Today's Mass readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/032916.cfm
“Those
who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand persons were
added that day.”
Wow. Amazing.
We had five new Catholics Saturday night receiving their Easter
Sacraments at the Vigil Mass. Imagine if
we were to baptize 3000!
But,
really, wouldn’t that be magnificent?
3000 new Catholics joining us as disciples of Jesus Christ?
It
was awesome celebrating the addition of the five new Catholics the other
evening. I had the biggest smile as they
were baptized or received, confirmed, and shared for the first time in
Eucharist.
Each
worked hard for months to prepare to receive the Easter sacraments, and the
Holy Spirit was burning brightly in each one. Seeing new life in our Church is an awesome
thing.
Pam
and I were watching EWTN last night, a remembrance of Mother Angelica, who died
on Easter Sunday. And a number of the
commentators spoke of the literally thousands of people brought to Jesus Christ
by her bold evangelism, deep love for Jesus Christ, all through the
international television network she founded.
I
think the message of this first reading, the message of this season, is that as
disciples of Christ, you and I are called to preach the kerygma, the
proclamation, the words of St. Peter, and the consistent message of Mother
Angelica – that is, that this Jesus has died and is Risen from the dead and is
Lord and Christ. That He died to set us
free from the slavery of sin, and rose from the dead to give us the promise of
new life here and eternally, and that He is Christ and Lord of our lives.
And
we, a parish, the largest parish in the diocese, and individual Catholics, we
should be earnestly going about fulfilling Christ’s commission to us – that we
should be doing all we can to bring those around us, our fellow Irondequoit residents,
to the Lord.
For
just as a part of the calling of a newly married couple is to bring about new
life, if possible, so, too, is the calling of us as individual Christians and
especially us as a parish family to bring about “new life” as well – new
Christians joining the sheepfold of Christ.
And
how do we do that? With our
proclamation, yes, but I think the main way is to live joyfully – we are, above
all else, Easter people, witnesses of the Resurrection.
Witnesses
in the sense that we believe exactly what St. Peter proclaims in this first
reading
And
we witness this most of all by our hope, our joyfulness. Our smiles.
Our peacefulness. Our lack of
bitterness and judgment. Our service to
each other and our community, meeting their physical and emotional and
spiritual needs, washing their feet, so to speak.
If
we live this way, as “Easter people,” others will see our joy and want it for
themselves, and we will be able to, as St. Peter writes, “always be prepared to
give a reason for our hope.”
And what is that
reason? That Jesus Christ, once
crucified, is truly risen. He now lives!
Forever and ever. Amen.
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