Praise be Jesus and Mary.
I continue to point out the stark contrast of these readings that we have for our first
reading versus the gospel.
We're getting the picture of the disciples immediately after the resurrection of our
Lord versus, and this is what the gospel theme has been, the picture of the disciples immediately
throughout the week of the octave of Easter, and the reading has consistently been from
after Pentecost, when the apostles are not afraid anymore, you know, they're not behind
locked, we don't hear, after Pentecost, you don't hear any more about locked doors.
There's no more locked doors, there's no more, they're not afraid, they're not, there's the
confusion that reigns prior to the descent of the Holy Spirit is no longer there.
You know, they've got that fortitude to stand strong.
Really, also, I think the church is trying to tell us, you know, because this is, this
whole week, really, if you haven't noticed in the prayers, especially for those of you
who have been reading the Missal, I encourage, always encourage that if you can't get to
Mass, if you've been going to Mass and you've been hearing it, hopefully you've been paying
attention, and this is another reason for the Missal, even if you are going to Mass,
it's good to have a Missal because it helps us to pay attention to the words, and I speak
from my own experience.
It's in one ear and out the other.
It's like, what was that?
Um, it helps to have it, you know, so we can also look at it and follow along in the
readings in prayers, and this week it's been focusing a lot on baptism, and one of the
things that the church teach about baptism is while we receive, you know, the gifts of
the Holy Spirit, you know, fortitude, temperance, prudence, justice, those, there's, by the
way, you know those are twofold.
You have both the supernatural.
Uh, cardinal virtues as well as the natural cardinal virtues.
The ones that are supernatural are the ones that will help us get to heaven.
The natural virtues are the ones, well, you usually still have those even after you've
had a big fall because they're a habitual practice, and so you may have a big fall,
but you'll still have the natural virtue, but the natural virtue is, as the fathers
of the church like to say, uh, the natural virtues in and of themselves are beautiful
vices because they don't, they don't aim to heaven.
That's what makes the, that's what makes the cardinal virtues, the supernatural virtues,
cardinal virtues, because the direction, you know, we can talk, prudence is a beautiful
one, prudence that is aimed at trying to get to heaven versus the prudence of trying to
preserve the natural life.
One can understand the big difference of those things.
Our Lord is very clear on that.
He who seeks to save his own life shall lose it, whereas he who loses his life for my sake
and the sake of the gospel shall gain it.
That's supernatural.
That's our prudence, when we have that vision in our actions, in our words, in our thoughts.
So, part of what I'm getting at is, baptism, these graces are incomplete.
We have them.
They've begun.
We've gotten some part of it, but not all of it.
We believe in Christ when we're baptized, but we lack that firm fortitude to stand strong
wrong.
We lack that firm fortitude to stand strong.
We lack that firm fortitude to stand strong.
We lack that firm fortitude to stand strong.
the time of trial. And that comes through confirmation, which is what the disciples
received at Pentecost. They received the Holy Spirit. That's what we receive when we receive
the sacrament of confirmation. We receive the Holy Spirit to stand. Now we're adults
in the church, ready to stand up and give witness to Christ, willing to suffer for the
name. And this is the difference. This is the stark contrast that we see from the birth
of the church, you know, from the death of Christ. When I say that's sort of the baptism,
we're baptized in Christ, we die with Christ, but we're afraid. Locked in behind doors,
got to hide. Someone might find out I'm a Catholic. I'm afraid I might get caught, put
in prison, tortured, like poor Jesus. And so, you know, the disciples are confused,
they're frightened. This is why they're behind locked doors. Whereas in the reading, where
are they in the reading?
We hear, at first, well, they're working in Science and Wonders. They're all together
in Solomon's portico. None of the others dare to join them. But the people esteem them.
They'll say, look how brave they are. It's awesome. They're so, you know, they're so
holy. We'll put our people out in the street so we can get cured maybe with the shadow
of Peter. We don't fall on them and my brother will get cured, my sister will be healed.
But I have to be careful. I don't want to get kicked out of the temple.
The fear of giving witness to Christ. They haven't received the Holy Spirit. And this
is what the Holy Spirit helps us. It's one of the things, you know, this is a theme which
we'll hear throughout the Easter season. It's been a very strong theme throughout the
Christmas, the Easter octave, going back and forth between these two readings. The reading
of the Acts from the Acts of the Apostles with the descent of the Holy Spirit versus
that fear and trepidation.
And also, in a certain sense, it's an encouragement for all of us. Because, first of all, the
disciples, in spite of all the exhortations of our Lord prior to his death, resurrection,
I mean, he told them. He said that the Son of Man is to suffer. When he set his face
to Jerusalem, he told them, he says, I'm going to go there to die. The chief priests and
scribes are going to put me to death. In three days, I'm going to rise. We don't know what
he's talking about. I don't understand that at all. When it happens, and they start hearing
that he's risen, oh, come on. Give me a break. I saw the way he suffered. I mean, you see
what those guys did in the Garden of Olives when they grabbed hold of him? It's horrible.
