FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

“ Im the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me”

(Jn.14,1-12)

Rev. Alexander Diaz

As time goes by, we enter deeper this wonderful time of Easter, today we are celebrating the Fifth Sunday of Easter.

This Sunday’s Gospel is a Gospel that recommend us to believe what Jesus does for the twelve. They feel in His words a great sadness, there is uncertainty in the teacher’s voice when He sees the human generation, that is represented by the Apostles, unable to believe and accept Him as Lord and Messiah.

Humanity has always questioned God and has turned against Him in spite of the multiple signs of love and in spite of His mercy shown thru His Son, Jesus Christ. The modern man and woman are day by day losing their faith and hope in God, not because God does not speak to them, but rather, very simply and straightforward, they have focused their attention on other concerns that do not allow them to believe, that makes them unhappy and lead them little by little to live a miserable and lonely life.

The Gospel of this Sunday reminds us that to have faith in the Father includes and realizes itself in our faith in Him. The encounter with the true God is possible only thru Jesus Christ: “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn 14,6). All the paths in our sincere quest for our creator flows out to Christ.

To be a believer and to evangelize means to deepen the encounter of conversion with Jesus, to deeply know Him and to share the experience with others. To evangelize is not to indoctrinate or to commit oneself simply in social deeds; it is not even to give an intellectual speech about faith.

To evangelize is much more than that, it is to be a carrier, a bearer of a serious and profound friendship with the Lord. We have to try our best to get others to know Him with the same or deeper intensity.

Once someone asked Blessed John Paul II (Second), which was the most closer path to become a saint, the Blessed answered: the closer path to become a saint is to be a friend of Jesus, to establish a solid friendship without sense or notion, is simply to be an intimate friend in love and in the deep listening of this love. In our time, we have gotten used to receiving answers to the needs in our lives (i.e. food, clothes, etc).

They are satisfied and fulfilled with material things like money, machines, etc, instead of being fulfilled by people. It is true that all this comes to us thru the hands of other human beings, but none of these people become for us, the definite answer to all our interior needs.

We have made ours the famous phrase: “what you have is what you are worth” something that has no sense because material things do not develop or help you at all when you change it for the truth. In the context of the most profound needs of the human being is where Jesus’ affirmations are found. He is the path, and the truth and the life. It means this is the last explanation of the human life.

To find, to go in depth in the Lord is to build little by little the crossword puzzle of our lives. To put the pieces in their places so they will be completely visible. ¿How is it possible that those words pronounced by Jesus years ago, currently, at present, still make sense? ¿How Jesus keep on being today, after all these technical and industrial development, the answer to the human being?

The answers are very clear: Jesus’ words are addressed directly to the heart of each and every human being. It is the heart that must give the answer to the call. In spite of all the centuries, we, human beings, are not any different or unequal.

The history of humanity becomes present in our personal and specific history where we walk the same route. Also, on each one of us there is a prehistoric and a Middle Age, also a contemporary time that we have to learn how to conjugate in order to understand the role God plays in our lives.

Today text ends by reminding us that Jesus’ followers will do the works that He did and will do greater things than He did. The Lord describes to us the evolution process of faith.

Many people forget that faith has its process and an its evolution. We will not have a complete and total faith at the moment of our conversion.

Faith carves itself little by little, it is like a work of art where the authors are always two: God and you. In the extent we encounter the Teacher, we will become closer friends of Jesus and our faith will become more solid each day, because solid is our trust in Him.

AMEN!!

4TH SUNDAY OF EASTER

“I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly”

John 10, 1-10

Rev. Alexader Diaz

We are celebrating the fourth Sunday of Easter; this Sunday we call it Shepherd Sunday. Today is designated as the World Day of Prayer for Vocations in the Catholic Church, it is specially set aside to pray that more men and women will hear and embrace the call to the priesthood and religious life; for the simple fact that the priest is the shepherd who feeds the spiritual flock entrusted to him.

In the Old and New Testament of the Sacred Scripture, we are compared to a sheep, in many cases we do not understand because we are not accustomed to seeing in it in our environment, in the Israelite culture was very common and many lived to be shepherds and devoted who lives to the care of these peaceful animals.

The image of the shepherd, so familiar to the people of God, is used by the Master to remind his people that He, who has conquered death, is the true guide of the Church. This suggestive image was used extensively in the Church of the early centuries, both in the preaching of the Fathers and as in the catechesis which was expressed through paintings.

Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd who knows His flock and gives his life for them; “that God has made both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:14a, 36), and guides the "misguided" and is “guardian of our souls” (1 Pt. 2: 25).

He is the best of the shepherds, for He gives life- and in fact gave it - for his sheep. And his sheep know him and hear his voice. He also tells us that He knows each of his sheep by name and the sheep recognize his voice (cf. Jn. 10, 1-10).

