STAY WITH US, LORD

III EASTER SUNDAY - Luke 24:13-35

The death of Jesus on the cross came as a tremendous shock to the disciples, destroying all their hopes. They were disappointed and disillusioned. With heavy hearts, they went back to the village, to the old certainties, forgetting that we can never go back to the past. We can remember the past and learn lessons from it, but we cannot reenact it and when we try, we do something different. As they talked and walked, a stranger join them and got interested in their conversation, intervening with a simple question: What are you talking about? With sadness showing on “their faces downcast”, they showed their surprise: You didn’t hear what happened in Jerusalem during the last few days? How is it possible?

And they explained to this stranger about the crucifixion of the great prophet Jesus of Nazareth, whom they believed to be the Messiah who should have restored the Kingdom of Israel. Now their hopes and expectations have been dashed.

In this gospel passage, we have a journey of two people who lost hope and felt low and depressed, as if life is not worth living anymore. And Jesus came and started walking with them, allowing them to give expression to their worries and concerns. In their journey, they welcomed a stranger, who became their fellow traveller, and were able to engage in a dialogue with him. This stranger was Jesus, who opened their minds and brought a new understanding and a new way of looking at what happened - the passion and death of Jesus on the cross. They had followed Jesus with the hope of political restoration to the glory of the people of Israel, but Jesus did not come for that. And they avoided and feared suffering and death as the destroyers of life. Jesus embraced suffering and death and transformed them into the path of resurrection and life. As he explained to them, they began to understand and everything started to fall in place and to make sense.

Jesus is always able to transform our sadness into joy and our disappointments into hope. He brings new light into our hearts, making it possible to look ahead and to walk straight, knowing that he is with us.

The two travellers enjoyed the company of this stranger who had become a friend and they did not want to separate from him. As the evening approached when they reached the village, they invited him saying: “Stay with us!” (Lk 24:29). As he remained with them, he shared the bread with them, and they recognised that he was Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord.

It is in difficult times that we need most the company of the Risen Lord with us. Only with him, can we walk along the paths of life and experience a joy that we must share with others. Like those two disciples travelling back to the village, we must ask the Lord: “Stay with us!” Be with us, so that we may recognise you and experience your love and the power of your resurrection.

BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL

II EASTER SUNDAY - DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY - John 20:19-31

Pope Saint John Paul II dedicated the Sunday after Easter to the celebration of the Divine Mercy. God’s mercy is bestowed on us through Jesus Christ. He offered himself in sacrifice for us - for the forgiveness of sins.  That’s why Jesus is our Saviour and Redeemer. It is through him and in him that we are reconciled with God and receive the grace that enables us to reconcile with each other. The resurrection of Jesus is the guarantee that we received mercy and have been forgiven.

Jesus entrusted his disciples with the same mission he had received from the Father. He sent them as ministers of mercy and reconciliation. And in order to enable them to carry out this ministry, he gave them the Holy Spirit, telling them:

Receive the Holy Spirit.

For those whose sins you forgive,

they are forgiven;

for those whose sins you retain,

they are retained. (Jn 20:22-23).

Jesus came to call people to repentance and to proclaim God’s mercy (Mt 4:17; Lk 4:19). The Church has been entrusted with this mission and she must be a presence of God’s mercy in the world. However, there are people in the Church who prefer to announce the wrath of God and his ready punishment to all who do not keep to all laws. It is true that we cannot take God for granted, but his loving mercy will have the last word. Even when we speak of God’s justice, we must remember that his justice is not retribution and revenge. God’s justice is the justice of a loving father, who forgets the wrongs done to him and celebrates with great joy the return of his lost children.

In the Catholic Church, in our approach to sin, we have been too legalistic, behaving like the Pharisees, always ready to condemn and to impose rules that in their harshness come from ourselves. Pope Francis has been calling the Church the be again a presence and a testimony of God’s loving mercy. We must keep the doors of the Church open to all who are searching for mercy and compassion. We must call everybody - and first of all, ourselves - to repentance and we must speak about the corruption of sin in our lives and in society, but like God, the Church must always welcome with open arms the sinners who are in need of salvation.

Experiencing God’s mercy, we learn how to be merciful.  And it is so difficult to be merciful. It is so difficult to do good to those who have done us wrong. Reconciliation is not an easy thing. But there can be no peace without reconciliation and reconciliation is impossible without forgiveness. May this Sunday of the Divine Mercy help us to experience God’s mercy to us and fill us with the Spirit of love which soothes our hearts, heals our pains and brings the joy of being merciful.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Mt 5:7).

