Welcome to Deacon Mike’s Corner! This weekly deacon’s reflection is based mostly on the Sunday readings but will also include information on Catholic issues and current events affecting our Church. It is written from a Deacon’s perspective. That means I will try to write from a theological perspective, as well as from that of a husband, father, and grandfather.
Deacon Mike
Our first reading for this Sunday, strangely enough, comes from the New Testament Book of Acts. It is taken from Acts Chapter 2. It’s interesting to note that the story in our first reading actually occurs after Pentecost, when the Apostles received the Holy Spirit. The Apostles were able to speak and understand many languages. We will be reading from Acts 1 when we get to Pentecost in a few weeks. We should notice that the speaking in tongues stopped when Peter began to preach. The Holy Spirit now worked through Peter’s preaching and would not work against Himself through tongues at the same time.
Peter raised his voice, and proclaimed: “You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem. Let this be known to you and listen to my words.” I am a retired high school teacher. I always found that when I was making an important point in the classroom, I would say “listen-up” or “write this down”. Many times, when Jesus was making an important point, he would say “Amen, Amen I say to you…” Here in this reading Peter is doing the same thing. He is about to declare and explain what has happened during the last few weeks since Jesus was put to death.
My kids got used to me saying “Amen, Amen I say to you” because they knew that what I was about to say is important and would likely be on an upcoming exam. I would also say to my theology students something like “come on kids! Don’t you get it? Don’t you get what Jesus is telling you? In today’s gospel reading from Luke 24, Jesus says to the disciples who walked with him on the road to Emmaus “Oh, how foolish you are!”
Jesus told them that the problem with their belief was more in their heart than their head. We often think the main obstacles to belief are in the head, but they are actually in the heart.
What were the key events that occurred during the walk to Emmaus? First, Luke notes that Cleopas and the other stranger’s eyes were kept from recognizing him. Second, Cleopas expressed his feelings to Jesus as their disappointment and dashed hope, the tragedy of seeing Jesus crucified and their confusion because they had not yet seen Jesus himself.
Lastly, Jesus gave a scriptural explanation of what had occurred in the last week. He called them foolish and “slow of heart”. Then he convinced them that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things to enter His glory. He reframed the tragedy of the cross not as a failure, but as a fulfillment of ancient prophecy.
The emotions that the disciples felt are no different from the emotions and struggles of believers of today. Sometimes we believe that God has abandoned us and that we have abandoned him. Please take time this Easter season to devote yourself to pray and rejoice in His resurrection. He has NOT abandoned us.
Welcome to the Deacon’s Corner. This is the first bulletin for the reinstituted Deacon’s Corner. A deacon’s reflection will be in every bulletin going forward. Based mostly on the Sunday readings, but will also contain information on Catholic issues and current events that affect our Church. It is written from a Deacon’s perspective. That means that I will try to write from a theological perspective but also from that of a husband, father and grandfather. So let’s jump right into the subject of this Sunday: Divine Mercy.
In the year 2000, upon the canonization of Sr. Faustina Kowalska, Pope John Paul II instituted Divine Mercy Sunday to promote the message of Divine Mercy. Sr. Faustina was a Polish nun who witnessed visions of Jesus. In these visions Jesus asked her specifically for a feast day on the Second Sunday of Easter. He asked that the feast day be dedicated to God’s mercy.
When I was growing up and as a younger man, Holy Week and Easter Sunday was a special time. My parents always dressed to the nines on Easter Sunday. We always made the day special with a big feast and I won’t forget the certain favorite types of candy we got. I really just enjoyed the chocolate. But it always seemed that after Easter Sunday, things went quickly back to normal. We returned to school and if we saved our candy, mom would add a few pieces to our lunch box. But other than that, the next week was business and usual.
But Jesus did not want us to return to normal just yet. He wanted us to participate in the joy of the resurrection a little while longer, rather than just celebrating the resurrection on one day. Certainly, the timing of the feast makes sense. Liturgically, we have just come through Lent. Jesus’s post-resurrection experiences, especially in the Gospel of John (from which this Sunday’s gospel reading comes), are filled with his acts of mercy.
Jesus’ disciples were still feeling the guilt and anxiety of giving up on their master when He needed them most. On one level, the apostles did not acquit themselves in ways that would have made them proud of themselves when the authorities came for Jesus.