We are the Lord's sheep. It means we are also fragile, as these helpless animals, although many times we believe to be very strong and very capable. We are, therefore, dependent on the Lord and, like sheep, we are not self-sufficient.

However, when we are deceived, we can spend much of our time and even our entire life, trying to be independent of God, trying to stand on our own.

How often does this happen to us? And it also happens that we get tangled in our spiritual life. And who can untangle us? Who can get us out of the bush or fence where we are trapped? Well, we already know it: we need our Shepherd. He looks for us, rescues us, heals us, and places us on his shoulder, like a lost sheep, to bring us back the fold. Out of 100 sheep, he leaves 99 safe in the fold and goes to look for the lost one.

How many times has the Lord done this with us, with each one of us every time we escape from the fold or take the wrong path. (Luke 15, 4).

We cannot, either, walk alone, "like lost sheep", as St. Peter says in the Second Reading (1 Pt. 2, 20-25); we risk being devoured by wolves who are always on the lookout.

Therefore, we have to recognize we are dependent of the Lord as are the sheep of his shepherd. So, like them, we can be totally obedient to the Voice and the Will of our Shepherd, Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd.

There is a figure totally opposite to that of the emblematic figure of the Good Shepherd; the bad shepherd, who Jesus called a thief and robber. We must not obey them.

They are not entering through the door of the sheepfold, but jumping from one side of the fence and try to deceive us, pretending to be shepherds just to take away the sheep.

These false shepherds are all those false teachers who confuse us, since they speak to us trying to imitate our Shepherd, with false teachings that seem real to get us out of the fold, to get us out of the Church, to make us lose the faith our Shepherd teaches.

They are the things that we see on TV, Internet, movies and books, which seem true but are errors. They are all modern errors and heresies contained -for example, that mass of lies that is the New Age.

The preachers of these errors is to whom Jesus refers to in today’s Gospel; who do not come through the door of the sheepfold, but instead jump on the other side: "A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy;… My sheep recognize my voice... they do not recognize the voice of strangers". Beware of strange voices! Beware of not confusing them with the Voice of the Good Shepherd! They seem alike ... but are not.

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER

“Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?”

Jn. 24,13-35

Rev. Alexander Díaz

When confusion settles in the heart of the human being it is very difficult to recognize the presence of the Resurrected, because frustration and doubt fill the heart. This is what happens in the hearts of these two pilgrims, that frustrated were returning to Emmaus, to start their lives over again, they knew Jesus but never understood His principal mission.

They were walking fast with tears in their eyes, with lamentations, reproaches and resentments. Their words indicated their frustrations and resentments; this caused them to be blind and not be able to see clearly what the other pilgrim was telling them. This case of Emmaus, is the case of millions of Christians now-a-day, they live their own lives, with a Jesus of miracles, leader of the multitudes.

With a Jesus formed on their own way, but that is not real. They live, believing and thinking that the cross has no meaning, it is only an element of condemnation.

The Gospel explains to us that they were sad, that was the reason why when Jesus approached them, they were blind and could not recognize Him, because their disappointment has taken away their will to continue. In the tomb, they buried their hopes to be free and to overcome.

They left all their dreams inside the desolate cave. Many had told them that He was alive and resurrected, but they did not believe and by the look in their faces, they were not open to believe it. They were defeated and sadden, they were blind to themselves, they did not know how to digest their failure.

They tell Jesus. They tell Jesus their version of what had happened, but they do this with despair. They had waited, but their waiting had been useless. Now they return more disappointed than ever. Jesus’ words comfort them, but His death; the silence of the Teacher leaves them empty. Jesus begins to explain to them again, everything that was said about Him in the Scriptures. They listened but were not convinced.

They keep on walking. They arrive at the town and Jesus made believe He was going to continue ahead, but they invite Him to stay. They sit at table and again Jesus picks up the bread, giving thanks to God, He broke it and gave it to them. Scriptures says that at that moment their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus, but He disappeared. The last gesture Jesus had for His Apostles was a Supper.

Now, after His resurrection, He does the same gesture again in the fraction of the bread, that nourishes, that saves and opens the eyes of the blind. The Eucharist is the place of encounter with Jesus. He comes to them, giving Himself again, in a different way. He breaks for them, shares with them the bread and blesses God.

They discover Him, at the precise moment. How beautiful it would be if we, as Christians, as they did, could also discover Him in the breaking of the bread and that our eyes will open at the precise moment of this miracle.

The Christian life will always be linked, connected to the Eucharist, Cross and Resurrection. Over and over again in the life of the followers of Christ, these three moments will be present. There is a question that our non-believer friends ask: If Jesus resurrected, ¿Where is He now? Jesus is not in the tomb.

The tomb is empty. Neither is the resurrection a return to the past. The real encounter with Christ is now in the Word, in the Eucharist and in the profession of Faith. The Lord is in the new life that have come in the transformation of the suffering of this world. To find it, is to find the path to salvation. Jesus Resurrected is in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the special place for the presence of Christ.

