The Lord is risen! It’s such unexpected news that they have difficulty getting their
heads round it. They thought they were seeing a ghost: “Why are you so agitated,
and why are these doubts rising in your hearts?” Then reality kicks in, and “Their
joy was so great that they could not believe it”. But then, after that, further reality
hits them later on down the road. They have to go out, after Pentecost, and not only
proclaim Christ, but also pick up some of the pieces of society.
In the first reading, they are confronted with the Israelites. What do we do? These
are the people who had Christ put to death. Do we just quietly ignore the issue, and
pretend it didn’t happen, a bit like in the episode of Faulty Towers with the
Germans: “don’t mention the war. I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with
it”. Instead, Peter deals with the issue head on: “It was you who accused the Holy
One, the Just One, you who demanded the reprieve of a murderer while you killed
the prince of life”. He doesn’t skirt round the issue! But then, to be just and fair, he
also acknowledges that whilst what they did was serious, their culpability was
something different: “Now I know, brothers, that neither you nor your leaders had
any idea what you were really doing”, and he also adds that it was all part of God’s
plan and the mystery of our redemption in Christ. He says: “this was the way God
carried out what he had foretold, when he said through all his prophets that his
Christ would suffer”. Now comes perhaps the most important part, in a way: “Now
you must repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out”. Yes, what
you did was serious. Yes, you didn’t realise at the time the full extent of what you
were doing: in fact you acted in ignorance of the real facts. So now there is a way
forward with God, which means repenting of your faults and receiving God’s
forgiveness.
Now, of course, we know that Scripture has to be applied to life, and that means our
own lives, not just other people’s. We know that Our Lord warned us about pointing
out the splinter in our brother’s eye when there is a plank in our own. So guess
where I’m leading next? We’ve completed Lent, but I’m sure there are still some
people who haven’t been to confession yet! Many are the Catholics who adhere to
the rule that we are supposed to go to Holy Communion at least once a year, around
Easter time. But there’s also the rule that we are supposed to go to confession at
least once a year as well (See https://www.cbcew.org.uk/home/our-work/catechesis/confession/the-basics/how-often-should-i-go-to-confession/). If we
have committed a serious sin, also known as a mortal sin, then we should go as soon
as we reasonably can, and just like Holy Communion, it’s good for our spiritual
welfare to go more often than just the bare minimum of once a year. I’m not saying
that you need to go to confession every time you go to Holy Communion, otherwise
it would mean that those who go to daily Mass would need to go to daily
confession. But once every month or two would be a good practice. It’s a bit like
your car: every year you have to take it for its annual service and MOT, but it’s also
good practice to give it a wash and a vacuum from time to time as well. You could
say that a protective layer of dirt helps to guard the paintwork from scratches; but it
can also help rust to set in as well, especially salt from the road in winter.
Confession also means we need to do a regular examination of conscience – in other
words, each night, look through the day in prayer, thank God for the good we have
done and the blessings we have received, and say sorry for the sins we have
committed. This is something St John commends to us, indirectly, in the second
reading:
“We can be sure that we know God
only by keeping his commandments.
Anyone who says, ‘I know him’,
and does not keep his commandments, is a liar
refusing to admit the truth.”
Reflecting on the commandments keeps us in touch with the truth, and sometimes
we can find certain other teachings from the world trying to make us slide away
from the straight and narrow. As a general guide, if someone is saying, that is what
the Church says, but we don’t need to bother with it any more, then that should set
alarm bells ringing. At one point, Our Lord is quite scathing of those who, with their
own man-made tradition, declare the word of God null and void (see Mark 7:5-13).
An example in this country would be “no fault” divorce, treating marriage just like a
legal contract you can “ditch and switch” when a better offer comes along, just like a
mobile phone contract. These changes have a corrosive effect on public morality.
The law should lead us towards goodness, not follow and imitate the scandalous. I
could say more, but there isn’t time.
The Lord is risen! Just like the apostles in the first century, our world too is broken,
and people don’t always realise the seriousness of their situation. But we can help to
show them that God is merciful, and that includes making use of that mercy for
ourselves, first.
Curious about exploring things further? If you would like to ask further questions about the topics raised in these homilies (or maybe think it wasn’t explained too well!), please feel free to e-mail Fr Michael at stjoseph.thame@rcaob.org.uk