Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter

USCCB Readings

Jesus said to Nicodemus, “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

Jesus refers to the Old Testament account that foreshadows his crucifixion and resurrection. Because the people complained against God and Moses, God sent seraph serpents among the people that bit them and caused them to die. Moses prayed to the Lord to take the serpents from them, so God told him to make a seraph serpent and mount it on a pole. Everyone who had been bitten would look upon it and recover.

“The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” God, help me understand that you had to be lifted up so that you could bring eternal life to everyone who believes in you and who is born of the Spirit. You have heard the cry of your people and have given us eternal life through your crucifixion.

Jesus made clear the purpose of Moses lifting up the serpent and himself being lifted up: eternal life for all who believe in him. I ask God to make clear to me how I am to be a witness to the resurrection and to my faith.

I want to remember today that when Jesus says, “. . . so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life,” it means being a witness to my faith. From today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Luke says that among the community of believers there was no needy person among them because what they did have they distributed to each according to need. “With great power the Apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was accorded them all.” Today, let me see the needs of others around me, bearing witness to God in my works, joys, and sufferings, in communion with them through the risen Christ.

April 25, 2022—Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist

USCCB Readings

“Then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.”

As I listen to the Gospel reading, I’m struck by the phrase “while the Lord worked with them.” Although Jesus had ascended into heaven, he continued to work with the disciples, confirming the word through signs that instilled faith in the lives of those the disciples touched. From there, recognizing that this is the risen Jesus working with them, it’s one short step to say that he works still with all of us today.

Thank you, God, for sending your Son, who remains with us and is at the same time seated at your right hand. Just as Jesus worked with the disciples, he works with us today to proclaim the Gospel to every creature. God, help me understand what it means to proclaim the Good News; what news there is today is not good, and the Gospel seems to have little effect in dispelling the darkness.

Jesus Christ, light of the world, be my light today as you work with me to proclaim you today to those you give me the Good News. From today’s psalm: “Blessed the people who know the joyful shout; in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.”

At the end of today, I’d like to think back and be certain that whatever I do, the Lord worked with me to proclaim the Gospel even in humble ways. In today’s first reading, Saint Peter says, “So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.” I’m sure today’s worries will abound; when today’s work is done, what certainty of faith will I claim that the Lord worked with me to share the Good News of his life, death, and resurrection?

April 24, 2022—Divine Mercy Sunday—2nd Sunday of Easter

USCCB Readings

“Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.’ ”

This reminds me of the expression “Put my finger on it.” It is proof Thomas seeks (“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”) By saying “Put your finger here and see my hands, . . .” Jesus establishes facts to bring Thomas’s unbelieving into belief.

God, help me understand how the isolation of the disciples behind locked doors did not prevent Jesus from standing in their midst. Help me understand how to overcome the times that I doubt Jesus, when no amount of proof is enough. Thomas, though, does come to believe. He was not with the disciples when Jesus first appeared but sees Jesus when he appears a second time behind locked doors. Having seen the proof, Thomas comes to believe in the Risen Christ, exclaiming, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus said to Thomas, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?” Jesus give Thomas proof; it is proof Thomas wants. The Gospel reading says that Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples. Why? The evangelist Saint John says, “But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.” Jesus, together with the first who believed in him want, for those who come to follow him, what Jesus had to die to produce: forgiveness of sins, the Resurrection of the Body, and life everlasting.

Today, Divine Mercy Sunday, I want to bring my unbelief to Jesus through my actions throughout the day, through prayer, and in receiving the Eucharist. I will forget myself and fall into unbelief, I will fall short, and I will fail to show mercy. No matter. When I return, Jesus is there, and his grace is enough to transform my unbelief: “Blessed are those who have not seen and believed.”

April 23, 2022—Saturday of Easter Week

USCCB Readings

“But later, as the Eleven were at table, he appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. He said to them, ‘Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.’ ”

It’s difficult to hear Jesus rebuking the disciples for not believing the others after his resurrection. The flip side of this is that he asks the disciples to go out into the world to proclaim the Gospel to every creature. (Saint Francis took these words of Jesus literally, preaching to the birds.)

