3 Easter B – Third Sunday of Easter – Cycle “B” - Acts 3:13-15, 17-19; Psalm 4:to, 4, 7-8, 9; 1 John to:1-5a; Lk to4:35-48
Did you know that everyone of us is called to be witnessing to Jesus regularly in our daily lives? Many years ago, I was driving on Main Street in Sayville, near where I lived at the time. And while stopped at a traffic light, I remember looking in the rear-view mirror to see cars behind me, about 10 of them. And just before the light was about to turn from red to green, the person behind me ran into the back of my Chevy Chevette! I was shocked at the jolt! I pulled my car over to the side of the road, as did the driver who’d hit me, & both of us took a look. To tell the truth, there were just a couple of dented spots on my car: I was more shaken up was all. But a third car pulled over to the side of the road with us, and a man stepped out with a piece of paper. He said, “I was right behind the man who hit you, & I saw the whole thing, if you need a witness.” This stranger, whose name was Sidney, wanted to support me in the truth of what’d just happened. And I was grateful for that support: he’d been there, he’d seen it happen, and he would witness to the truth. I’m so glad I took his name, address, and phone number, and included it in the police report drawn up later that day. It came in handy when the man who actually HIT me began to tell a story QUITE different from the one that ACTUALLY happened!
Our Scriptures today are FILLED with witnesses, who testify to what God is doing in them & through others. Peter is doing some pretty serious witnessing in the 1st Reading from Acts, the second part of St. Luke’s work. And yet, we know that Peter was not always a stable or reliable witness on behalf of Jesus’ mission work: in fact, Peter denied Jesus THREE times not long before Jesus died, and Jesus had PREDICTED it. Peter ALSO struggled with fears & doubt. So when Peter says that there’s forgiveness available for all those who’ve sinned, he’s ALSO talking about himself! So what happened? Who empowered Peter to surrender his fears and doubts, to become a true witness? We know the answer is God: The Father, Jesus the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and it happened with some very specific & deliberate steps. The same is true when I speak with YOU about the wonders of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and God’s love. With LOTS of others, I stood on Fr. Henry’s line on Monday of Holy Week & received God’s liberating forgiveness in the sacrament.
Peter knew what we now know: when you betray someone, you need to apologize to that person. The Gospel says Peter cried after his denials: he knew RIGHT away what he’d done to Jesus and to himself. But the Risen Christ Jesus appears to many disciples, such as Mary Magdalene, as well as Peter, with good news: Christ is NOT dead, but alive; and NOT alive like Lazarus, who was just resuscitated from death. The difference is that Jesus Christ will live forever! It’s a great lesson for me, and hopefully one for all of us: the Risen Jesus Christ did NOT hold grudges about those who betrayed him, or ran away from him when He was arrested, all before He died on the cross. In fact, the Risen Jesus gave Peter the opportunity to repent of his denials, so Peter could move forward and serve. Do you remember that great section of St. John’s Gospel, when Jesus asks Peter three times: “Simon, do you love me?” Remember what Peter said? Peter said three times to the Lord: I love you; I DO love you; you know everything, you KNOW that I love U. Peter was given 3 chances to confess his love for Jesus AND receive the Lord’s forgiveness. For Peter’s 3 denials, Peter is able to make 3 confessions of apology and sorrow, to receive the Risen Lord’s healing.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus invites his apostles, his disciples and all of us to be witnesses to specific events: to His life, death and resurrection. These are some of the foundational events of our faith life. And yet, every one of us can say: “But I wasn’t there for the original events in Jesus’ life: how can I be a witness?” And the answer is simple AND challenging: because Jesus sent the Holy Spirit upon Mary and the apostles, and they became witnesses in Christ’s name, so can we: we who have been confirmed have received the gifts of the One and Only Holy Spirit.
So what does a Christian look like in the 21st century, and what does a Christian do all day and week long? For one 1 thing, Peter had his Christ eyes opened, challenging him to bring shalom, not violence or revenge. Remember during the Passion of Christ, Peter was also the one who cut off a man named Malchus’ EAR, in trying to prevent Jesus from being arrested. We could put that peace-making into practice in our family and wider community life by relying on Christ’s loving mercy. There’s a LOT of verbal violence that bubbles up in the world today, from frustration and impatience: why not take some of the mercy that Jesus gives you and me in the Holy Eucharist & spread it around? Why not dedicate this week to sowing the seeds of peace where the weeds of anger and frustration are growing?
And if you think that YOU are a hopeless case, that YOU could NEVER be a WITNESS to Jesus Christ and HIS saving work in the world, you need only remember St. Jude: remember him? He’s the patron of Hopeless Cases. And if there EVER seemed to be a truly hopeless case, it was a man named Saul, who LOVED killing Christians, whom SAUL believed were betraying the one true God revealed by Abraham & Moses. It took God knocking Saul off his horse & blinding him, AND THEN OPENING Saul’s eyes and setting him straight. Then, after Saul’s conversion, his name was changed to Paul, d Apostle to the Gentiles. And THEN, Paul couldn’t love Jesus enough because Jesus had planted divine enthusiasm in him: how about you? Do YOU love Jesus with divine joy, so much so that it bubbles over into your daily life & conversations? That’s how witnessing happens, in deed and in word. In the week to come, let God’s will be done. Alleluia!
