HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK 05 01 – Year I
Living and Praying the Paschal Mystery:
Feast of Saints Philip and James
(1 Cor 15:1-8; Ps 19; Jn 14:6-14)
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Today’s first reading begins with St. Paul reminding his readers of the Good News that he proclaimed to them in which they were “standing,” and by which they were “being saved.”
That Good News is ours to “stand in” as well. We are invited to follow Jesus into new eternal life by living his Paschal Mystery and through an intimate relationship of prayer.
We can rephrase the description Jesus gives of himself as the way, truth and life thus: Jesus is the truth, and this truth is the way to eternal life. St. Paul goes on to describe this Good News as the passion, death, resurrection and appearances of Jesus. We can add to that pattern his ascension into heaven, and the sending of his Spirit upon the early church at Pentecost. So, when Jesus invites us to “follow him,” he is inviting us to live out in our own lives his Paschal Mystery: his passion, death, resurrection, appearances, ascension and Pentecost. As some writers remind us, Jesus said “follow me” much more than “worship me,” so we need to take this invitation seriously.
But how do we do that? We can begin by being aware of our own passion, how we have been hurt in life. Next, we can list our losses, our deaths, because with every hurt there is a loss of some kind. Third, we need to face how we have too often survived (our resurrection) by stuffing our emotions of anger and sadness, denying our wounded reality and blaming others instead of dealing with our hurt.
In the first reading, St. Paul is careful to note the different persons and groups to which Jesus appeared after his resurrection, driving home the reality of the resurrection. These appearances of Jesus were, for the disciples, a time of learning more about the Kingdom of God Jesus came to inaugurate, and also learning to grieve and mourn his loss (why he told Mary Magdalene not to cling to him). She (and all his followers) had to let go of the Jesus of history they knew, and open themselves up to receiving the Spirit of the Christ of faith, which happened at Pentecost. They were transformed into the fledgling Church, the Body of Christ, and did not miss him because he now was present to them not physically, but living within them spiritually. We also have to grieve and mourn our losses (the appearances for us), and eventually give our departed loved ones back to God to receive their spirit to be with us in a new way.
The ascension becomes for us the need to forgive from the heart all those who have hurt us in any way, and a letting go of anger, resentment and any desire for revenge. That is what Jesus taught us to do in Matthew 18:15 (“go to those who have hurt us and alone, point out their fault.”) I think if Matthew was writing today, he would have said simply “share your feelings with them” as the best way of trying to forgive them, instead of fight, flight or freezing our emotions (the options psychologists offer us). When we do this, the Good News really becomes good news for us, as we can move forward with our lives full of peace, joy and a sense of freedom and well-being.
In the gospel, Jesus adds the dimension of prayer to that Paschal Mystery experience. To know him is to know the Father, because he and the Father are one. So, the relationship we have with Jesus is the relationship we will have with the Father. The more intimately we can come to know Jesus, the more intimate will be our relationship with the Father. That happens best through time spent in contemplative prayer – just resting in God’s presence as John rested his head on Jesus’ chest at the last supper, listening to his heart beat. This will always be a challenge for us in our busy, competitive, achievement-oriented world, but a necessary one if we are to really experience that good news of Jesus. It is a matter of establishing priorities. If we are too busy to enter into contemplative prayer, then we are too busy!
At the end of the gospel, Jesus adds another method of prayer – intercessory prayer. Whatever we ask him “in his name,” Jesus tells us he will do. How can we reconcile this with the reality of so many seemingly unanswered prayers? The key is in the words “in my name.” To pray “in Jesus’ name” is to pray for what Jesus wants to give us, and he told us he wants to give us the Holy Spirit in his teaching on prayer (Luke 11:13). Step Eleven of the Twelve Step program puts it this way: “seeking only the knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry it out.” That is praying “in his name.”
The apostles we celebrate today are excellent examples for us of two followers of Jesus who certainly had an intimate prayerful relationship with Jesus, and also followed him through his Paschal Mystery, to the point of giving their lives for the sake of the gospel. James, believed to be a first cousin of the Lord, became the leader of the Jerusalem community, and was martyred in that role. Philip received a personal call to follow Jesus, recruited a skeptical Nathaniel and was asked how much bread was on hand at the multiplication of the loaves. Tradition holds that he preached in Asia Minor and was martyred there at the Hierapolis.
The Eucharist is an intimate meal with Jesus, our greatest prayer that includes both petition and contemplation. It is a making present of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus that then sends us out to live his Paschal Mystery in our lives and spread this Good News to all we meet.