To participate in the Eucharist means to have a personal encounter with Christ Resurrected. The Resurrected is also present where people feel united, together, where the same feeling is shared.

The Resurrected is among the most weak and poor of society, those that are most vulnerable to lose. Jesus, by overcoming death, allows them to regain their strength to continue life’s path, with hope and happiness in their hearts. To see, most of all see, that He is always by our side in all the moments of the journey thru our existence.

Do not lose hope. When you feel lonely and beaten; do not lose courage when you feel defeated, because Jesus will always be walking beside you as a pilgrim, recognize Him when your heart starts burning and when it feels comforted, it is Him, it could be no one else. He is alive and walks with us, Amen!

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER

“Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed”

Jn. 20, 19-31

Rev. Alexander Diaz

We are celebrating the Second Sunday of Easter, called “Divine Mercy Sunday”, because it shows the mercy of the Resurrected to one of his apostles that proudly does not believe, just because he has not seeing with his own eyes this miracle. Every single year we read the same reading, precisely because it gets us closer to the mystery of this Sunday.

First it reinforces that Sunday comes from the Lord. The first Easter Sunday is the day of the manifestation of the Resurrected, first to the women, later to the disciples. The first concern the Lord had, was to reunite the disciples after the scandal of the cross. The second Sunday, the first of the week, and this is, today, the Resurrected returns to reunite the disciples to confirm them on their faith.

To confirmed them on their faith was not an easy task, since in order to digest the scandal of the cross, was not simple, neither was it acceptable because of the consequences it entailed, the fear was eminent. The Gospel tells us that “when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews” (Jn. 20,19). Fear is one of the mechanisms that evil uses to bind us and not allow us to grow and be fruitful as true, real Christians.

Jesus came and stood in their midst, and with very simple words, words that will forever mark the lives of all Christians; “Peace be with you” (Jn. 20,19). Peace is the first message of the Resurrected to the eleven, an element that will allow men to transcend and find himself. This is why a Christian that is not a bearer, carrier, an announcer of peace, have not understood Jesus’ project. The Apostles were full of resentment and hate against those who crucified our Lord Jesus to the cross.

Blessed John Paul II (second) told us, the Christians of the third millennium many time, “The Christians, in particular, are called to be guards of peace, in the places where they live and work, in other words, we are asked to watch out so the consciences do not give in to the temptation of selfishness, deceit, lies and violence.

Let us, together, ask God, who is rich in mercy and pardon, to subdue the sentiments of hate in the moods of the populations, to cease the horror of terrorism and lead the steps of the people responsible of the nations thru the path of mutual understanding, solidarity and reconciliation”. Only when the human being is able to find peace within himself, then he will understand what is the real significance of his vocation.

One of the fruits of fear and being afraid, is frustration and rejection, skepticism and unbelief when confronted with new events, this is what happened to Thomas. He was not in the second day of the week when this happened, for this reason he becomes arrogant when faced with the resurrection. Thomas does not believe in God’s great things easily. Thomas is today’s world that asks for proofs and certainties. The world asks for such huge proof, that only God can give it to them thru His Resurrection. We asks God for signs and proofs when in reality, we are a mystery to ourselves and even to others.

Only for God we are not a mystery. God knows what resides in our hearts and knows how to give the correct answer at the right time. God knows of our deaths and resurrections, He knows of our cowardice, greatness and miseries. He knows the mud we are made of. To live as a Christian is to tune in our life to the rhythm of God, only then will life give us answers. To put your fingers in the wounds of Jesus is to enter His interior, to discover His pains and surrender for us. ¿Don’t we live a weak faith, which many times, does not transform us? To go into Jesus interior is to feel like Him.

Our life is full of sins and mistakes that multiply as we get farther and farther from God. It is not estrange then, that in the text of Jesus’ appearance, the reference to the Holy Spirit appears and also the forgiveness of sins. To accept the Holy Spirit is to accept the presence of God in our lives. When a person is with God and in God, sin plays a very small part in his existence.

Thomas asked for vital proof. He needed to see, touch, feel the tangible presence of the supposedly Resurrected. To evangelize is nothing else than to offer others this sensible experience of Jesus. To believe is to see, to touch, to feel Christ.

The crisis of the apostle was more of faith than of reasoning. When we follow the path to the Resurrected, the doubts become less and less each time. Some people suffer internally because their doubts would not allow them to believe in no one, not even in themselves. ¿What does a person without faith needs to feel the presence of the Resurrected? It gives me the impression that he must start at the beginning, go over and over again from Bethlehem to the Cross and the Resurrection Sunday with amazement and respect.

When we put our fingers in the wounds of Christ, it does not causes pain, but Love. Love that changes and converts the heart of anyone who gets close to Him.

Amen!