2015/04/19 — 3rd Sunday of Easter

A couple of events this week have served to remind me that celebrating Easter not just as a day, but as a season, is not the practice of all Christians. Indeed, even many Catholics are not especially conscious of being in an ongoing season of celebration. At Christmas, if tradition-minded we may think of the twelve days of Christmas, and most of us do not remove our Christmas decorations on December 26. We know that there is some continuation of Christmas, some sort of Christmas season. But when it comes to Easter, we aren't accustomed to thinking of, not the twelve days, but the fifty days of Easter. And yet, Easter, the resurrection of Jesus, is — together with his death on the cross — the most important element of our Christian faith. Christmas is only there to make Easter possible.

The Catholic Church two reasons for prolonging the celebration through seven weeks. One is that the "mystery" of Easter, its meaning, is too big to express in just one day. We need to take take to consider it more deeply and extensively. Historically, the season developed as a time for ongoing instruction — called "mystagogy" of the newly-baptized (Baptism being something that was normally done only at Easter). Beyond that, it's just such a gigantic reason to celebrate that it's something we want to make that big a deal of. We need an extended period to do it justice. We spend forty days preparing for it. We should celebrate it even longer.

That's why we're speaking of Sundays of Easter in the title.


All three readings assigned to this day make reference to the forgiveness of sins, and that is one facet by which we can view the meaning and purpose of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. The gospel (Luke 24:35-48) and the first reading (Acts 3:13-15, 17-19) place this in the context of Jesus as fulfilling the scriptures.

The gospel passage is very rich in meaning. It begins with a reference to "[t]he two disciples." Those are the two whose encounter with Jesus on the road to Emmaus has just been recounted. (Luke 24: 13-35) When Jesus appears, the first thing he does after greeting them is to prove that it is he by showing his wounds, and then to prove that he is corporeal by eating a piece of fish. The Pharisees and many other Jews of Jesus' time believed in a general resurrection at the end of time, but a resurrection while the world continued was completely unexpected. So he had to appear to them and show that he had been resurrected bodily.

On the way to Emmaus, Jesus had "interpreted to [the two disciples] what referred to him in all the Scriptures." Now he tells the assembled disciples that "'everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.' Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures." What happened fulfilled the scriptures about him — that it was necessary for him to suffer, die, and rise, "and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations." Here we find an echo of last Sunday's themes of mercy and mission.

The first reading quotes Peter — who has just healed a cripple in the name of Jesus — reviewing the events of Jesus' passion and death. Then he proclaims the resurrection and says that what happened to Jesus fulfilled the scriptures and speaks, as the gospel does, of repentance and forgiveness.

Some of the scriptures which Jesus interpreted as referring to him are mentioned in Acts — e.g., "You  are my Son. Today I have begotten you." (Psalm 2:7) and "The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone." (Psalm 118:22). Throughout the year, these and many other Old Testament passages are seen as fulfilled in Jesus, following the longstanding tradition of interpretation.

From Peter's proclamation of repentance and forgiveness we move to the second reading, (1 John 2:1-5a). Christians aren't supposed to sin, John says, but if we do, Jesus brings forgiveness because he has expiated our sins.


The message for this Sunday, then, is that Jesus' death and resurrection, in fulfillment of the scriptures, bring expiation of our sins when we are repentant and turn to him for the forgiveness which is always available.

The gospel passage also gives  some insight into the significance of the Mass. We have traditionally seen the Liturgy of the Word — readings, creed, and homily — as continuing the work of presenting the scripture in the light of Jesus. We also see the Liturgy of the Eucharist as the breaking of the bread in which we recognize the Lord, as the disciples did at Emmaus. In other words, Jesus comes to us and says, "Do not be afraid, it is I." He explains the scriptures and gives himself to us as he did to the disciples at the Last Supper.