The Resurrection of our Bodies

"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.” Lk 24:38

It is easy to take our bodies for granted. Young people are especially vulnerable to this fault, and sometimes even take risks that are foolish and dangerous. Who doesn't remember climbing in a car and driving too fast just for the fun of it, never thinking about our own safety or the threat to others.

Jesus focuses on our senses to help us realize what great gifts our bodies and our faith are. Our eyes for instance, when used properly, allow us to see and appreciate the glory of God in so many ways. 

All our senses can help us grow in faith. When we offer or receive a simple touch of affirmation, we experience the goodness of God in the other and know that people are basically good. How we will see and touch others after death is not clear, but that we will be raised body and soul is.

Today, take a moment to breathe deeply and thank God for the gift of your body and the promise of bodily resurrection.

When have been most grateful for the gift of sight?

Share Your Gifts

"I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you." Acts 3:6

Easter is not just about receiving with joy the promise of eternal life. It is about giving it away. Peter's response to the man crippled from birth is a perfect example of this. Not worried about what he doesn't have, Peter gives what he does have, and this ought to be the model for every believer. Some have the financial ability to help others. Some have time to give. Others can pray, but all of us have to give something.

Several years before my mother died she wanted to talk about her living situation. It was a time similar to today. Many people has lost their jobs and homes and she was living in a home with two extra small bedrooms. Guilty about having so much while others were suffering, she wanted to know whether I thought she should offer the extra bedrooms to some homeless people. Stunned by her generosity, I also reacted strongly against the proposal. A woman of 85 living alone should not open her home to strangers, but what should she do? More important, what should we do, not just with our surplus, but with our substance.

Become Easter for others. Focus, like Peter, on what you do have, and give it away. Kindness costs nothing but means everything. Listening takes time, but lasts a lifetime. Compassion towards those who seem ungrateful is difficult, but is demanded by the gospel.

Today, think of your gifts and share them.

Has anyone ever stunned you with their kindness when you expected nothing?

Easter Tuesday

Jesus said to Mary, "Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father." Jn 20:17

It is natural for us to cling to what we know, especially when we are comfortable and secure. Parents know this in a particular way when they send a child to school for the first time. Not only is it difficult for them to let go, often their children also struggle to learn how to care for themselves in a new environment. Change, though necessary, involves risk, and without change, we will not meet new people or engage new situations.

Our bodies teach us this in dramatic ways. The cells lining our intestine replace themselves once a week, and even the long lasting cells of our pancreas replace themselves every year. If these cells do not replace themselves properly and adequately, we get sick. The same is true for our spirits.

Mary Magdalene was grieving, crying outside the tomb of Jesus. When the man she thought was a gardener called her by name, she knew it was the Lord, and naturally believed that everything would soon return to normal. Jesus was alive and with them and would continue to instruct them about God's love and their responsibilities, especially to the poor. But Jesus is clear with Mary, and with us. Don't cling to me. Don't cling to what you know well just because you are comfortable. Trust me and even more powerful things will be done in you and among us.

This is another of Easter's challenges. The more we understand how God wants to work in us, the more we will be anxious to follow him and change. Will Rogers said it succinctly, "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

Today, ask for the strength to let go of anything to which you are clinging unhealthily.

What helps you trust that there is still much growing in faith in front of you?

Easter Monday

"Brothers and sisters: Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough?...Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." I Cor  5: 6b,8

The primary symbols of Easter, the Christ candle and the new waters that remind us our baptism, remain the focus on our paschal celebrations, as they should. But yeast, which is an irritant, also plays a prominent role, and not just because when activated in flour is makes bread rise, but because it reminds us that a fully engaged Gospel life makes a difference in society. Believers, like yeast, are not simply passive receivers of Good News, but doers of the word whose gratitude expresses itself in works of justice and charity.

Active Christians are like yeast. Their good works can motivate, and at times agitate others. While this might be uncomfortable for some, the hard sayings of Jesus, like loving our enemies, are an integral part of the Gospel. In the long run, a soft Christianity does no one much good. Easter is a time to rejoice and recommit ourselves to a full Gospel life.

Today, take time to rejoice for the gift of faith.

Who has been yeast in your life?