Corpus Christi Blog

Grow in faith of Resurrection

03-27-2016HomiliesFr. Chad King

Happy Easter everyone! We come now to the end of the 3 holiest days of our year- on Holy Thursday our Savior gave us His Body and Blood in the Eucharist through His ministerial priesthood and on Good Friday Jesus died upon the Cross for the forgiveness of sins. Today Christ is risen from the dead. As we journeyed toward Easter, each of us are called to experience the joy and glory that our Lord has for us; but like our readings today teach us, faith is a journey and it takes time for the understanding and joy to sink in. In order to grow in faith and fully appreciate the fact of Jesus’ Resurrection, we must place ourselves with the disciples so we can feel what they felt and experience what they experienced. Join me as we reflect on their journey.

On Good Friday, some of the Apostles watched as Jesus Christ, the person they believed was the Messiah, the Son of God, suffer and died; their hope dissipated.  Without knowing how God could die, their faith was shaken.  The disciples were confused, grieving, and depressed.  Without hope and unsure about the future, all they knew is that the person they thought was their Savior had died, they laid him in the tomb, not knowing what would happen next.   Dispair. Confusion. Questions.  How would you have reacted when the One you thought was your savior died?  Would you be feeling the same despair?  Haven’t we all felt lost and confused, unsure, perhaps doubting, if or how situations in our life will ever work out for the better?

Now let’s place ourselves back in Jerusalem with the first disciples.  In her grieving and trying to make sense of things, while it was still dark and her grief was engulfing her Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb hoping she’ll find some answers. She notices the stone entrance is rolled away.  Assuming Jesus’ body was moved or stolen, Mary Magdalene runs to tell Peter that Jesus’ body was moved or stolen.  Notice that Mary is a believer in Jesus, she believed Jesus was the Son of God, at least to some extent, but yet she did not understand fully.  Peter and John run to the tomb and upon entering the tomb see the wrappings Jesus was buried in. I am sure that seeing the burial cloths was confusing at first, Hopefully it  provided some peace to the minds and hearts of the disciples because at least they knew that Jesus’ body wasn’t stolen, since no one would take the time to unwrap the body before stealing or moving it.  They must have breathed a sigh of relief, but they still did not know what happened to Jesus.  The last verses of our Gospel tells us that the disciples, Peter and John, looked into the empty tomb, they “saw and believed”.  Believed in what- believe that Jesus wasn’t stolen or believe that He was risen from the dead?  Although unsure as what it meant, they still held onto their faith.  However, their faith was not yet complete, since as the Gospel says “they did not yet understand the Scripture that he (Jesus) had to rise from the dead”.  So for these two disciples belief in the possibility of Jesus’ Resurrection must have began when they saw the wrappings.  They had faith, but still retained some doubt and confusion, even though they did not yet fully understand what Jesus’ Resurrection meant for them and for all people thereafter.  They were trusting….yet unclear on what was happening.

Aren’t you and I so often like these early disciples?  Faith, and the understanding of spiritual realities, are usually gradual for us as well.  We might say we believe in something, but the full understanding of its meaning has yet to sink in.  For many people faith in the Resurrection of Jesus is an abstract belief, something they say with their head, but is not known in their heart.  Jesus’ Resurrection might be a belief of an event that occurred at one point in history, but the meaning of it still hasn’t taken root in our lives today.  We may say Christ died and rose from the dead for the forgiveness of sins, but in some ways we haven’t really let the saving actions of Christ root out sin in our lives.  But isn’t it comforting to know that even the early disciples who walked with Jesus didn’t fully get it right away either? But notice that in our 1st reading from the Acts of the Apostles, which comes after Jesus’ appearances to Peter and the disciples, and after the Holy Spirit came upon them at Pentecost.  It was the Holy Spirit that provided the answers the disciples were looking for.  Through the Holy Spirit’s enlightening, Peter fully understood the meaning and power of the Resurrection.  Peter finally understood God’s plan for the salvation of all the world through the life, death, and Resurrection of the Son of God.  Peter now understands that as Christ’s Church is just beginning, that they are to be witnesses.  Witnesses of the hope and joy of knowing Jesus Christ, and sharing in the very life and love of God through Him.  My brothers and sisters in Christ, to be a witness of the life and love of God is what it means to be Christian.  But knowing that it took Peter time to come to full understanding, let us continue on our journey of faith, our journey to complete fulfillment in the life and love of God.  We too need to journey towards a deeper understanding and acceptance of Christ’s sacrificial love for us.

Our 2nd reading teaches us, if then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above.  We don’t have to live anymore striving for the temporary earthly goods to cope through our struggles, we are able to receive the eternal heavenly joy, and the eternal life God gives us.  And this reality of heaven is not just what can be ours fully in the future, but we can start to live it now on earth if we seek him with all our hearts.  My brothers and sisters, to know and feel God’s presence and helping hand through all we struggle with in our daily lives is amazing.  (Pause) To stand in the middle of the chaos and stress of our lives and have peace, the peace that only God can give, then we can persevere.  (Pause) To have such indescribable joy through all our sadness and grief is so worthwhile.  (Pause) St. Paul implores us in our 2nd reading, to have our lives “hidden in Christ”. To have our lives hidden in Christ means to surrender our daily struggles and stresses through our daily prayer, and then to receive from God the hope and the grace to persevere through them joyfully.  This is what all the saints have witnessed to us, this is the life the disciples have shown us, and this is what it means to live the promise of Easter and the power of the Resurrection.  So as St. Paul says, seek what is above, not what is of earth. 

The early disciples are an example for us, they sought the Lord.  Mary Magdalene went to the tomb seeking the Lord and saw the stone was rolled away.  Peter and John, without hesitancy, ran to discover for themselves the truth of what happened to Jesus.  The disciples sought the Lord, and as we will hear in the upcoming weeks of the Easter season, through their seeking- they found the truth for themselves, they came to understand the meaning of the Resurrection.  The disciples began to have genuine and faith assuring encounters with Jesus, which we’ll recall in this Easter season.  Are we seeking the Lord with all our hearts?  If we seek him, then we too can encounter him in a new way every Sunday and grow in faith, just as the disciples did.  Will you take time in prayer every day to seek the things that are above?  Will you pray so that your life is hidden in Christ, so that you will witness to others the life we are all meant to live?  Will you take time this Easter to grow in becoming more a people of the Resurrection?

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