Return to the Charcoal Fire

Friday in the Octave of Easter
Readings: Acts 4:1-12; Jn 21:1-14

When they landed, they saw a charcoal fire. Jn 21:9

In today’s Gospel, Peter and six of the other disciples have been fishing all night, but have caught nothing. Jesus shows up on the shore (once again they don’t recognize Him), and tells them where to cast their nets. They obey and are rewarded with a huge catch. Realizing that it’s Jesus, Peter excitedly jumps into the water.
For Peter, it must have brought back the memory of an earlier scene when he was first called to be a disciple. After a similar miraculous catch of fish, Jesus had told him he was to be a fisher of men (see Lk 5:1-11).
From that time on, he had followed Jesus. But then had come that terrible night when he had denied Jesus three times. And now, as he approached the shore, he was about to be reminded of that event, too, for there was “a charcoal fire there, with a fish laid on it and some bread” (Jn 21:9).
What’s a charcoal fire have to do with anything? The only other place in the New Testament where we see a charcoal fire is in the courtyard of the high priest where Peter denied Christ (see Jn 18:18).
Christ is about to put Peter in charge of his flock, but first there’s healing needed. So He builds a charcoal fire to lead Peter back to the time of his sin. Then comes the tender dialogue of mercy: Do you love Me? … Yes, Lord. … Then feed my sheep (see Jn 21:15-17). Three times Peter is allowed to reaffirm his love for Jesus to make up for the three denials.
How wonderful to know that the same mercy is available to us. Whenever we fail, Jesus stands there at the shore of our sin, waiting to build a charcoal fire and gently ask the question that matters above all else, “Do you love Me?”

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for Your infinite mercy. Don’t ever let me cling to my sin and guilt, but lead me to the shore of Your love for forgiveness and healing.

Doubly Loved

Thursday in the Octave of Easter
Readings: Acts 3:11-26; Lk 24:35-48

It is really I. Touch me and see. Lk 24:39

The theme of recognizing Christ continues in today’s Gospel. After Jesus had vanished from their sight, the two disciples had rushed back to Jerusalem, “where they found the Eleven and the rest of the company assembled” (Lk 24: 33.) While they were recounting the story of “how they had come to know Jesus in the breaking of the bread,” suddenly “Jesus himself stood in their midst” (Lk 24:36).
How does the group react? They panic. Why? Because they think they’re seeing a ghost. They’ve seen bodies raised from the dead before, but this is different. This body still looks human, but has obvious spiritual qualities, too, and doesn’t seem limited by the laws of nature. Jesus in His risen, glorified body can show up or vanish when and where He wishes and even walk through locked doors!
So Jesus has to reassure them that they’re not seeing an apparition, but that He’s really present with them. Imagine hearing Him say this to you from the Eucharist: “Look at My hands and feet; it is really I. Touch Me, and see” (Lk 24:39).
Jesus is really present in the Eucharist; alive as God and alive as a human man. What does that mean? It means that in the Eucharist you are doubly loved. As God, Jesus has always loved you. But now, with His human will completely united with His divine will, He loves you in His full humanity, too. From the Eucharist, He looks at you with His human eyes, thinks about you with His human mind, loves you with His human heart. And His loving, living presence is as real as it was to that first group of Christians in Jerusalem.

Thank you, Jesus, for this awesome gift of the Eucharist. Forgive me, Lord, for any times I have failed to recognize You, treating you as an object instead of a living person.

