Lec
# 48- 3rd Sun of Easter- Apr 14, 2013- Fr. Bresowar
My
brothers and sisters, it is good to be here once again on this 3rd
Sunday of Easter.
We
just heard the story from Acts, where Peter is clearing up, rather boldly I
might add, a misconception that the Jewish leaders of his time had concerning
who exactly was this Jesus of Nazareth that they executed.
They
said, “We have commanded you, Peter, not to teach in that name, you are trying
to bring his blood upon us.”
And
Peter says, look, “we have to obey God.” It may be difficult for you, you may
not like it, but the truth of the matter is, Jesus Christ is the answer, He is
salvation, He is the one who will lead Israel out of it’s slavery from sin, the
Messiah, and yes, out of your ignorance and your pride, you killed him. This is
Truth; he is exalted, and sits at the right hand of his father.
It’s
as if Peter is saying, I’m only concerned about one thing now, and that is
Truth. I’m not so much concerned about how you feel about the truth, if it
hurts your feelings or makes you angry. I invite you to be obedient to it, and
then see how it changes everything. It makes all things new and gives meaning
to all things. Your problem, (it’s as if he is saying) is the hardness of your
hearts, your complacency and your comfort.
And
what gives credence to what Peter is saying today, isn’t just the fact that he
is putting himself in danger, and going in front of the religious leaders who
will likely beat him and persecute him, it isn’t simply this, but it is the
fact that he backs up what Truth he is proclaiming, by actually living it as
well.
In
the Gospel, Jesus says to Peter, do you love me, and Peter says yes, Lord, I
love you. “Feed my sheep.” Three times he asks him, “do you love me Peter,” and
three times he tells him to go out and feed his sheep, feed his people. And
this is exactly what Peter sets out to do. He leads by example.
He
feeds them both with worldly food, he takes care of them, shelters them, gives
them food, restores their sight, heals their illnesses, and then feeds them
with the food that gives them everlasting life, the Truth.
I’ve
said it once, I’ll say it many more times; there is absolutely no such thing as
social justice apart from Truth. We can be nice to people as we lead them to
Hell. We can feed them food that perishes, but if they do not eat of the Truth,
then they ultimately will taste the sting of death. It is very nice of me to
say that you can marry whoever you want to marry and act however you want to
act in the natural world; you will like me, and you will praise me with all
sorts of complements, and then you will join me in Hell because I did not feed
you the Truth; you did not eat of the bread of eternal life, or drink the cup
that all will have to drink if they want to join Jesus in the Kingdom.
Pope
Francis, many say, is going to change the teachings of the Church on things
that are not popular right now in our modern culture. Things like marriage and
celibacy.
Pope
Francis is Peter, he is not changing anything; he is doing exactly what Peter
did at the very beginning. He is preaching and living the Truth, regardless of
how popular it makes him. He cares nothing about worldly popularity. He is leading
us in a world which is living in darkness; he is bringing the light of Truth,
the light of the world, Jesus Christ to all, and he is doing it with no fear.
So
it must be with us. The reason we are not happy, the reason that we get
confused, is because we too often are like the scribes and the Pharisees. We get
too caught up in the way we think things should be, and in the comforts that
the world gives us. Until we are willing to let that go, deny ourselves, and
follow, as Jesus says in the Gospel today, “Follow Me,” until we do so, then we
are going to struggle, and keep struggling, and never quite taste the liberty,
the freedom, that comes from total obedience to Christ in and through his
Church.
The
Church is not an institution, it is a mystical body, a reality, united to Jesus
Christ as one body, one hope, one baptism, one Truth, it’s you and it’s me, and
it is guided by the Holy Spirit through Peter, as it always has been, to lead
us, the sheep, to true freedom.
So
let us move now, to receive into our bodies this great sign of unity, the
reality of the Eucharist, so that we might be one together in the reception of
the body and blood of our savior, in the Truth, in the food that does not
perish but gives life.
Then
we, like Peter, will not be afraid of what others think about us; we will not
be afraid of death because death, in the Truth, loses its sting. And, we too
will be concerned about one thing, as he was, and that is to proclaim with our
lives, that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. And that to live
with him, is to die with him, and to die with him is to conquer with him, and
to conquer with him is to have power over death and sin. And this is why we say
Amen, so be it, I believe, I am not afraid of the world or its false
philosophies, because I’m willing to answer the question that Peter answered, “Yes,
Lord, you know that I love you.” I am willing to go out and feed your sheep
with Truth, even if it means that people will take me and lead me to where I do
not want to go. For to do so is a great adventure, which already has it’s victory
in eternal life.
Die
to sin in our lives, abandon our false ideologies and gods, take up our cross
and follow, seek to serve and not to be served, then and only then, will be
begin to truly live.
