Fr Kevin Kilgore

“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never hunger” (John 6:34).

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I’m sure most of us have heard Bruce Springsteen’s famous song, “Everybody’s Got a Hungry Heart.”

We can sing along because we know it’s true! Everybody’s got a hungry heart.

But not everybody knows how to satisfy it.

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The only way to satisfy that deep hunger within us is to love.

It’s a strange and uncomfortable truth, but the more we give ourselves away, the happier we become.

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Nobody embodied this truth better than Jesus.

From his birth until his death, he gave himself away. How happy he must’ve been.

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The same is true for us. The more we share our lives with others – the more we love, the more we forgive, the more we serve – the happier we become.

How might we grow together in happiness today?

“The high priest rose up, and all his companions filled with jealousy laid hands upon the Apostles and put them in the public jail” (Acts 5:17-18).

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Throughout the Easter season, we read from the Acts of the Apostles, which in many ways could be re-titled: The Early Church Meets Trouble.

For example, this is the second time the Apostles have been arrested by the religious authorities for preaching the truth – and they don’t seem to care!

What a change!

Within a matter of weeks, they’ve journeyed from being cowards to heroes for one reason only: They’ve seen the Risen Christ.

Now they see their own destiny caught up in Jesus.

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We might say these earliest Christians exhibited three important qualities, qualities we all can emulate:

(1) They had courage. They knew they were putting their lives in their hands by preaching openly about the Lord – but they did it anyway.

(2) They were obedient. They never seemed to ask, “Is this particular choice going to get me in trouble or even killed?” No. They only asked themselves, “Is this what God wants me to do?”

(3) They knew their destiny. Just as Christ was raised from the dead, they knew they would rise, too. That knowledge gave them the courage they needed to wake up each morning and fight the good fight.

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That’s the type of faith that moves mountains.

It’s the same faith that Christ offers us – a faith that is courageous, obedient, and resurrection-centered.

It is ours if only we open our hearts and believe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Throughout the Easter season, our first reading is often taken from the Book of Acts, which describes the life of the early Church, answering questions like:

How did they pray? How did they worship God? How did these direct descendants of Christ’s teachings put them into practice?

For example, today we hear, “The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own” (Acts 4:32-33).

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“No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own.”

For example, Barnabas sells his property and lays the profits at the feet of the Apostles so that others who are poor, thirsty, and hungry might have a meal that night.

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In many ways, the Church has continued that call to deep generosity throughout the centuries.

We as an institution have started more hospitals, schools, orphanages, soup kitchens, and universities than any other group on the planet.

And you and I are challenged today to continue that tradition.

We don’t have to sell our property like Barnabas, but we do need to fight the temptation to be selfish; we must seek out ways to give ourselves away instead.

The only question is, how will you do that? How will you be generous today?