Finding God In Our Hearts with Msgr. Don Fischer

Gospel John 6:35-40 Jesus said to the crowds, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. But I told you that although you have seen me, you do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.” Reflection The Old Testament is filled with requirements, laws, regulations that if one followed them, they would receive a blessing from God. Now as Jesus proclaims the New Testament, it is clear that this is not something that you work for and that you try to earn. It is something given, and you need to understand the greatness of this gift. You need to feel the power that it offers you in order to surrender to it and say yes. Yes to the will of my father. That Jesus, the image, the truth. When I receive it, it will bring me to eternal life, to goodness, to love. Closing Prayer Father, we are filled with longings. We hunger for truth. We hunger for peace. We hunger for all those things that we believe will fill us and give us meaning and purpose. Help us to believe that you are that source, and that these are things we need to believe you can give us. And when we turn to you expecting that gift, we are a perfect disposition to be filled with life, nourished, strengthened. And we asked this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel John 6:30-35 The crowd said to Jesus: "What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat." So Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." So they said to Jesus, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” Reflection The interesting thing about the crowds question Give us a sign. And then they go on to say that God gave us a sign. And why won't you give us a sign? And what an opportunity for Jesus to make a statement that is so profound when he says everything that pointed to something for life in the Old Testament is about me. I am the one with the authority. If you witness me, you will receive all that you need. I am the sign. I am life. I'm the bread of life. Closing Prayer Father, you have authority. You have within you the spirit of truth that you long to share with us. Help us get past all the times in which we're asking for more than we really need in order to enter into your life. Let it be always a decision, not necessarily a feeling or a logical conclusion, but let it be our desire to believe in you. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel John 6:22-29 [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.” Reflection Taking Salvation History from the first book of the Bible till the present day. We see this evolution in understanding of who God is and who we are with Him, and in Him, and for him. And what’s clear is that there had to be a major shift from Old Testament to New Testament, and there had to be a voice, a powerful voice that had authority to make this shift, to explain it, to do something that in a sense took away their need to work for. It is a gift. And to believe in that gift and to know what it is, is the key to the great transformation from Old Testament to New Testament. Closing Prayer Father, you have revealed yourself in the person of Jesus. Open our hearts to fully understand who He is, and what it means for us that He is who he is so that we too can become that and continue his work of bringing life and hope and mercy to all who meet us. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel John 6:16-21 When it was evening, the disciples of Jesus went down to the sea, embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading. Reflection Nothing is repeated more in the Scriptures, in the words of Jesus, when he says, Do not be afraid. Fear is the awareness of something that is so strange and different that when we experience it, there is a sense that we are not in a place where we are in charge or in control. He invites us into a world that is so beyond our imagining. We're on a journey across the sea of darkness. And God has promised, if we do not fall into fear when we are in a place where what is happening to us doesn't make any sense. It's not something familiar. It's then that we are offered the chance to believe and to trust, and we reach our goal through faith. Closing Prayer Father, that which is not understandable, that which is mysterious is always a struggle for us to surrender to. And it's strange that there is something in us that when we don't live in a world that we know, we're afraid, we're uneasy, were unsure. We lose our confidence. Help us through those moments of fear to trust in you. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel John 6:1-15 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. Reflection The God of the Old Testament demanded obedience. The God of the New Testament is not a demanding God, but a giving God, abundantly offering to us everything that we need, all the nourishment and encouragement we need by loving us without measure. And when the people saw the gifts that God was abundantly giving to the world, they wanted to make him king, as if He would then be worshiped as the one who gives this to them. And Jesus is saying, No it’s the father that gives all of this to you. I'm the model. I am a human being filled with divinity, being able to take care and nourish those around me. That's who you will be. Not subjects to me, but receivers of the father that I offer you. Closing Prayer Father, awaken our hearts to this gift that you have promised to us. That we will be the source of life for the people around us that we love, that we will have within us, whatever they need. Because you are the source of what is given. Keep us free of any egocentricity about the gifts that we have. Keep us in that model that you have so beautifully witnessed. We are servants. Servants filled with the power of God to heal, to save, to free. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel John 3:31-36 The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him. Reflection God's voice as it comes to us through Jesus, is a voice of enormous generosity, of a deep longing for everyone to receive everything that they need. He does not ration his gifts. One needs to realize how much God is offering to each of us, and all He asks is that we accept each thing as it comes to our consciousness and not resist it in any way, shape or form, because we don't fully understand it. We’re to live in mystery, and mystery is something that you can only say, I choose to believe rather than say, I know it's right, or I know how it works. It's not knowing how it works, it’s believing that it works. Closing Prayer Father, awaken in us an understanding of your love, your generosity, your abundance and longing to give us everything that we need. Keep us from that narrow view of having to understand something fully before we can accept it. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel John 3:16-21 God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God. Reflection The intention of God is clearly stated in this passage. He has not come to condemn, which is not necessarily meaning sent to hell, it means that a condemned person has no capacity, no hope that they can ever change. Like a building that’s condemned can't be saved or renovated. So what we're seeing in this is the fact that God’s will is to lift all of us out of darkness, of shame and fear and anger, and yet we can choose not to be lifted out of those things. We can choose the darkness. It’s a frightening thought that we can turn away from everything that we deeply, deeply long for. Closing Prayer\ Father, You've given us a gift of free will. Help us to ponder the choices that are before us, help us to see the fullness of what each choice creates for us, so that we will see the wisdom and the power of the life that you've called us to live with you, through you, in you, and let us feel and know that light. