-
April 13, 2024Beginning on Easter Sunday, we have encountered the disciples hiding in fear, not knowing what to do or how to move forward. We have seen the disciples struggle to believe. Like us at times, they listened to their inner voices of doubt and despair and let fear overcome them. However, they didn’t remain there long because Jesus appeared in their midst, offering peace and encouragement.
We have had opportunity to witness the disciples as they encountered the Risen Lord in unexpected ways. We have watched them move from doubt and fear to a joy-filled belief. The lesson for us all these years later is the importance of being able to recognize Jesus in the ordinary and mundane events of life. Our Risen Lord is present with us, just like he was with the disciples, in often surprising ways, but unfortunately, like the disciples, we too sometimes fail to recognize him.
The Church has way of stressing the holiness and miracles of saints, often at the expense of their humanness. The danger is that we sometimes see saints as being superheroes; as people who lived lives far outside of our reach. In reality, saints, including those early disciples, were the same as you and me. Mother Teresa once said, “Saints are only sinners who keep trying.” Like us, the disciples were ordinary people who were transformed by the loving presence of God in their lives.
Just as the disciples encountered Jesus as a stranger, failing to recognize him, we too encounter the Risen Lord as we journey in faith when we slow down and allow faith to guide us forward. It is often in the daily routine of our lives that God meets us, but how often do we fail to recognize God’s presence? No matter where we find ourselves, Jesus is there, and when we see with eyes of faith, we can experience Jesus in the ordinary, in the faces of all those whom we encounter, in the beauty of nature, or in our tears of sadness. “We are an Easter people, and alleluia is our song!”
May God bless you and your loved ones today, tomorrow, and forever more.
Fr. Harry