Three times this Gospel passage refers to the unbelief of the disciples (“they did not believe”; “they did not believe them either”; “they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised.”). God, help me understand the unbelief endemic among the disciples, the witnesses of the Messiah, the first Christians. Yet, Jesus is patient with these disciples, slack in faith, to the point where he charges them to proclaim the Gospel to the entire world. Humbling to consider!

Many distractions today, many twists on how I thought the day would go. On any given day, I hope to accomplish dozens of things. Today is no different, yet there is consolation today in letting God take the helm, peace in knowing that my unbelief doesn’t stop God from asking me to share humbly in his mission.

Today let me put aside as best I can the unbelief that prevents me from seeing Jesus even as I see his face in others and in the humble appearance of bread and wine. As Peter says in the first reading, after Jesus appeared to the Eleven and his unbelief he put behind him: “It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”

April 22, 2022—Friday of Easter Week

USCCB Readings

“So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord.’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea.”

Again, Peter and John are together after Jesus’ resurrection. On Easter morning, John arrives first to the tomb and recognizes in the absence of Jesus his presence. “Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed.” Here, John says from the boat, “It is the Lord.”

God, help me see Jesus in the presence of others. You choose to make yourself known not only in others but also in the Eucharist. When I receive Jesus during Communion, help me exclaim as Peter did: “It is the Lord!” As Mother Teresa said, “Seeking the face of God in everything, everyone, all the time, and his hand in every happening; This is what it means to be contemplative in the heart of the world. Seeing and adoring the presence of Jesus, especially in the lowly appearance of bread, and in the distressing disguise of the poor.”

It’s so easy to disregard God’s presence throughout the day and humanly impossible to pray always. But with God, nothing is impossible, and every day is an invitation to trust in God’s grace to be able to see what is true in the circumstances of the day. I think Peter is the perfect example of one who initially rejects God and finds his redemption in responding to Jesus’ invitation to trust: “Cast the net . . . and you will find something.”

Help me see you, God, in every moment of this day and in the face of others, especially those closest to me, whom I often take for granted. When Jesus walked on water, Peter began to walk on water to meet him but became afraid of the wind and started to sink, crying, “Lord, save me!” Today, let me be like Peter, unafraid to jump into the sea to see the Lord in every person I meet.

April 21, 2022—Thursday of Easter Week

USCCB Readings

“ ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”

These witnesses, the disciples, recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. Yet, they still were to experience the peace of Christ present among them, in flesh and blood the Messiah spoken of by the prophets and in the Old Testament. To this, Jesus opened the minds of the disciples.

God, help me understand why your risen Son appeared before the disciples in flesh and blood, eating in front of them. “Touch me and see me.” In his ministry, Jesus lived in a way that revealed his divine identity. After the Resurrection, he returns to the disciples to reveal that he is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets—the Messiah.

One of the evangelists tells the story of Jesus encountering a blind man. Jesus asks him what he wishes. The man says, “Lord, I want to see.” God invites us to see him, all distractions and filters aside, for who he really is. That’s the task of a lifetime.

I want to touch and see Jesus today, not in His flesh and blood but in the face of others who are troubled and full of questions. Help me to be a means of peace to them, not of this world, but that of the risen Christ.

April 20, 2022—Wednesday of Easter Week

USCCB Readings

“Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, ‘What are you discussing as you walk along?’ They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, ‘Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?’ ”

In yesterday’s reading, it was Mary Magdalene who did not recognize Jesus (“When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.”); today, it’s Cleopas and another follower of Jesus (“but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him”).

God, help me understand that there are bound to be countless times today when I don’t recognize you, where my eyes prevent me from recognizing you even when you are in plain sight.

With all of the distractions I face when I quiet myself, it is sometimes all I can do to say, “Here, God, this is all yours. I don’t know what to do with it. Take it, bless it, make it into something good.”

Today let me be full-sighted, to understand that seeing what is right before me is sometimes an illusion—the work I have ahead of me, the tasks I hope to accomplish before the day is over, the hundred little distractions. God, help me to recognize you and, even more, do your will.