HOMILY THURSDAY of EASTER WEEK
On Being Missionary Disciples
(Acts 3:11-26; Ps 8; Lk 24:35-48)
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Pope Francis has repeatedly stated that he wants a church of missionary disciples.
The gospel for today could serve as a manual for how to be missionary disciples: faith; repentance; forgiveness; redemptive suffering; understanding the bible, and witnessing.
First, Jesus shows his disciples his hands and feet, and eats fish, all to show that it was truly him; that he was truly risen and alive. Peter in the first reading also adds that it is faith in the name of Jesus that brings about healing. To be a missionary disciple is to first of all have a personal faith encounter with the Risen Lord; to believe in him with all our hearts, and to put our total trust in him.
The second ingredient is repentance and all that means. For Peter, to repent is to turn away from our sin and evil ways, and to turn to God. The word for repentance, metanoia, means to turn around and put on a higher mind.
Next comes forgiveness and all that is involved with that word and experience. We are to forgive anyone who has hurt us in any way, and to apologize to and make amends to anyone we may have hurt. It is to be reconciled with God, with all others, with ourselves and all of God’s creation.
Jesus himself models the forgiveness of God. He says, “Shalom”—”Peace be with you.” According to Bishop Robert Barron, with these words, he opens up a new spiritual world and thereby becomes our Saviour. From ancient creation myths to the Rambo and Dirty Harry movies, the worldly principle is the same: order, destroyed through violence, is restored through a righteous exercise of greater violence.
And then there is Jesus. The terrible disorder of the cross (the killing of the Son of God) is addressed not through an explosion of divine vengeance but through a radiation of divine love. When Christ confronts those who contributed to his death, he speaks words not of retribution but of forgiveness, reconciliation and compassion.
Both Jesus and Peter then mention the necessity of the messiah to enter into his glory through suffering. There are lessons in life that only some degree of suffering will teach us. Psychologists teach that the only way through the pain is through the pain. Therapy only lightens the suffering; good spirituality gives us the strength to go through the suffering to a deeper character and greater compassion possible no other way.
Then Jesus does something very important – something that we as a Church have overlooked for centuries: he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. The Word of God, the bible, must be central in the lives of Jesus’ disciples. After all, Jesus is the Word of God made flesh; to become familiar with his Word is to get to know him. A missionary disciple must connect faith with his or her life, and let that Word of God penetrate and heal him or her.
Deacon Bob Williston, years ago, wrote a gospel acclamation that fits this action of Jesus: “Open our hearts to your word, the word made flesh, the breath of life – open our hearts to your word.” We used that refrain repeatedly during our parish renewal sessions as an archdiocesan renewal team.
At the Star of the North, we created Aurora Living, a signature program bringing together the Word of God, care for creation, contemplative living, community building through wisdom groups, and justice as right relationships. Underlying this initiative is a desire to connect faith with life.
Finally, a missionary disciple is a witness to the resurrection. To be a witness is not just to announce this new life – it is to manifest it, to live it in our lives, with peace, joy and freedom.
St. Peter in the first reading is a beautiful example of a missionary disciple. He has come to believe fully in Jesus and his resurrection; he has repented and received God’s unconditional love as forgiveness for his denials; he is now ready to suffer anything for the sake of Jesus and this new way of life; he understands that that all the prophecies about Jesus as the messiah have been fulfilled from the time of Moses, including all the psalms and the prophets. And lastly, Peter is a tremendous witness, fearlessly proclaiming the Good News of the resurrection to all who will listen.
The Eucharist is food for our journey as missionary disciples. We encounter the Risen Lord in his Word and receive him in communion; we repent in the penitential rite; receive his forgiveness, and are sent out to suffer for and witness to the presence of the Risen Lord in our lives, right here and now.
