3rd Sunday of Easter Year B

1st Reading: Acts 3:13-15,17-19

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 4:2,4,7-9

2nd Reading: 1 Jn 2:1-5a

Gospel: Lk 25:35-48

I only have three weeks left in my final semester of school. It is hard to believe that after eight years of seminary and 21 years total of school that it is finally coming to an end. As this year comes to a close I will also be leaving this parish behind in order to go and serve the Diocese of Knoxville as a priest. I thank each of you for your continued prayers as I approach ordination and also thank you for inviting me into this parish these past two years. As my life ever continues to change I am constantly reminded that life will go on. Just last weekend Saint Meinrad Seminary held its ordination to the diaconate. It was here that two men, one being John Kamwendo who is also assigned here, dedicated their lives to the ministry of Jesus Christ. Despite my class leaving Saint Meinrad for good these new men have committed themselves to this profound ministry. It is true that we will be leaving at the end of this year, but new men will spring up to take our places. Come June 2nd I will be the most recently ordained man of the Knoxville diocese and God willing that title will be taken from me the next summer when somebody else is ordained a priest.

I believe that the disciples of Jesus did not realize that life would go on for them. From the moment that these men were called to follow Christ they walked with Him and He prepared them for His ultimate destiny. Despite this we were informed during Easter Sunday's Gospel that "They did not yet understand the Scripture that He had to rise from the dead." For them the crucifixion came and Christ died and they knew not what to do with themselves. Thankfully in today's Gospel we were told that "He opened their minds to understand the scriptures." They had finally realized that despite everything going on in their lives that life would go on. They realized that Christ had died and now they knew and believed that He had risen from the dead. They understood that it was their mission to teach others about Christ and to prepare others to take over and become future ministers of the Church.

I hope that each of us gathered here can come to trust in the risen Christ. As we experience various changes and new beginnings within our lives may we reach out to our risen Savior and allow Him to work within our lives. We experience change for both the good and the bad, but no matter which type of change that we face the hope of Christ risen gives all of us great joy. We experience the joy of the risen Christ in those good moments through the fact that He gives us the strength to try out new things. The risen Christ is present in bad moments because it is here that we find new hope. Death and illness is not the end of life, but through the risen Christ we know that life continues. Without this great understanding of the risen Christ we will always remain lost and will never be able to advance in our life towards new beginnings. May our minds and hearts be opened up to the scriptures as the apostles were in today's Gospel, so that we may experience Christ resurrected working within our lives.

Today's reading of the Acts of the Apostles acknowledges the reality of the death of Christ on the cross and reminds all who hear these words that He has risen from the dead. Due to the resurrection taking place we are informed that we will be inspired to live a new life. This new life will be a life of repentance and conversion and thus our sins will be wiped away. No longer can we dwell in the misery that was felt when Christ was crucified upon the cross, but now we must trust in it's healing power. From this power we will know no end, but will finally be able to enjoy the new life that has been given to us. This new life continues to move us forward throughout this season because we can now trust that there is more to life than what meet's the eye.

We cannot proclaim that "we know Him" if we do not trust in the resurrection of the body. To trust in the risen Christ is to acknowledge that life goes on after our death. Therefore we should spend all the days of our lives drawing closer to getting to know God and what it means to share in life everlasting with Him. We must remember that Christ is the advocate with the Father who is always willing to help us out when we are in need of His divine love. The divine love of the Father is so great that He is willing to forgive the contrite heart of all of our sinfulness. With this in mind we can see that new life is given to everyone who is willing to accept this great gift from God. May we be inspired ourselves in living out this message as we encounter all the new beginnings which are unavoidable within our lives. When we are able to do this we will be able to join with the community that was being spoken to inside of our second reading in proclaiming that "we know Him."

Therefore my brothers and sisters in Christ I thank you for having me at this parish for these past two years. I ask that you will continue to pray for me as I start my new beginning towards priesthood. I promise to continue to pray for this parish community as I depart from here. I especially pray that you will be able to trust in the hope that is found inside of the risen Christ as each of you encounter the new beginnings which will happen inside of your lives. The light of the Lord is continually shining upon us and hopefully we will each open ourselves up to encounter what the Lord has in store for us inside of our lives. When we do this we will not walk around without hope as the apostles did, but instead we open ourselves up to come to know Him and thus we will be given great hope as we encounter each new beginning that rises up within our lives.