LET US CELEBRATE CHRIST’S VICTORY

EASTER SUNDAY - Colossians 3:1-4

He died for us, so that we may be reconciled with God, and he rose from the dead so that we may have life. Easter is the feast of the resurrection, and therefore the feast of the victory of life. This victory was not achieved by the boastful power which presses and crushes everybody else or by the clever mind which finds its own way and makes its own rules, ignoring uprightness and justice. It is a victory achieved by the selfless love of the one who offered his own life so that others may live. In spite of God’s silence, as if he was not there or had become deaf to the cries of the innocent, Jesus entrusted his spirit to the Father, knowing that he is the source of life. 

We are called to share in this victory by walking with Jesus through the same way that takes through death to life. As Paul wrote to the Colossians, our life is hidden with Christ in God, so that when Christ is revealed, we too may be revealed:

“Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, 

you must look for the things that are in heaven, 

where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. 

Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, 

not on the things that are on the earth, 

because you have died,

 and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. 

But when Christ is revealed 

– and he is your life – 

you too will be revealed in all your glory with him.” 

Colossians 3:1-4

JESUS HUMBLED HIMSELF

PALM SUNDAY - Philippians 2:6-11

My first Palm Sunday mass in Lubengele

As he enters Jerusalem with the singing crowds, Jesus is acclaimed as the Messiah king, with everybody shouting Hosanna, as a cry for deliverance: Please, save us! Thad caused a commotion in Jerusalem, with the people from Jerusalem asking: Who is this?

It is indeed a strange sight. If he is the Messiah and a King, where is the show of power? And where are his armies? How is he going to defeat the enemy and to impose himself? Or is it a joke? How can he be the Messiah on a donkey, the humble animal used by the poor? Where are the generals and the army commanders? How does he enter Jerusalem, the holy city, accompanied of a rabble of poor people?

Matthew considers this event as the fulfilment of the prophecy of Zechariah:

Say to the daughter of Zion:

Look, your king comes to you;

he is humble, he rides on a donkey

and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. 

(Zech 9:9; see Is 62:11)

The Messiah would come in humility, not in power and glory. He is king, but of a different kind. He is not in the business of dominating and imposing himself. The famous kings and generals - like Nebuchadnezzar and Pompey - came into Jerusalem riding horses, shedding blood and vomiting fire. They did not bring peace, but destruction and death. Jesus comes in peace with a promise of life. That’s why the Church applies to him the passage of the prophet Isaiah, where the Messiah is like a servant and like a disciple:

The Lord has given me

a disciple’s tongue.

So that I may know how to reply to the wearied

he provides me with speech.

Each morning he wakes me to hear,

to listen like a disciple.

The Lord has opened my ear. 

For my part, I made no resistance,

neither did I turn away.

I offered my back to those who struck me,

my cheeks to those who tore at my beard;

I did not cover my face

against insult and spittle.

(Is 50:4-6)

He is ready to be obedient and to suffer. It is for us that he suffers, so that he may bring relief and peace.

Palm Sunday procession in Lubengele Parish, Chililabombwe

The first generation of Christians composed a hymn that Paul used in his letter to the Philippians (Phil 2:6-11) about the mystery of Christ, that is the mystery of his suffering and death and then the mystery of his resurrection and exaltation.

His state was divine,

yet Christ Jesus did not cling

to his equality with God

but emptied himself

to assume the condition of a slave

and became as men are;

and being as all men are,

he was humbler yet,

even to accepting death,

death on a cross.

Jesus humbled himself to the point of death, and death on a cross, which the most humiliating death.

This is the mystery that we are going to celebrate during the Holy week that starts this Sunday, the Palm Sunday. During this week, let us come close to Jesus to share in his pain and suffering, so that we may share as well in his glorification. With him, we will be able to learn how to live, passing through suffering and death and moving forward to the resurrection. Indeed, 

God raised him high

and gave him the name

which is above all other names

so that all beings

in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld,

should bend the knee at the name of Jesus

and that every tongue should acclaim

Jesus Christ as Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

CALLED TO LIFE IN JESUS

V LENT SUNDAY - John 11:1-45

The society we live in is puzzling. We make tremendous efforts to prolong life and then, being afraid of suffering, we are ready to kill or to facilitate their death when the hope of recovery is lost. And we do that claiming that everybody deserves a dignified death. We become the owners of life and death. The Bemba proverb says that umweo wa nkoko waba kuli cibinda (the life of the chicken is in the hands of the owner). On the other side, we feel children as a burden and reduce the number of those we are ready to accept. In Europe, due to the low birthrate, the keeping and development of society are becoming unsustainable, in such a way that our society is dying.