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel John 3:7b-15 Jesus said to Nicodemus: "'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus answered and said to him, 'How can this happen?" Jesus answered and said to him, "You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this? Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” Reflection Nicodemus was an unusual Pharisee because he wanted to talk to Jesus. He was interested. He was curious about him, but yet he was still part of that company that was so resistant to anything that Jesus would do or would say. And so when he explains something that is impossible to figure out how it works, and he rejects it, in a sense. Jesus saying, Well, you reject everything. Everything I say you people reject even the most ordinary things that I might say that you could easily understand. You say is wrong. You're not open. You are not a listener to what I'm saying. And you're not open to the unusual things, the impossible things, the unexpected things that I promise you. You need to accept. They were blind, blind guides. Closing Prayer Father, create in us an openness, an expectation to receive that which we cannot understand. Our mind is an important part of who we are, but the imagination in our heart can open us to the ways in which you have promised to live with us and be an instrument through us that we cannot fully understand with the mind. Open our heart, open our imaginations. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel Luke 1:26-38 The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. Reflection This story is a foreshadowing of what is coming. Mary, steeped in Scripture, knew some day there would be this miracle of God coming into the world, a messiah. And maybe that's why she seemed open to this miracle. But also she's a sign to all of us that we are all going to experience something like she experienced. The promise of God is that He will dwell within us, take root in our heart, and create in us a new person, a new being who is open to the impossible, who is filled with the same healing power that Jesus had, that we’d live a life that is beyond what we could ever imagine. That's the mystery of faith. To surrender to the impossible. Closing Prayer Father, your promise is beyond our understanding and even beyond our imaginations. That you would do this work of using us as your hands, your eyes, your feet, taking us into situations and being a life force for good, for love, for peace. Bless us with an acceptance of our task. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel Mark 16:9-15 When Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told his companions who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After this he appeared in another form to two of them walking along on their way to the country. They returned and told the others; but they did not believe them either. But later, as the Eleven were at table, he appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” Reflection This gospel is a perfect review of what we've just listened to through the Scriptures of this week. Jesus first appeared to a single individual, and then He appeared to two people, and then he appeared to his disciples. And now we see in this story, when he's with his disciples and he sees that this process of it growing from person to person is what he is so excited to invite his disciples to participate in. He makes it clear that belief is everything, you need to believe in what he is teaching. New life comes through this mystery of who God is in Christ and how we are asked to live that same life. It's a message of great hope. And it’s going out to everything that God created. Everything will be made new. Everything will be made as God created it originally. When he always said after every day he created, it is so very, very good. Closing Prayer Father, we see so much in this week your intention You long for your kingdom to come. Everything you created you've told us is good. So let us believe that we are participating in this marvelous work of creating a new heaven and a new earth. You guide us, you feed us, and all you ask is we believe. We believe in who you are and what you've promised. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel John 21:1-14 Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish. When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.” So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.” And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they realized it was the Lord. Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish. This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead. Reflection These stories are all about Jesus revealing Himself to his disciples, His followers, those who knew his teaching. And it’s clear what his calling them to is to continue the work that he established. And it’s gathering all people together and making the community one by believing in this one beautiful revelation that Jesus is sharing with His people. But what I love about this story, is that in the work of doing that, and it's our work, all of us. He wants to be the source of what we can accomplish by feeding us. Come, eat breakfast. Come, eat with me. Come, let me nurture you. It's a beautiful image of church. It's a beautiful image of who we are in God. And it gives us great hope as we continue to try to establish His kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven, here and now. Closing Prayer It's clear that from the beginning, Jesus intended that His church grow and change and enter into every heart and every mind and animate their actions. When he asked that of us, we must understand that he is also telling us that he will nurture us. He will feed us. He will cook for us and give us the energy, the insight and the wisdom that we need to accomplish his work through us, through our humanity. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel Luke 24:35-48 The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way, and how they had come to recognize him 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.” Reflection There’s a beautiful image of a Eucharistic celebration. Jesus appears. Jesus becomes present to a group of people who are filled with finally the belief and the understanding of the mystery of who he is and what he has come to accomplish. He proves his presence through his eating the fish, and he reminds them that what they have to do is to understand they are called to something, like Jesus went through, to suffer. Which means to accept the unbelievable things that are happening and to surrender to them and to be able to be filled with his presence, and his presence is about the forgiveness of sin, about lifting people out of darkness into light. And they are to witness these things to everyone. It is a challenge given to the church. Closing Prayer Father, your presence is your gift to us. Keeps in touch with the beauty of that indwelling presence that continues to nurture us, awaken us, free us from everything that robs us of the joy that you've called us to help us to feel the enthusiasm that we see in these men and women who are finally aware of who you are to us. You didn't leave us. You've come to be with us forever. