Second Sunday of Easter - Hearts Burning Within

The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for the Easter season

Today’s Reading and Feast

This is Divine Mercy Sunday and it concludes the Octave of Easter. This is based on the devotion to the Divine Mercy that St. Faustina Kowalska reported as part of her encounter with Jesus in 1937. The Feast is a relatively new one, instituted in 2000 by John Paul II.

Acts 2:42-47

Acts 1:8 lays out the program for this book: “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
2:14-8:3 mission in Jerusalem
8:4-9:45 Judea and Samaria
10:1ff Gentile mission

The last chapter of the Gospel according to Luke records the resurrection, the Emmaus road story, Jesus’ appearances and ascension – and they all happen on the same day. Jesus ascends and they return to Jerusalem and the temple with great joy. From God’s viewpoint, these events are timeless – they exist outside of time – kairos time.

In Acts, Luke says Jesus stayed for 40 days after the resurrection before the Ascension. From humanity’s viewpoint, there is a linear progression.

Several times in Acts, the author will give an overall summary of things rather than detailed stories. This is the first of such summaries. Most likely Luke’s information here was fragmented. See also 4:32-35, 5:11-16 for the major summaries.

Can you even begin to imagine a Christian community where no one is in need? What strikes me is that, in order to bring this about, the community must to know the needs of everyone. How often have I silently endured a situation, not letting others know what’s going on?! For a myriad of reasons, we all do this at points in our journey but doing so makes it unnecessarily challenging to bring about God’s vision of a community where all needs are met. What needs do you need to make known to your community(s)?

Reading this passage makes us think the early Christians were living some sort of utopian dream. They had it so easy – things were so good! And yet we know that there is always more to a story. Luke wants to make a point about the dramatic changes that people undergo when they encounter the Risen Christ. These changes can and do trickle over into community life to have a huge impact. But we also carry our broken humanity into that same community. Remember that the people pictured in today’s reading are the very same ones who will try to expel Paul for preaching inclusion of the Gentiles. The early Christians were not as perfect as Luke’s account makes them sound. Read this instead as a picture of where we aspire to be as a Christian community. Some days we hit it better than others but it is always a work in progress. And each day is a new opportunity for improvement (as Fr. Steve would say, “this is a no-shame zone!”).

Verse 42 talks about the “communal life” or, better translated, communion. Some in the church today see communion as vertical: Rome and/or bishops dictating what shall be. The earliest Christian community had much more of a horizontal view of communion. We have to be careful about idealizing this passage because, as I said above, it is a narrow account of an ideal that does not show all sides. At the same time, the church has much to learn from this passage about what constitutes effective community and communion to enable us to someday reach that ideal.

Verse 42 gives us four common elements in community life: teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, prayer. The phrase translated by the NAB as “to the communal life” is the word koinónia – fellowship or communion. Where do you find these four elements in your communities today?

1 Peter 1:3-9

This year all the second readings during Easter are drawn from this short book. I always recommend reading a book of the Bible as a whole to get a better sense of the fragmented parts we hear at Sunday Mass.

1 Peter is a pastoral document which emphasizes the dignity of the Christian vocation. It exhorts us to remain faithful in the face of difficulty and suffering. This suffering could stem from outright persecution. But it could also stem from alienation. Remember, in that culture, to be outside one’s family group (which is often what happened to someone embracing Christianity) could mean losing everything – job, status, privilege. Being alienated like this would certainly lead to suffering.

Almost every feature about this letter is highly debated: genre, addressees, author. It may have been written by Peter or a close associate or a much later disciple. It could date anywhere between 65 and 100AD. In some sense, it is a timeless document which is probably one reason why it survived in the Biblical cannon. What we can say is that the audience of this letter was scattered amidst a population that does not share their faith and hope.

Verse 4 refers to our inheritance. In the Old Testament, the inheritance promised to God’s chosen people was land. Now, under the new covenant, the inheritance is the very presence of God. How have you experienced this inheritance in your life?

Verse 9 refers to “soul.” In context, soul is the whole self – what we might refer to as “body and soul”

We suffer now through various trials so that the genuineness of our faith may be proved. What trials have tested your faith and shown it to be strong?

The Easter celebrations leave us on a spiritual high. The joy of the resurrection fills us with hope and vigor. Verses 3-5 allow us to revel in this consolation. But v6-9 remind us of the reality of the Paschal mystery: there is only one way to resurrection and that is death.

John 20:19-31

This gospel passage is read every year on the second Sunday of Easter.

Luke puts 40 days between the resurrection and the coming of the Spirit. John seems to say that you can’t separate the giving of the Spirit from the Paschal event of the resurrection – these things happen on the same day in John’s gospel. The key point is that the Spirit has been given.

The liturgical seasons very often blend into each other and we see that today. We are in the season of Easter but already we look forward to Pentecost and the coming of the Spirit. Why do we need to hear this today? The Paschal mystery holds such diverse emotions. Jesus dies but for a reason and he is resurrected. His followers abandon him only to come back together later. Today’s reading forces us to grapple with the reality that Jesus is no longer physically present with us like he was. But we also know he has not withdrawn to some remote mountain in the cosmos, distantly waiting for his time to return. Both narratives tell us today that Jesus is fully with us because his Spirit dwells in us – as individuals and as a church community.

Verse 21 uses a technical term for “send” indicating an agent commissioned with full authority of the sender.

Verse 22 evokes Genesis 2:7 – this is the beginning of a new creation!
“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
This is a sacramental moment where the words and matter effect what they signify. I am particularly struck by the fact that Jesus is giving us something but there is work to do on our part: we must receive!

Verse 23 is usually interpreted by Catholics as the hierarchical power to absolve of sin. But the word “retain” here is not a word that has a legal sense. It is more often translated “hold on to” or “seize,” “hold in check.” Similarly with “forgive” which is a word better translated “send away,” or “leave alone.” It’s almost like a statement of fact: when someone does something wrong against us and we hold on to it, we do indeed hold on to it! But if we let it go, it is gone. This is a view more about ourselves than the person who sinned against us.

Thomas represents all the generations after Christ: we know that Christ died and rose again but we did not experience all that as directly as the first disciples. Thomas encounters Christ in a new way and believes. I love the honesty in this encounter. Thomas does not shrink back from stating his doubt. And Jesus does not berate Thomas; instead, Jesus gives Thomas exactly what he needs. It’s interesting to note that Thomas said he needed to see and feel the wounds – actually put his hands on them. In the end, it is the encounter with the risen Lord, not the physical “proof,” that solidifies Thomas’ belief

Verses 30-31 form a conclusion to John’s gospel and remind us for all that is told, there is much not told. The stories have been chosen so that all may “come to believe.” The Greek tense implies a continuing, repeating action: “that you may continue to believe.”

Peace and joy are the first gifts of the risen Lord. How does your life reflect these gifts? How are you sharing these gifts with others?

Questions to ponder

What needs do you need to make known to your community(s)?

Where do you find the four elements of teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, prayer in your communities today?

How have you experienced the inheritance of God’s very presence in your life?

What trials have tested your faith and shown it to be strong?