We need to speak about life and about death and the suffering that goes with it. Life is a gift, the greatest gift, which makes possible to accept other gifts. And in spite of becoming our life, it continues to be given and to be received as a gift. We are not the owners of our own life, and we have not the right to kill ourselves or the right to contribute to the death of somebody else. 

This Sunday’s readings are about life and death. With the resurrection of Lazarus, Jesus reveals to us the goal of life, which doesn’t end in death, but, passing through death, reaches its fulfilment in the resurrection. The resurrection is presented as the gift o life coming to its plenitude. It is a gift which we may receive in Christ and with Christ. 

Martha and Mary, the two Lazarus’ sisters, were overwhelmed with the sense of loss. Before their brother’s death, they consoled themselves with the hope of Jesus’ coming: he would heal Lazarus. But he did not hurry to come, and Lazarus died. All those who lose their beloved go through the same painful experience: they grasp anything that may measure them and give them a little hope until there is nothing to hope for. Martha’s words to Jesus sound like a reproach: “‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died”. Jesus himself felt the pain of loss and cried while trying to console Martha and Mary.

Lazarus’ death was an opportunity for Jesus to teach about the meaning of life and the hope of resurrection. And he said to Martha: 

     “I am the resurrection and the life.

     If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live,

     and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.

     Do you believe this?”

 It is by faith in Jesus Christ that our life will find meaning and purpose. Being one with Christ, we will share in his resurrection and find eternal life. And Christ becomes our hope in the middle of this hopeless world. The belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the core of our Christian faith and the resurrection of Christ is the guarantee that we will rise as well from the dead.

Like Martha, we must proclaim our faith: “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.” (Jn 11:27).

In the second reading, taken from the letter to the Romans, Paul tells us that if the Spirit of Christ is in us,  then, even if our bodies die because of sin, we have been justified “and if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then he who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in you.” (Ro 8:11).

In this last week of Lent, before the beginning of Holy Week, let us open our hearts to the Spirit of Christ so that he may have his home in us; let us allow him to transform us from within, so that we become more and more like Jesus Christ and the day will come when we will share fully in his resurrection. Giving thanks to God for this gift, let us ask the strength to offer the world the light of hope, which will guide it to peace and life.

JESUS CHRIST IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

IV LENT SUNDAY - John 9:1-41

Preparing the catechumens in their journey of faith towards baptism, the Church uses the catechesis of the Gospel of John, in which we are presented with the symbols of baptism: the living water, the light and the life.

Jesus presents himself as the Light of the world. Before that light, we may react in different ways, accepting the light or rejecting it. This catechesis about Jesus as the Light of the world moves around the healing of a blind man and the reactions that followed.

It is their fault! But is it really?

First of all, we are presented with the situation of a man born blind. He seats all day and begs, being at the mercy of those who have a little compassion. He is seen as cursed and punished by God, because of his own sins or the sins of his parents. He is rejected by society, living like an outcast and he is blamed for it. It is a common trend that then poor and the oppressed are blamed for their suffering. It is their own fault, people say. We are very judgemental, easily condemning those who are in a worse situation than ourselves.

Jesus tells us that suffering and pain are not a sign of sinfulness on the side of those who are affected. Instead of accusing the blind man, Jesus approached him and relieved him of his suffering. The blind man stands for all those who are in darkness and look for light, that is for those who are in need of salvation, and cannot save themselves.

Jesus did most of the healing with just a word of command. In this case, however, Jesus used saliva and soil to make a little mud with which he anointed his eyes. Then, he told the man to go and wash his eyes; and as he did so, he started seeing. Salvation is a gift, which can only be received if we cooperate. In order to be saved, we must put in our own contribution. 

A journey of faith

The story of the blind man, like the story of the Samaritan woman, is a story of a journey of faith, presenting the different stages of that journey. When the man was questioned by his neighbours about the one who did his healing, he answered that it was a man called Jesus. Then, questioned by the Pharisees, he answered that the “man called Jesus” “is a prophet”. When they questioned him a second time, he told them that Jesus was a man “from God”, otherwise he would not be able to do anything. Finally, when Jesus revealed himself to him as the Son of Man, he worshipped him, saying: “Lord, I believe” (Jn 9:38). And he was expelled from the synagogue because of his faith.