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel Luke 24:13-35 That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?” They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?” And he replied to them, “What sort of things?” They said to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his Body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures. As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the Eleven and those with them who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread. Reflection It's fascinating that in these stories, when Jesus appears in the flesh, they do not recognize him. But when he speaks or when he explains Scripture, whenever he is doing what he longs to do most, they feel his presence instantly in that gift of his desire and his longing for them to understand and to live out his teaching. So what it reminds me of very much that this presence of God in the world today is not so much that He physically walks around us, but that he dwells in our hearts and resonates from there, his healing and his loving presence. It's all about his presence. That's what will never go away. That's what stays always. That is what they could never kill. Closing Prayer Father, you have told us as you told the disciples, that you have not deserted us on this place we live in. As you said, you would be with us always, and help us to grow in our imagination, our curiosity to how this works, because it draws us into the work of the church. The work that we have as beings called to a new life. And in living that life, we are reflecting the presence of this man, God, Jesus. And he is there now with us, through us, for us and for each other. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel John 20:11-18 Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he had told her. Reflection The period after Jesus died is so important to understand, what did he want to say? What did he want to teach? In this particular passage, he really speaks clearly that what he longs for is an open heart, a heart filled with wisdom, and Mary had that heart. And so he first appears to her, tells her to tell the others that he is alive. But he also shares a great mystery. The fullness of what Jesus accomplished was finished in a sense, at Pentecost, when His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, entered into humanity. And what he says here is, I have to return to my father. It's hard to understand exactly what that means or how to interpret it, but it means there was a plan, and the plan includes the ending, and the ending is God inside of you, God unifying you with your brothers and sisters through His presence. Closing Prayer Father, over and over again, we see those that were most intimately connected with you, being challenged to believe in the things that you said as they are revealed, and as they are experienced. Bless us with faith and trust. We don't need to understand how things work, but we do need to understand what it is that God has planned for us. And we asked this In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel Matthew 28:8-15 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce the news to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” While they were going, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had happened. The chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel; then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’ And if this gets to the ears of the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” The soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day. Reflection It's interesting to see the influences that worked against what Jesus was trying to establish. A community of believers that were filled with his presence, and they knew that he cared deeply for them and he would be with them in their journey. And the other powers that be, be it the institutional church or the institution of politics, whatever those things are get involved with it, it's always somehow a major obstacle. Who really has the ultimate authority? An institution called the church? The government? No, the real authority is in God, and he promises his presence. He is the one that we surrender to. Closing Prayer Father, your presence within us is the gift that you have given us through your death and resurrection. Help us always to rely upon that wisdom that you promise. Guide us so that we can truly live the lives that we have been called to live. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel Mark 16:1-7 When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint him. Very early when the sun had risen, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb. They were saying to one another, “Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back; it was very large. On entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were utterly amazed. He said to them, “Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. But go and tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.’” Reflection The reaction of the angel is very interesting. Can you imagine walking to a place where you thought the person was still there? You knew he was dead, and you encounter a figure, a beautiful young man who simply says, He's not here, He's risen. And yet they were told that would happen. And so they were totally amazed. And the response is so interesting coming from the angel, why are you amazed? Did you not believe it? Did you not understand Jesus? And of course, that is the point. They did not understand Jesus’ teaching. They didn't fathom the fullness of what he would be until those many days, those beautiful 40 days after he rose and taught them, awakened them to the mystery of the God that wants to live within them. Closing Prayer Father, your promise to be with us, to be in us, to be for us, to forgive us. All these things are still struggles for us to be able to fully fathom what they are. Bless us with the kind of wisdom, the longing that Eve had at the very beginning of the human races relationship with God. She longed for wisdom. That's what we still need, the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. And we asked this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Gospel John 18:1—19:42 Now since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and that they be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; he knows that he is speaking the truth, so that you also may come to believe. For this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled: Not a bone of it will be broken. And again another passage says: They will look upon him whom they have pierced. After this, Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted it. So he came and took his body. Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom. Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by. Reflection One of the great challenges is to move from the Old Testament, understanding its wisdom and its teaching, and then receive from the New Testament the fullness of the message of who God is. And we see here a situation where in John himself is saying, this is the way it had to happen, because this is the way it was written in the Old Testament that it would happen. Interesting. And how clearly it seems now to look at the disciples and see how they didn't understand all this, because they were never taught these things from the temple. The temple didn't seem to even pay attention to those kinds of predictions that would come and they didn't recognize Jesus. But if you listen to the Old Testament, you know who Jesus is. And it's so affirming that it's really the revelation of who God really is. Closing Prayer Father, give us wisdom. We cannot see you or understand your message without this gift of your presence within is enlightening our minds. Help us to see all of this as it was intended to be seen and be transformed by it, as God intended us to be. And we asked this in Jesus’ name, Amen.