Father Matthew Wiering Podcast Unknown

The Gospel tells us that on the evening of Easter, Jesus appears in the locked Upper Room to his disciples, who were obviously in a state of misery -- grieving and confused, fearful that what happened to Jesus would happen to them, and guilt-ridden because of how they abandoned Jesus. Yet Jesus's first words to them were not, "You have really disappointed me," or, "Did you learn nothing from me over the past three years," but rather, "Peace be with you." And the effect that these words and the sight of his wounds had on them was immediate: "The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord." May the whole Church, and each of us, individually, know the gift of His Forgiveness this Divine Mercy Sunday -- his Easter gift to the Church!

Through the Passion and Death of Jesus, all of the dysfunction and disorder of the world is hurled on Jesus. Hatred, anger, oppression, greed, abuse, betrayal, abandonment ... the worst that the world has to offer is heaped upon Jesus. And Jesus accepts the violence and hate. He does not defend himself but allows himself to succumb to these worst forces of evil, dying, being buried, and descending into hell. But this is not the end of the story! The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the sign that God is victorious over sin and death. There's no filth that the world can throw at Jesus that itself is not forgiven and redeemed in the ocean of God's mercy. And ourselves, too: May we allow Jesus to touch the dysfunction and disorder in our hearts, so that this contact with the most pure one can render us clean with the new life of the Resurrection!

It's interesting to think about the silence of Jesus during the Passion. On Good Friday we hear the Passion according to St. John, which begins in Chapter 18. Chapters 14-17 of John's Gospel are Jesus talking nearly continuously at the Last Supper. (It's his longest discourse in all of the Gospels.) And then the Passion begins, and he hardly says anything. We especially notice this when Jesus is asked direct questions by Pilate and others interrogating him, and he stays silent. Tonight while he presided at the Stations of the Cross, Pope Francis gives us an explanation: Jesus is silent because he is praying. He is uniting himself to the Father. He is accepting the suffering of the present moment. And he is forgiving those who were attempting to harm him. May we learn to imitate him!

St. Mark introduces his Passion Narrative in an interesting way, by recounting a dinner that takes place in Bethany just before Jesus enters Jerusalem for the last time. He dines at the home of Simon, and a woman breaks an extremely expensive jar of perfumed oil and pours out its contents on Jesus's head. The Greek word here translated as "breaks" has the sense of being "shattered." Obviously, if the jar is shattered, all of its precious liquid will be poured out. The image helps us to interpret what is happening to Jesus as he suffers and finally dies on the cross. His body is shattered, and all of its contents -- everything that he has and is -- body, soul, humanity, divinity -- is poured out for love of you and me. As we meet Jesus this week making a total gift of self, may we respond with a total gift of self to him in return.

In John Chapter 12 we encounter Jesus at the height of his career. He has just raised Lazarus who had been dead four days in the tomb. When he enters Jerusalem for the last time, crowds gather to sing and wave palm branches in celebration. In today's Gospel we see that even the Greek-speaking Jews who have traveled a great distance to Jerusalem have heard about him and are trying to see him. Everybody is talking about him, and many desire to crown him King of Israel. It is at this moment, when Jesus has so many eating from the palm of his hand, that he announces how he, the Son of Man, will be glorified: "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it will yield a rich harvest. Whoever loves his life loses it, but whoever hates his life will save it for eternal life." To say that this is not what the crowd is expecting Jesus to say would be an understatement. Yet Jesus is showing us the secret to new life in Christ: We must die to ourselves every day, so that Christ will live anew within me.