Witnessing to Jesus before the world

We can look as well at the reaction of the other interveners in the story. His neighbours noticed the change in his life and realised that something miraculous had happened to him. Thinking it impossible that he could be healed, some could not accept that he was the same blind man. And all wanted to know how such wonder had happened. The blind man was truthful up to the end, always ready to answer and to give the reason for his healing. However, his neighbours, instead of going to Jesus, they went to report the case to the Pharisees, because Jesus did the healing on a Sabbath.

For the Pharisees, it was clear that Jesus was an impostor and a sinner because he did not keep the Sabbath. They could not explain the healing which had taken place, but they had all the answers and did not need to look somewhere else to find the truth. Unable to believe and doubting the truthfulness of the blind man, they questioned his parents. They were afraid and in fear, and so they answered without involving themselves.  After believing, the blind man finds himself alone with his own parents ignoring him.

The Pharisees were ready to pass judgement both on Jesus and on the blind man. The man was ready to give witness to Jesus, being ready for a discussion with the Pharisees, questioning their honesty: “I have told you already, and you would not listen”. And he does not accept their assertion that they are disciples of Moses. How can they be, if they behave like blind, refusing to see the obvious? Instead of accepting the truth, they preferred to exact punishment on him, expelling him from the synagogue.

Are we ready for a journey of faith like the blind man or are we like the Pharisees, who were blind to the surprises that God was doing in their midst? Are we full of pride, refusing to humble ourselves, so that we feel the touch of God in our lives? If we are blind, let us ask the one who is light to fill our minds and our hearts with his light.

WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH

III LENT SUNDAY - John 4:5-42

During Lent, the catechumens receive the final preparation for baptism, with the last Sundays dedicated to deepen the encounter with Jesus and to reflect upon the mystery of salvation in Jesus Christ. The gospel readings for the last three Sundays will come from John. In this third Sunday of Lent, we read about Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, at the well.

It is interesting that the women play an important role in the Gospel of John. At the wedding of Cana (Jn 2:1-11), Jesus started his public ministry at the request of his mother. And she appears as well at the end, near the cross. In between, we have the Samaritan woman (Jn 4:5-42), the woman caught in adultery (Jn 8:3-11), the profession of faith of Martha (Jn 11:27), the anointing by Mary (Jn 12:1-8). After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene (Jn 20:11-18)

In the encounter with the Samaritan woman, we have three main themes: the gift of living water, the worship in spirit and truth and the mission to the non-Jews, ending with the profession of faith of the Samaritans.

Like the woman who went to the well to fetch water, we may misunderstand the meaning of living water. Being pressed by our earthly needs, we may no pay attention to the deeper needs of our heart and our soul. We are thirsting for peace and love, and for life. Only Jesus can give us the water that quenches this thirst. The living water is not something that we can get on our own. It is a gift, God’s gift given to us by Jesus Christ. It is the gift of salvation, the gift of life, a boundless life received from God, which comes to us in the Spirit. This living water is the Spirit that creates us anew and makes us into children of God. This is a gift that we share, and the more we share, the more it becomes stronger in us. That’s why the woman rushed to her hometown, calling people to Jesus so that they could receive as well the water of life from him.

During the conversation, the woman put forward the division between Jews and Samaritans about the place of worship. Jesus answered back that God wants a worship done in spirit and truth, and that kind of worship can be done anywhere. We do not need a temple or a sacred place because we are the temple (1 Cor 3:16-17) and our lives must become a hymn of praise and thanksgiving to God. True worship comes about when we allow God to be everything in us, so that God may manifest his presence and his action in us (Ro 12:1).

During his public ministry, Jesus concentrated his activity in Galilee and Judaea, but he showed that his message was open to all. That’s why he passed through Samaria, being ready to preach the Gospel to the Samaritans. He does not exclude anybody. In fact, it is to a Samaritan woman that Jesus reveals himself clearly as the Messiah. The woman, after recognising the Messiah, could not keep the secret for herself, but she felt the urge to share it. And the people of Sychar invited Jesus to stay with them and preach to them the Good News. In the end, they told the woman: “Now we no longer believe because of what you told us; we have heard him ourselves and we know that he really is the saviour of the world.” (Jn 4:42)

Like those Samaritans, we need to hear for ourselves, that is we must make our personal encounter with Jesus so that our faith is not from hearsay, but from an inner certainty that comes from welcoming Jesus into our lives.