On another level, consider first his initial words to the disciples, “Peace be with you.” On one level, we can read this as a recognition of the anxieties that Jesus’s disciples must surely have been feeling after watching their teacher suffer crucifixion. This is peace in the sense of calming. Against this backdrop, Jesus’s offering of peace was an offering of an olive branch, a reassurance that he was not going to hold their conduct against them. He was presenting mercy in the classic sense of forgiveness.
Again, Jesus shows mercy to Thomas, whose doubts were met with kindness. Jesus responds in mercy to Thomas, insisting that Thomas’s prior acts do not define him in Jesus’s eyes any more than the disciples’ desertion defined them.
We should go forward with these lessons of Divine Mercy, continue to celebrate the resurrection by trusting in God’s mercy and sharing it with others.
The first reading from Acts (Acts 2:14a, 36-41) kind of skips around. It starts with verse 14 from Chapter 2, then it skips to verse 36. When the church does this, it makes me want to read the verses that were skipped and see what the Church did not want us to read.
The skipped verses, 15-35, is where Peter explains to the crowd what happened to them during Pentecost when they received the Holy Spirit. Peter raised his voice. There was a remarkable change in Peter. He had courage and boldness that was a complete contrast to his denials of Jesus before being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Peter didn’t teach as the rabbis in his day usually did, who gathered disciples around them, sat down, and instructed them and any others who might listen. Instead, Peter proclaimed the truth like a herald.
Verse 36 picks up as a summary of Peter’s preaching. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know! The sermon concludes with a summary. Simply, all Israel should know that even though they crucified Jesus, God has declared Him both Lord and Christ.
Have you ever done something in your life that you are so ashamed of and don’t know how to correct your actions? This is what the Apostles and other disciples do. When they heard Peter making the strongly worded accusations they were cut to the heart and they say, “What shall we do?” They asked Peter how they should respond. When the resurrected Jesus changed Peter’s life and when the power of the Holy Spirit had come upon him, it was as if Peter was a sheep who now recognizes his Good Shepherd. He recognized that Jesus was calling him into the sheepfold.
In the gospel reading from John Chapter 10 Jesus points out the contrasting difference between the Good Shepherd and the false prophets of Israel.
He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep: A true shepherd comes in the legitimate and designed way: through love, calling, care, and sacrificial service. May we continue to come to Jesus, not by climbing over a wall, but by entering the gate opened by the Good Shepherd.
In Sunday’s Gospel, we hear Jesus speaking in one of the last supper discourses. We hear Jesus talking about the many dwelling places (rooms) in his father’s house.
How do we get to one of those rooms in the Father’s house? Jesus told us how; he said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Jesus is the way; he is to be the foundation of our lives. How do we live the Way of Jesus?
Last week I had the pleasure of assisting Bishop Pohlmeier at our confirmation mass where thirteen of our teenagers were confirmed. In the Bishop’s homily the bishop spoke about what Jesus said at the end of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. We hear Jesus say, “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.” (Matt 7:24-25). The bishop explained that Jesus is the way to the Father, so his words are the foundation for our lives. If we do not build our lives on Jesus, we have a weak foundation.
Jesus is the way. When we make his words the foundation of our lives, we are on a sure foundation. I think Bishop Pohlmeier said something like this in his homily: “if we continue to build our lives on the foundation that is Jesus, we are building our lives on the rock”. He is the truth who liberates us. He is the life who restores people in every way possible.
Jesus said he is the truth. What does this mean for you? Jesus helps us understand who we are in the eyes of God. He is the one who shows us our how precious we are because he died to liberate us from sin. Standing before Pilate, Jesus said, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice. (John 18:37) Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to the voice of Jesus. Jesus is the one who liberates us, not only by giving his life in exchange for our sins but also by his teaching, for example, when he told us that when we return to God after being away, there is great joy in heaven—“there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.” (Luke 15:7) His truth who sets us free from the past to live His new life.
Jesus is the life. Those who met Jesus had a new life afterwards. Lepers and a hemorrhaging woman who were cured in other gospels found a new life and were able to return to their families and continue to worship in community with their new life. We cannot reach out to touch Jesus’ cloak but in John 6 we read these words from Jesus about the Eucharist: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. (John 6:53-55)
