Lk 24:13-35

(...) Luke does not say why the two disciples were going to Emmaus. They may have been going home, going there on business, or just going there to get away from the terrible things they had witnessed in Jerusalem. Again, it doesn’t really matter why they were going to Emmaus. What matters is what it represents. Federick Buechner interprets Emmaus as:

the place we go to in order to escape—a bar, a movie, wherever it is we throw up our hands and say, “Let the whole damned thing go hang. It makes no difference anyway.”…Emmaus may be buying a new suit or a new car or smoking more cigarettes than you really want, or reading a second-rate novel or even writing one. Emmaus may be going to church on Sunday. Emmaus is whatever we do or wherever we go to make ourselves forget that the world holds nothing sacred: that even the wisest and bravest and loveliest decay and die; that even the noblest ideas that humanity has had—ideas about love and freedom and justice—have always in time been twisted out of shape by humanity for selfish ends.

Acts 2:36-41
Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20 and 22
Jn 20:11-18

The Easter season has arrived once again.  It is a very uplifting season.  But I am not so ready to forget about Lent.  It leaves an imprint on us, or at least it should.  It should all be connected.  There are three main themes in the lessons today that I think sum up Lent, Easter, and the days that follow in a coherent faith response.  They are “repent, rejoice, and report.” 

Yesterday was the glorious feast of Easter joy.  Today the churches are quieter as we begin to return to “normal” life.  But what can be “normal” after Easter?  Can we be the same people we were before the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus? 

Acts 10:34,37-43; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9

We Are Witnesses

Despite the passage of time, the words we hear today from Peter’s speech as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles vibrate with all the joy, the power and the conviction that must have impressed those first hearers.  The message is clear:  the Jesus whom we witnessed preaching and healing, whom we saw crucified, we have seen now – alive! 

We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death. - Romans 6:4

Today we experience the painful waiting between the death of one ideal and the rebirth into something new. The Scriptures have little to say about the thoughts of the disciples that day, but I imagine they were confused and disillusioned. They had ideas of what the Messiah would do, but Jesus was killed before accomplishing them. On this day I see all my shattered expectations and doubts about God. It is my Holy Saturday today. Like the disciples, I am fearful and lonely.

Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42

Much has been said about what is ‘good’ about this day, I believe we each can personalize the ‘good’ for what it means to us. For me the ‘goodness’ of this day is to be able to reflect on Jesus’ compassion in his passion. We can begin with his agony in the garden “My soul is sorrowful even to death.” (Mt 26:38, Mk 14:34, Lk 22:44). Despite his sorrow and distress he is very patient with Peter James and John, whom he has asked to pray with him, but they cannot stay awake. Jesus also shows compassion for Judas. Jesus addresses him as “friend” even as he kisses him and turns him over to the authorities (Mt 26:50). Luke even records that Jesus heals the ear of a person that a disciple cuts off with a sword (Lk 22:51).

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 13:1-15

If you knew you were going to die in under a week, wouldn't you prioritize and take care of the really important things? In John's Gospel, that means, for Jesus, taking time to wash his disciples' feet.

This text is not about watching Jesus put his hands on somebody else's feet. It's about letting Jesus put his hands on our feet. Not all of us want that. One reason maybe is that we're embarrassed about our feet. As we get older, we may one day look down at our feet and say to ourselves, "Whose veiny, bulbous, knobby feet are those? And how did they get on the end of my ankles?"

On 25 March 2021, the Solemnity of Annunciation, in our Lady of Kibeho Region, Sister Marie Delphine Murekatete joyfully pronounced her final profession in our Congregation.