HOMILY EASTER WEEK 02 03 – Year I
Living Jesus’ New Way of Life
(Acts 5:17-26; Ps 34; John 3:16-21)
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“Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.”
That command from an angel of the Lord to the imprisoned apostles, and the gospel today, invite us to revolutionize the world by living a brand-new way of life based on faith in Jesus, experiencing his mercy and healing, and witnessing to our experience.
The gospel continues the visit of Nicodemus to Jesus under cover of night, struggling to grasp who Jesus is and implications of his teaching and actions. After teaching him about the role of the Holy Spirit, Jesus adds today that they who believe in him will actually have eternal life, will experience the very same life Jesus shares with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus adds the element of salvation through him, the force of light overcoming darkness, and truth overcoming lies and deception. This touches on the experience of those who truly believe in Jesus, the Messiah, who came with a two-fold mission – to redeem and to sanctify, to forgive and to heal.
We can come to him for forgiveness of all our sins (that which we do), as well as healing of all our sinfulness (that which makes us do it). That would be our painful emotions such as anger and resentment and negative attitudes such as false pride, stubborn sell-will, selfishness, etc). We need both forgiveness and healing, and the good news is that is why Jesus came – to offer us both.
A big part of our healing from anger and resentment comes from learning how to forgive, which Jesus taught us in Matthew 18:15 (go to those who hurt us and instead of fight, flight or freeze, choose to forgive by sharing our feelings of hurt with them, with love – no revenge, name-calling or punishment). When St. Peter asked how often we should to that, Jesus replied 77 time – an infinite number. He is telling Peter that to be a disciple, we can’t just forgive when we feel like it. No – forgiveness has to become our way of life, ooze out of us, be part of our DNA. That is truly the core of this new way of life through Jesus and the power of his Spirit.
When we do this, we will actually feel lighter, as the burden of anger and resentment, shame and depression, sadness and self-pity, guilt and fear are lifted from us. We will have faced our own inner darkness and hidden truth. We will have allowed the light of the Holy Spirit to dispel that darkness and free us from needing to hide from the truth of our own lives. We will be walking in the light and be set free by the truth.
It is interesting that this experience of this new way of Jesus is contrasted to the oppressive political and social systems of the day (the prison) and the lifeless, formalistic sacrificial rituals of the temple religious system of the day (the high priest and Sadducees) who were stuck in their false pride, unbelief, hypocrisy and here, even petty jealousy.
What is even more striking is that the angel of the Lord freed the apostles from those prison cells (the truth and this new life in the Spirit cannot be imprisoned) and ordered them to go and stand right in the centre of the temple to proclaim this new way of life. With faith in Jesus, forgiven and healed, we are to do the same – share with others our experience of this new way of life in Jesus.
Daoud at the Tent of the Nations in Palestine is one who lives out that radical teaching of Jesus with hope and love. His is a Palestinian family surrounded by Jewish settlers They work for justice and peace in a non-violent way, no matter how oppressed they are by the settlers who have cut down hundreds of their olive trees, and blocked their front driveway with huge boulders. They are not allowed electricity, running water or permits, so they use solar power, collect rainwater and live and work in caves. Our Tantur Institute group actually met in a cave when we visited. Signs at the entrance to their farm proclaim, “We refuse to hate,” and “We refuse to be enemies.” They believe in Jesus, have hope and continue to love. They are living out the last paragraph of today’s gospel: those who live the truth come to the light.
The Eucharist is a profound act of faith in Jesus as Messiah, Risen Lord and savior. It is also an experience of his new way of life through forgiveness and healing.
May our celebration today help us live our faith in him just as radically through hope and love.
