Our Lady of Lourdes Church and School

“The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." (Jn 20: 21-23)

Eastertime is such a wonderful time in the church calendar. Every year at Easter we celebrate all that God does for us to bring us into eternal life with God’s own self. The power of the Resurrection of Jesus transcends time itself. We find ourselves caught up in the excitement of the scriptures attesting to the reality of the presence of the Risen One among us. Allowing our imagination to enter into the narratives, we can almost taste the giddiness and the delight of those heady days in the immediate aftermath of the resurrection.

This Second Sunday of Easter is also known as Divine Mercy Sunday. It is a day when we reflect on the significance of the Resurrection not only for ourselves as individuals, but also its significance for us as a community of believers. The scriptures we read today remind us that the Resurrection has a communal effect. What happened wasn’t just for Peter. It was for all believers. It wasn’t just for those gathered in the upper room. It was for all those who profess that Jesus is Lord. In other words, the Resurrection transforms not only individual lives, it transforms the life of the whole community of believers, and by extension, it has the potential to transform the world.

The Acts of the Apostles (4:32-35) reminds us that the believers in those early days relinquished control of their private possessions, and they seem to have shared all that they had in common with one another. That almost sounds “unamerican”, except its not. The generosity of our hearts here at Lourdes is attested to over and over throughout the year. When needs arise that bring us to suddenly reflect on our part in whatever crisis visits itself upon ourselves or upon our neighbors (and sometimes strangers), we step up, dig deep, make a sacrifice and respond as best we can. In subsequent passages in the Acts of the Apostles, we read of a people who were bound together in one faith, and who were known and admired for the time they spent in prayer together. That might be an “area of growth” for us here at Lourdes, but its not one we wouldn’t benefit from. This aspect of transformation is certainly one we might consider worthy of our attentiveness in the coming weeks and months.

The gospel also reminds us of our collective responsibility as a community of believers. To us is entrusted the mission of Jesus to share the compassion and mercy of God the Father with the world. The presumption of the gospel author  is that we are busy about the work of Jesus in affirming and witnessing to the forgiveness of God. The gift is given in order that we might share it, and not hoard it for ourselves. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” is what we pray, and it is truly a powerful prayer.

Both of these aspects of the Christian life, prayer and compassion, are called out of us as a community by the power of the Resurrection of Jesus. As we grow into these characteristics as a community (and not just individually), we will find ourselves growing more and more deeply into the mystery of God’s love for us. We will find ourselves, as a community, standing as a visible sign of what God can do in our world. Imagine what it might look like if an outsider recognized in us a people who are committed to praying together and to living a life of compassion together, compassion toward one another and compassion to those who live beyond or outside of our immediate community.

For my own part, I’d like to belong to a community like that. It would make me proud, and at the same time, give me the courage and strength to live up to these characteristics more faithfully in my own life.