The Emmaus Problem

Wednesday in the Octave of Easter
Readings: Acts 3:1-10; Lk 24:13-35

Their eyes were opened and they recognized him. Lk 24:31

Today’s readings pose an important question: “How do you look?” Not your appearance, but your way of viewing. Do you simply observe things, or do you gaze intently, looking beyond the obvious? Do you merely see with your eyes or do you probe with your mind?
Check out this scene from the first reading: “Peter fixed his gaze on the man; so did John. ‘Look at us!’ Peter said. The cripple gave them his whole attention” (Acts 3:4-5). Peter then healed the cripple and, when the people “saw him,” they “recognized him.” (Acts 3:9-10).
In the Gospel, when Jesus joined the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, they didn’t know who He was until the breaking of the bread. Then “their eyes were opened and they recognized him” (Lk 24:16, 31).
This “Emmaus Problem” is still with us. When the priest elevates the Host, many people still see only bread. Even those of us who believe that Christ is truly present need to grow in our ability to recognize who Christ is for us in the Eucharist and thus enter into fuller, more personal communion with Him.
What’s the answer? To get in the habit of “gazing upon the Lord,” pondering as Our Lady did, with your mind, heart, and soul. “To contemplate the face of Christ,” wrote Pope John Paul II, “and to contemplate it with Mary is the ‘programme’ I have set before the Church at the dawn of the third millennium. … [It] involves being able to recognize him … above all in the living sacrament of his body and blood” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, # 6).
“Although You have hidden Yourself,” St. Faustina writes, “my eye, enlightened by faith, reaches You, … my soul recognizes its Creator, … and my heart is completely immersed in prayer of adoration” (Diary, 1692).

Lord, help me to keep my gaze fixed on You and to schedule times of adoration so I can grow in my personal relationship with You.

Come as You wish

Tuesday in the Octave of Easter
Readings: Acts 2:36-41; Jn 20:11-18

Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38

Today’s first reading is taken from St. Peter’s Pentecost sermon, in which he urges his listeners to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:38). The only reason the crowds are listening to Peter at all is that they have just witnessed the Holy Spirit in action. Christ had promised that when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples they would be clothed with power, and He wasn’t kidding (Acts 1:8)!
A sudden loud sound. Tongues of fire. Everyone speaking in strange languages. So much noise that thousands of people gather, amazed and bewildered (see Acts 2:1-12).
It’s doubtful that the apostles had expected this kind of behavior from the Holy Spirit. And they probably didn’t anticipate the effect He would have on their own behavior. The “devout men” who have gathered certainly don’t seem to be viewing this as a legitimate religious experience. Some of them openly mock the apostles, saying, “They have had too much new wine” (Acts 2:13).
Though it’s only nine o’clock in the morning, the apostles are indeed acting drunk, so much so, that, as he begins the first Christian sermon, St. Peter has to assure the crowds, “These men are not drunk, as you suppose” (Acts 2:15).
It’s helpful to look at this scene now and then so we don’t try to keep the Holy Spirit in a tidy little box of our own making. It’s really a control issue. We like to think we’re in charge, and we don’t like surprises. We have certain expectations of how God will act and how people ought to act if they are really filled with His Spirit.
Reliving Pentecost reminds us not to judge others and not to place conditions on God. It invites us to throw away the remote control unit and call upon the Holy Spirit to “clothe us in power” in whatever ways He chooses.

Lord, I want to be completely open to Your will. Help me to pray constantly: “Come Holy Spirit; come now; come as You wish.”

Go to Galilee

Monday in the Octave of Easter
Readings: Acts 2:14, 22-33; Mt 28:8-15

“They are to go to Galilee, where they will see me.” Mt 28: 10

A few days ago at the Vigil Mass, we heard an angel instruct the women at the tomb to tell the disciples, “He is going ahead of you to Galilee” (Mk 16:7) Then the Sequence for Easter Sunday announced, “He will go before his own into Galilee.” And in today’s Gospel, Jesus Himself repeats the angel’s message, “They are to go to Galilee where they will see me” (Mt 28:10).
“This ‘going before’ of Jesus,” explains Pope Benedict XVI, “implies a double direction. The first is, as we have heard, Galilee, … [which] was considered the gate to the pagan world.” And when the disciples follow Jesus there, He takes them to the mountain top and tells them to go and “make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19).
By His life and death, Jesus has “gone before” them in revealing the Father’s plan of mercy for all. Now, as they follow Him “to Galilee,” they receive their commission to spread the gospel throughout the world.
The second direction is shown to us in John’s account, where Jesus says to Mary Magdalene, “Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father” (Jn 20:17). Jesus “goes ahead” of us to the Father’s house, where He has promised to prepare a place for us (see Jn 14:2-3).
“These two directions,” explains Pope Benedict, “are not in contradiction, but together indicate the way to follow Christ. The real end of our journeying is communion with God. God himself is the house of many rooms (see Jn 14:2). But we can only ascend to this room by walking ‘to Galilee,’ …taking the gift of his love to the men of all times.”

