Peter said to the people:
"The God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus,
whom you handed over and denied in Pilate's presence
when he had decided to release him.
You denied the Holy and Righteous One
and asked that a murderer be released to you.
The author of life you put to death,
but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.
Now I know, brothers,
that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did;
but God has thus brought to fulfillment
what he had announced beforehand
through the mouth of all the prophets,
that his Christ would suffer.
Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away."  Acts 3:13-15, 17-19

My children, I am writing this to you
so that you may not commit sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous one.
He is expiation for our sins,
and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.
The way we may be sure that we know him is to keep
his commandments.
Those who say, "I know him," but do not keep his commandments
are liars, and the truth is not in them.
But whoever keeps his word,
the love of God is truly perfected in him. 1 Jn 2:1-5a

He [Jesus]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."  Lk 24:35-48

I said last week that the Easter Season is the Season of the Holy Spirit, but it also the Season of Enlightenment. 

After Jesus rose from the dead he returned to the apostles and imparted to them the Holy Spirit, the Helper, that He promised would remain with them forever.  Further, Jesus opened the hearts and the minds of the apostles so that they would understand the scriptures.  This is important because they would begin preaching in Jesus’ name to all the nations the Gospel of our Lord.

You cannot teach something that you know nothing about.  You cannot convince someone of the truth of Jesus' Gospel if you do not know and accept that truth yourself.  You cannot speak for Jesus if you do not know Jesus.  And you do not truly know Jesus if you do not keep His commandments.  You cannot know and keep His commandments if you do not know and understand His Gospel.  And we have come full circle.

The underlying theme of this Sunday’s readings is the central point of the Gospel, the critical point on which we turn toward the truth or away from it.  This is the rock on which our faith stands, for if Jesus was not resurrected there is nothing to follow.  The truth, as personally witnessed by the apostles, is that Christ Jesus was crucified and died and His corpse placed in a tomb and was risen alive on the third day.  Jesus “appeared” to the apostles, not through the door, but as a sudden presence in their midst.  And yet, He was alive, flesh and bone, eating food, and insisted they touch Him and see that He was real and not a ghost.  If you believe in the truth of the resurrection you believe in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus.  The resurrection is the stumbling stone to full belief and faith and that is why Jesus came back to the disciples and insisted they experience for themselves the reality of His living flesh. 

The resurrection is difficult to believe because of the fact that it is power from on high that we cannot embrace with our limited mental capacity.  Jesus opened the hearts and minds of the disciples with the Holy Spirit so that they could envelope the powerful truth of God.  Jesus gave them spiritual revelation about God’s plan of salvation and gave them understanding of the mystery of redemption that their human minds could never grasp.  This revelation filled their hearts with LOVE.  Jesus needed the apostles to understand that His teachings were not just moral or intellectual, but that the Gospel is about power from on high.  We have access to the same grace that will expand our ability to understand the Gospel and accept the powerful presence of God.  It is the same grace, grace from heaven, that expanded the apostles minds and hearts that can, and will, expand ours. 

So when you attend Mass and you listen to the readings let the Holy Spirit fill your mind.  When you receive the Eucharist, ask Jesus to open your heart.    When you pray after communion know that Jesus is in you and He is your hope of glory.  And most importantly, when you sin KNOW that “…we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one.  He is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.”

This Sunday’s Psalm is:  Psalm 4: Lord Let Your Face Shine Upon Us

Have a blessed week!