to complete a task. Then there is the  doubt in whether or not our relationship with Christ is “good” enough. Having doubts is part of who we are.  Look at Thomas in the reading… he had doubt. He needed to see Jesus for himself. He needed his own proof. The word of the other disciples was not enough.  I think most of us are like Thomas. Yes, we are  called to believe Jesus, but I think we all meet him in our own way.  In order for Thomas to believe he said he needed to see Jesus’s hands and side with his own eyes. Well, 8 days later… that’s exactly what Jesus showed Thomas. That was Jesus meeting Thomas’s need. (Jesus has a way of doing that.) 
     I believe that each one of us has a different and special relationship with Jesus. A relationship that is based on our needs and Jesus’s love.  I think we can expect to have moments of doubt just  like Thomas  did.  When life gets a little challenging do you wonder if Jesus is on your side? Do you question if Jesus will be there when you need him most? Like Jesus told Thomas we are called to believe.  We are to Believe without seeing. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”  We may not have seen with our eyes but we do believe. We believe because at some point in each of our lives Jesus reveals himself to us. He shows us who he is and what he can do.   Many of us assume that Jesus reveals himself  in the dark moments or in the challenges of life.  I think Jesus can reveal himself in any situation.  The real question is whether or not we are looking for him.  In my own life, I have found that Jesus is always pulling the strings. He is always managing the outcomes.  The outcome may not be what I want but it always what I need. What I need to "see" Jesus. Do I have  moment when I doubt ? Yes I do. Do I believe? Yes I do. We are called to believe all the time. Having doubts doesn’t make you any less of a Christian. It makes you human.  We will doubt but Jesus will love.  Always. 

Where They Put Him

 In the Gospel for Easter Sunday, Mary Magdalene runs to Jesus' tomb and sees that His body is not there.  She returns to Simon Peter and John the Evangelist, thinking that someone has stolen Jesus' body.   She says that she does not know where "they" (the thieves of the body) put Jesus.  She is distressed, understandably so, that Jesus' body was seemingly stolen.  Also stolen, she likely felt, was her ability to mourn Jesus completely.

It seems to me, as we are doing things that we have not done since Easter 2019, that we should remember those who lost loved ones during the pandemic.  We should remember how these bereaved people were robbed of the ability to mourn fully the ones they had lost.  During the height of Covid, many wakes and funerals were not what they were meant to be due to certain restrictions.  And in this way, the bereaved were robbed.  Though different than Mary's feeling of having been robbed, something very important was taken from these bereaved, the ability to mourn fully among all of their friends and families.  

To me, this has been the longest Lent ever.  It started in 2020 and is just now seeming to end.  Each in our own ways, we have been robbed of highs and lows, and in many ways we will never get those moments back.

Sounds like a downer message for Easter, right?  Maybe not entirely.  We have been to the bottom of a deep dark well.  And, as trite as it may sound, perhaps now the light of Jesus will seem brighter than before. 

May you each experience a blessed Easter.  Peace be with you.

- The Older Brother 

 

DOMINGO DE RAMOS

April 10, 2022 - Palm Sunday Reflection

LK 22: 14-23:56

 

Jerusalén está rodeada de montañas.  Recuerdo claramente haber estado en una de ellas por la cual pasa el camino de Betania por donde Jesús comenzó, montado en un borrico, su entrada a Jerusalén. 

 

Desde esa altura se puede contemplar la ciudad santa amurallada y también las puertas que permiten la entrada a ella. Me imaginaba a Jesús montado en el borrico que, nos dice San Lucas, que los discípulos cubrieron con mantas mientras la gente, entusiasmada, tapizaba el camino con ramas y agitando otras ramas alaban a Dios y entonaban el mismo canto de los ángeles el día del nacimiento de Jesús, “Gloria Dios en las alturas y en la tierra paz a las hombres de buena voluntad”.

 

Sabemos que, desafortunadamente, ese grito de “¡hosanna,” que la multitud emitía entusiasmada ese día se convierte en “ ¡crucifica le, !“ unos días más tarde.

 

El Domingo de Ramos marca el final de los 40 días de preparación cuaresmal y el comienzo de la Semana Mayor, la semana Santa.

 

Las Misas del Domingo de Ramos aquí en nuestra parroquia de Santa Brígida estarán repletas de personas que vendrán a recibirlos ramos y agitarlos cantando, “¡Hosana!” al igual que aquellos hebreos de la época de Jesús.

 

Es que para nosotros, la Semana Santa es verdaderamente la Semana Mayor. Tanto en España como en los países de nuestra América Latina, celebramos de manera especial.

 

El Viernes Santo es un día de fiesta nacional en todos y cada uno de los países donde se habla español. En algunos países. también el jueves es día de fiesta nacional. Las procesiones, en algunas partes, comienzan hasta el mismo Lunes Santo y continúan todos los días santos. Las más grandes son las del Viernes Santo.

 

Se adornan las calles por dónde va a pasar la procesión con alfombras a veces hechas de pétalos de flores o por lo menos hechas con aserrín o con arena pintada de colores.

 

Pero al llegar aquí a los Estados Unidos nos encontramos muy pocas de estas celebraciones. En la sociedad civil, la Semana Santa es una semana como cualquier otra y el Viernes Santo es un día de trabajo como cualquier otro.

 

Gracias a Dios que en la parroquia Santa Brígida por la presencia de la comunidad italiana, siempre se ha celebrado ceremonias tales como el Vía Crucis  viviente en las calles. Y muy pronto en la historia de nuestra comunidad hispana comenzamos a tener la procesión del Santo entierro el Viernes Santo y la que es más importante, la procesión con el Santísimo Sacramento después de la liturgia del j\Jueves Santo.

 

En las parroquias donde hay presencia hispana, como en Hempstead, Brentwood, Central Islip, Patchogue y tantas otras, se celebra la procesión del Santo entierro y el Vía Crucis dramatizado.

 

Damos Gracias a Dios, no solamente por nosotros porque estas prácticas nos ayudan a mantener nuestra vida espiritual y a orar más intensamente durante estos días, sino que también ayudan a nuestros hijos e hijas a vivir los misterios de nuestra fe durante esos días y a mantenerlos vivos en su memoria.

 

Por nuestra parte, tenemos que recordar que tanto nuestro caminar, nuestro peregrinar por los 40 días de Cuaresma, como la Semana Santa misma nos preparan para la gran fiesta de la Resurrección, la fiesta más importante de nuestra fe cristiana.

 

Jesús padeció y murió pero resucitó para vencer el pecado y la muerte y para asegurarnos que también nosotros resucitaremos.

 

La tarea, el reto de la vida cristiana es el vivir constantemente en la presencia del Señor. Mediante nuestros bautismos nos hemos convertido en hijos e hijas amantísimos de Dios padre y y templos del espíritu Santo. El espíritu de Dios habita en cada uno de nosotros.

 

Estar conscientes de esa presencia divina en nosotros es la esencia de la vida cristiana. ¡Que estas celebraciones de la Semana Mayor nos ayuden a caer en cuenta de esa presencia del Espíritu Santo en lo más íntimo de nuestro ser!

 

Que as sea.

 

El Caballero de Nuestra Señora