They all fled in fear. And that was very fresh, strong and fresh in their mind. They had barely
escaped with their own lives. And look what they did with their master. And the master
told them, if he suffered, they can expect to suffer, too. They have to suffer like a
man. If he suffered like that, what Jesus suffered, I'm out of here. Exit stage right
or stage left, whichever is closer.
Haven't received the gift of the Holy Spirit. They want to believe. They want to do good.
They want to stand and give. You know, the desire is there. The Spirit's willing. Peter
has a beautiful testimony. Lord, I'm ready to die with you. Are you ready to die with
me?
How many of us?
We might feel like Peter sometimes. Lord, I'm ready to die for you. But when the cross
is placed upon his shoulders, we scream out, Lord, help me. I can't take it. We scream
out. It's too much. I can't bear it. It's too hard. It's too heavy. There's a pain
right here. It's just too much. That pain right there is just too much. I can't bear
it.
This is another, you know, it's a beautiful, we have, this is also, as we know, Divine
Mercy Sunday.
Our Lord, in this first meeting, his first appearance, and this is on Easter Sunday,
he wants to encourage his disciples who have gone through the scandal of the cross. So
he appears to them. Peace be with you. He shows them their hands and their feet. We
also know from another gospel that he does correct them for their lack of belief of those
whom he had appeared and already had sent to them to exhort them. They weren't quick
in leaving. They do finally get to Galilee. But it's after our Lord's reproach for them
not going. But they do, you read the, and I'd encourage you to do that. Read the gospel,
the four different gospels on, after the, you know, from the death to the resurrection.
It's very short because they're all very quite brief and concise on what happens.
They do finally get there. But in this meeting on Easter Sunday, which would have been the
first Sunday, we celebrated Easter last week, he gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Receive the Holy Spirit, whose sins you forgive are forgiven, and whose sins you retain are
retained. We're given the sacrament of confession. The power to bind and loose, it's given to
all priests. And this is, you know, we really act on behalf of God.
It's an incredible gift that God gives. And some of you may have seen it, St. John Vianney
played by Leonardo de Filippi. He gives a little beautiful quote from Leonardo de Filippi
in regards to that. You know, the awesome power that God has given to his priests to
be able to pardon our sins. I can't pardon my own. I have to go to a priest too. But
to be able to pardon the sins of others. And to believe those words. And the priest says,
you know,
I absolve you of your sins. And he's speaking on behalf of Christ. This great mercy that
he's given, not only the gift of baptism to wipe away original sin, but even though we
sometimes fall into sin after baptism, we can still reconcile ourselves with God. This
is why we all daily need to examine ourselves and go through what's always, and some people
get confused. Have you converted to the Lord today? Have you gone through your conversion?
Have you tried to turn?
That's what conversion means, to turn to the Lord. To be converted. And there's different
stages of that conversion. We have the initial conversion when we really start trying to
practice our faith. Then as we start trying to practice our faith through the dent of
our efforts, with the help of God's grace, we finally get to another point where we start
doing it better. And even then we start realizing our faults. And our faults start staring at
us like the great sins that we used to have in the past. Because we start seeing through
the light of Christ. And we start seeing through the light of Christ. And we start seeing through
the light of Christ how awful even our smallest faults are in relation to the great goodness
of God and His great mercy. It's something, you know, as we're reflecting on God's mercy,
we really need to look at that mercy both from the crib, I wouldn't even say from the
conception of our Lord, but from the crib all the way to the cross. Jesus' mercy to
us. And contemplate it. Living this different, and this is one of the reasons why during
each season we want to take, we want to take a little bit of time to contemplate it. We
want to take a little bit of time to reflect on the gifts that God gives us in this season.
And this season primarily, what is it? It's hope. Hope through the mercy of the cross
and our Lord and what He suffered for us. That doesn't mean that we don't, we can put
the cross behind us and we, no, He gives us hope to bear the cross. It's not like you
can, okay, drop the cross, forget it, run off and have, I can scamper off and have all
the fun I want because Christ has carried the cross for me and I don't have to suffer anymore.
That's not what Christ says to us. That's not what Christ says to us. That's not what Christ says to us.
That's not what Christ says to us. That's not what Christ says to us. That's not what Christ says to us.
in the scriptures. Go back and read the scriptures again. He doesn't say that. You would be my
disciple. Take up your cross daily and follow me. And if we do that, then the hope of the
resurrection is ours. And the more we share in that suffering. He gave a vision. I was
kind of preparing my homily or the talk that I'm going to give today on the divine mercy.
One of the things that our Lord, He gave this vision to St. Faustina. And I was asking,
and she said, well, what do you want me to talk about?
So I opened it up and started reading the Divine Mercy a little bit, skipping around.
One of the things I found was quite beautiful.
He gave a vision to St. Faustina.
Three different, of course he only stopped at three,
and one could go a little further and realize what happens.
But of the three visions, she would see in the first vision,
those coming carrying crosses, and they were nailed to their cross.
