[After Jesus had fed the five thousand men, his disciples saw him walking on the sea.]
The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat, but only his disciples had left. Other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they had eaten the bread when the Lord gave thanks. When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Imagine hosting some of your closest friends for dinner.
You really put out a good spread: steaks grilled to perfection, steaming baked potatoes with cheese, chives, and sour cream, a tossed green salad, a California Cabernet, and apple pie à la mode for dessert.
There’s laughter throughout the meal and the sharing of old memories. Both your heart and your stomach are full.
Then when it’s time for your guests to leave, they take out their wallets, put several twenties on the table and ask, “Now, how much do we owe you?”
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What a crazy question! Insulting, really. You can never repay the host.
Dinner is a gift, an act of love.
The best your guests can be is grateful for the laughter, the friendship, and a full stomach.
Maybe write a “thank you.”
In the very least, accept it.
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Acceptance.
This is what Jesus asks of us in today’s Gospel – and throughout the Easter season – simply to accept what he’s done for us. Like guests who cannot repay their host, we cannot repay Jesus for what he’s done.
“But, this is the work of God,” he says, “that you believe in the one he sent.”
Believe in Christ’s death and resurrection. And allow that belief to transform the way we see the world – and the role we play within it.
That is enough for God, our divine host.
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Image credits: (1) Tricia Goyer (2) Christ Church InTown (3) Linda Marie Lovison
The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of bread.
While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them.
He said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Studies suggest that 12.5% of adults in America – literally 1 in 8 – will experience a specific phobia in their lifetime.
What are you afraid of? Public speaking? Needles? Barking dogs? Spiders?
Many suffer, at times, from claustrophobia, the fear of being enclosed in tight or crowded spaces.
This can be triggered when using an elevator, travelling in confined vehicles, such as a locked car or a crowded plane, going through tunnels or revolving doors, or getting an MRI.
When triggered, claustrophobia can cause sweating, shortness of breath, an increased heartbeat, even fainting.
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Such is the case of the disciples in today’s Gospel.
They feel like the walls are closing in on them. They’re hunkered down, locked inside a hidden room in Jerusalem, terrified the authorities will arrest them.
Jesus – their friend and Lord – has just been killed and they wonder, “Are we next?”
Reports of the Risen Lord are surfacing. Even some of the disciples locked inside that room claimed to have seen him, yet they’re struggling to make sense of it all.
While there’s a miraculous chance that Jesus is alive again, they’re also legitimately afraid for their own survival.
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Imagine the disciples listening to the voices outside: children running in alley ways, locals bartering in the streets, people chattering back and forth.
Were those voices also participants on Good Friday? Did they cry out, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Did they cheer as Jesus was being led off to death? Would they recognize the disciples if they saw them and alert the authorities?
The disciples are living a claustrophobic existence. They’re frustrated and afraid; the walls are closing in. They need an open door.
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Then seemingly out of nowhere, Jesus appears in their midst, saying, “Peace be with you.”
The disciples shriek!
To allay their fears, Jesus says to them, “Look at my hands and feet. Touch me and see.”
Slowly, their fears abate. Sliding their hands and fingers into his side, they realize Jesus is indeed alive again; he has been raised from the dead!
His presence turns their most dismal fear into overwhelming joy.
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,” Jesus says, “and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name…You are witnesses of these things.”
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Then comes the open door. It isn’t a door to guaranteed security; it’s the door to mission.
“As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
The disciples are tasked with sharing the Good News with the world.
Their first mission is to preach to the very crowds who wanted Jesus dead. Never in a million years is that the door the disciples thought would be opened; not three years ago, not three days ago, and certainly not now.
But they’re so convinced that Christ is Risen, out they go. As we hear in our first reading, Peter begins preaching to the crowds in Jerusalem, converting thousands.
Within the next few decades, the Gospel will reach Rome, Greece, even as far as India.
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Such a staggering task was only possible because Jesus gives them his peace. “My peace I leave you,” he says, “my peace I give to you.”
In Hebrew, “shalom.”
“Shalom” means inner stillness; harmony; wholeness; prosperity.
While the disciples face a risky future, Christ’s inner stillness, his “shalom”, will be with them.
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Like the disciples today, how many of us are facing an open door?
Perhaps we’re considering a career change, going off to college, slowly returning to society after a year of isolation, or the invitation to deeper belief.
Or maybe we’re facing something much more difficult.
Some of us may have heard that word we all fear, “cancer.”
Whatever it may be, the Lord says to all of us, “Peace be with you.” We do not need to be afraid, because the Risen Christ is with us.
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I remember when the Lord opened the door to priesthood for me. Like the disciples, initially I was afraid.
Could I live a life dedicated to God? Could I kneel at the bedside of the sick and the dying? Baptize children? Bury someone’s loved one? And could I preach Sunday after Sunday?
Not on my own. But with Christ, all things are possible. He gave me his peace.
The prophet Isaiah tells us, “I will lead the blind on their journey; on paths unknown I will guide them.”
Thus, every step we take in life is met with God’s loving gaze strengthening us for our mission.
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Claustrophobia is the often irrational fear of being trapped inside enclosed spaces. It’s a feeling anyone can have when facing an uncertain future or needing an open door.
But today, the Lord says to us, “Peace be with you.”
There’s nothing to fear.
Whatever our future holds, Christ will be with us.
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Image credits: (1) Slideshare.net (2) Chris Antenucci (3) Future lawyer (4) Spitzer center (5) True North Church.
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Born on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (pronounced Gon-ja Boya-jew) was an ordinary child. Her father died when she was nine, leaving her mother to raise three children alone.
Although they were by no means wealthy, her mother taught her an important lesson from a very early age: never eat a single meal unless you are sharing it with others. For that reason, the family often invited the poorest in the city to dine with them.
Such a formative lesson stuck with Agnes for the rest of her life. Little did she know then that she’d start a global movement, turning the world’s attention to the poorest among us.
In 1937, Agnes took her final religious vows, becoming the person we all know now as Mother Teresa.
Mother Teresa never did anything extraordinary; she fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and comforted the dying.
But when she offered her life – her five loaves and two fish – to the Lord, she changed the world.
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The same message is given in today’s Gospel.
A young boy offers Jesus his five loaves and two fish. In itself, that’s enough to feed a few people. But when placed in the hands of Christ, it becomes enough to feed thousands.
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When we offer our lives to God, anything is possible.
