(Acts 13:44-52; Ps 98; Jn 14.7-14)<\/p>\n
*******************************<\/p>\n
When was that last time that you really got excited?<\/p>\n
Pray for faith that will excite you \u2013 faith in Jesus arisen from the dead.<\/p>\n
It seems that the whole city of Antioch was stirred up with excitement by Paul\u2019s presence in the synagogue that Sabbath as they gathered to hear the word of the Lord. Is there not a hint here that we also should be open to some greater excitement as we gather to worship on a given Sunday?<\/p>\n
What was the cause of that excitement? In some ways, the answer to that question is complex, because the gift of faith is like a diamond with many facets. In the readings we have been hearing during the Easter season, and today is no exception, it has been called \u201cmessage of salvation,\u201d the \u201cword of God,\u201d \u201ceternal life,\u201d the \u201csaving power of God\u201d and the \u201cvictory of God.\u201d<\/p>\n
All of these terms express some facet of what is most commonly called the Good News, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and the implications that has for those who believe: freedom from fear, unconditional forgiveness of all our sins, healing of our painful emotions, negative attitudes and even our addictions. That should be cause of joy and excitement for all of us.<\/p>\n
In the readings, there are two opposing responses: joy and excitement on the part of the Gentiles who believe, and jealousy and even blasphemy on the part of the Jewish leaders who were locked into a self-serving religiosity they had created for themselves. They consistently sold out to money, fame and power and refused to be open to this new paradigm that was the fulfillment of their own faith history, if only they could have looked with humble eyes of faith.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Patsy-upside-down-208x300.jpg\")
In the gospel, Jesus, speaking before his death and resurrection, adds another reason for joyful excitement \u2013 to see him is to see the Father. The Father dwells in him, and he and the Father are one. So when we have an intimate, personal relationship of prayer with Jesus, we also have an intimate personal relationship with the Father. To know Jesus is to know the Father. As Jesus put it, he is the Way, the Truth and the Life.<\/p>\n
The Eucharist itself is another reason for excitement and joy \u2013 we are nourished by the word of God that spread among the Gentiles, even to us today, and we are healed and transformed by receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus that empowers us to go out and proclaim this Good News to all we meet.<\/p>\n
So let us remember to pray for a faith that will excite us, and help us spread that excitement to others \u2013 faith in Jesus Christ arisen from the dead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HOMILY EASTER WEEK 04 06 This Is Exciting! (Acts 13:44-52; Ps 98; Jn 14.7-14) ******************************* When was that last time that you really got excited? Pray for faith that will excite you \u2013 faith in Jesus arisen from the dead. It seems that the whole city of Antioch was stirred up with excitement by Paul\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-easter","category-homilies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2371"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2373,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2371\/revisions\/2373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}