Lord, Jesus, thank You for this reminder. Help me Lord to follow You to the Father by sharing the good news of His love with others.

Response Ability

Easter Sunday
Readings: Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Col 3:1-4 or 1 . 5:6b-8; Jn 20:1-9 or Mk 16:1-7 or, at an afternoon or evening Mass, Lk 24:13-35

“Since you have been raised up in company with Christ, set your heart on what pertains to higher realms.” Col 3:1

The knowledge that the Father wants to raise each of us up with Christ gives us great cause for rejoicing, but it doesn’t give us a magic wand. God is inviting us to a banquet of eternal life, but it’s an R.S.V. P. invitation. We have to respond.
What kind of response? Holiness. God loves us and wants us to be with Him forever. But, in order to be with Him, we have to become like Him, because nothing unholy can enter the presence of God.
Scripture makes this very clear: “Strive for peace with everyone, and for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord (Heb 12:14) … Be holy; for I, the Lord, your God, am holy” (Lev 20:7).
If you’re thinking that this sounds like an impossible command, you’re right. There’s no way you and I can make ourselves holy. But God can. Popular speaker, Babsie Bleasdell explains it this way: “Responsibility is my response to God’s ability. My weakness is no deterrent to His grace. All He needs is my yes.”
Step one in this yes is to recognize that “good enough” is not good enough, but that you are called to be a saint. Step two is to make this your most important goal, acquiring what Pope John Paul II called “a genuine longing for holiness.” And Step three is to take every opportunity to receive grace, especially through the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist.
If you long for holiness above all else, and rely on God’s grace, he will fill you with the gift of his own life to heal you of sin and make you holy (see CCC #1999).

Lord, I believe that You are calling me to be holy, and I say yes to that call. Help me to long for holiness and cooperate with Your grace so that I may become like You and live in Your presence forever.

Vinny Flynn

Ultimate Destiny

Holy Saturday
Readings: Gen 1:1-2:2 or 1:1, 26-31a; Gen 22:1-18 or 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18; Ex 14:15-15:1; Is 54: 5-14; Is 55:1-11; Bar 3:9-15, 32-4:4; Ezek 36: 16-17a, 18-28; Rom 6: 3-11; Mk 16:1-7.

“… so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we, too, might live a new life.” Rom 6:4

The Easter Vigil, with its nine readings and eight responsorial psalms, traces the story of God’s continuing faithfulness to His fatherhood from the creation of the world to the Resurrection of Christ, even though His children repeatedly turn away from Him.
But this story of God’s mercy doesn’t really end with the Resurrection. For it is God’s plan that, “just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we, too, might live a new life” Rom 6:4.
What’s this “new life”? It’s a sharing in the life of God, body and soul. When Christ was raised from the dead, the Father introduced His Son’s humanity, including His now glorified body, into the Trinity” (CCC #648).
This is is also your ultimate destiny in the Father’s plan. By entering into communion with Christ, you receive divine sonship. Thus, after you die, the Father will raise you up as He did Jesus and, in your now glorified body, you will be embraced into the life of the Trinity itself (see CCC #460).
This is good news. And it gets better! We don’t have to wait until we die. Eternal life doesn’t just mean that, after we die, we live again forever. It means we live in and with God. And we can start living this new life right away, for “even now we are called to be a dwelling for the Most Holy Trinity” (CCC # 260).
How do we respond to this call? By our love and obedience (cf CCC # 460), and, most especially, by entering into communion with Christ in the Eucharist. As Our Lord explained to St. Faustina, “Eternal life must begin already here on earth through Holy Communion. Each Holy Communion makes you more capable of communing with God throughout eternity” (Diary, 1811).

Thank you, Father, for this awesome gift of eternal life. Help me to enter into it now by uniting myself with You more and more with each reception of Holy Communion.

Vinny Flynn