The second group were carrying their cross,
and they were firmly holding on to it.
They weren't nailed to it, but they were firmly holding it.
The third group came dragging their cross,
kind of carelessly dragging their cross,
with great unwillingness.
Of course, we can imagine the next type of conditions.
There wasn't a fourth group. Why? Because they didn't carry their cross.
And our Lord actually tells her, He says,
Those who throughout their life
share
in my contempt
and my suffering
and in my pain
will be more like me
in my glory.
Those who allow themselves to be nailed to the cross
which Christ sends to them,
they will share the glory of their crucified Lord in heaven
because they have conformed themselves most perfectly.
Or you might say more,
because you can always go most,
you can always do more and more,
but they try to conform themselves most perfectly to our Lord.
And so when they get to heaven,
they will share in the glory of their Lord crucified.
Others, because of whatever perfection,
they're willing to carry their cross firmly,
but perhaps they don't want to allow themselves
to be crucified on that cross,
but they firmly carry their cross.
Willingly,
they will share in that glory of our Lord
who carried His cross for love of them.
And the others who grudgingly
carried their cross
will share in the glory of their Lord
with the perfection in which they carried
grudgingly their cross after our Lord.
Sort of like Simon of Cyrene.
Although they say he converted on the way
because even in the movie,
it's a beautiful portrayal.
He didn't want to take up the cross,
but in the end,
he willingly took it up
to help our Lord carry His cross.
And we know sometimes this is us.
We don't take it,
so we pray to our Lord with poor saints,
Simon of Cyrene,
to pray that we take up our cross generously
out of love for Him.
The great mercy of our Lord for all of us.
First, we see the lack of courage
in the disciples, the apostles,
their difficulty to believe in our Lord
and what He suffered
and the fact that this man
who suffered,
who suffered so horribly,
so outrageously,
is now risen
and He's appearing to people.
It's not fair that He shouldn't appear to me.
Poor Thomas.
But Thomas isn't really a whole lot different
than the rest of the disciples
when you look at him.
He got singled out, admittedly,
for special reasons,
one might say for us,
one for our sake.
And this lack of courage
on the part of the disciples
also means that we know
they weren't credulous.
They weren't easy to be made,
and easy to believe in the resurrection.
That's one of the things
that gives a lot of credence
to the whole resurrection scenario
is that his closest disciples
didn't believe it.
And he had to appear to them
and he chided them
for that lack of belief
because they were incredulous.
Complete opposite.
It's like usually,
if you don't know the difference
in those terms,
credulity is a willingness
to do something
is to believe
without sufficient evidence.
Believe everything you hear.
Milo usually liked to tease
and joke with people.
They're easy to believe things
and they're fun to pick on.
At the same time,
you can say with St. Thomas,
those of you who sometimes
suffer from this,
you can say with St. Thomas,
St. Thomas was told
by one of his fellow brethren
who looked out a window
and said,
oh look, a cow is flying.
And St. Thomas went to the window
to look.
And they all laughed at him
for the fact that
he believed that a cow could fly.
And he turned to the brother
who said it and he said,
it's easier for me to believe
that a cow could fly
than that my brother could lie.
Profound thoughts
from St. Thomas Aquinas.
You know this,
admittedly it was done in jest,
but at the same time,
perhaps St. Thomas
was trying to point out
there is something
about a certain simplicity,
you know, wanting to believe.
But if there is,
we do have to be careful.
We have to be careful
of being credulous,
believing things too easily
without sufficient reason.
Incredulity is,
incredulity,
is when you have
sufficient evidence to believe.
St. Mary Magdalene,
they knew she was reputable.
She had a good character.
She wasn't a hysterical woman.
She wasn't,
she didn't have marbles loose.
When they discredited her,
they didn't want to believe
the men either.
This is why our Lord reports to them.
He had,
he had several witnesses,
people,
different people,
different places,
different circumstances,
saying,
our Lord has risen.
What do you mean
you don't believe?
That's just pride.
You're given sufficient evidence.
You should believe.
But because of that unbelief,
we have the conviction
for ourselves,
the Lord has risen.
Because of the difficulty
that our Lord had
in trying to get the disciples
to believe he had risen.
They didn't just simply believe it.
He had to prove it.
And he had to prove it again and again.
And we hear throughout the Gospels,
even when he ascended into heaven,
we'll hear again
that there were still some among them
who did not believe.
That difficulty to believe
in the resurrection.
Body and soul.
May we say with St. Thomas,
who's given us these beautiful words,
my Lord and my God,
to recognize,
God in the human nature of Christ,
to recognize God
hidden in the blessed sacrament.
My Lord and my God,
beautiful words
as we elevate the Eucharist today.
Bear those words in mind.
Say them in your heart.
Tell the Lord,
Lord, I do believe.
Help my unbelief.
Help me to live faithfully in my life.
The gift of the Gospel
that you have given us.
That I be not afraid
to give witness to Christ in my life.
And help you work with you
to draw other souls to Christ
through the Immaculate.
Praise be Jesus and Mary.