Homily Summary for the Third Sunday after Easter

There are many accounts of the appearances of the risen Christ recorded in the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles.  Today’s Gospel is no exception.  It begins with the two disciples of Jesus returning from the road to Emmaus to recount how they had experienced Jesus in the breaking of bread.  When they met the others in the upper room everyone was exchanging their respective encounters with the resurrected Christ.  What strikes me is “they still didn’t get it”.  They were still afraid and still beyond locked doors.  Yet, Jesus met them where they were at.  Once again, he appeared to them greeting them with “Peace”.  They would eventually move out of their fear and isolation to encounter others who were in need of healing and hearing the good news.

How about us?  Does being Christian affect the way we respond to others?  I know I often look at my vocabulary  especially when driving here and there.  My vocabulary  is often  sorely lacking a follower of Christ.  Sometimes we need to ask ourselves are my actions and opinions that of a follower of Christ or are they riddled with sarcasm, doubt, and fear? 

One of the things the apostles eventually came to is an element of trust in the Risen Christ.  There is no need to be afraid of suffering or death because as Christ went through the suffering and crucifixion it was trust in Abba that brought him to resurrection.  That same trust even though we might fall sick and prone to suffering we too need to trust that “Abba” will bring us through to new life.  There are many small deaths that happen on our journey back to God.  The purpose of these is to bring about new life for ourselves and others.

Yesterday I witnessed a wedding of a couple about to begin their journey in marriage and this morning we will celebrate the renewal of their marriage vows taken 50 years this summer on July 26th.    There is no doubt that both couples will be called/or have trusted that the Lord is present and would walk with them as they journey together.

One of my favorite stories is from Henri Nouwen “Flyer and the Catcher”:

“The Flying Rodleighs are trapeze artists who perform in the German circus Simoneit-Barum. When the circus came to Freiburg two years ago, my friends Franz and Reny invited me and my father to see the show. I will never forget how enraptured I became when I first saw the Rodleighs move through the air, flying and catching as elegant dancers. 

The next day, I returned to the circus to see them again and introduced myself to them as one of their great fans. They invited me to attend their practice sessions, gave me free tickets, asked me to dinner, and suggested I travel with them for a week in the near future. I did, and we became good friends.

“One day, I was sitting with Rodleigh, the leader of the troupe, in his caravan, talking about flying. He said, ‘As a flyer, I must have complete trust in my catcher. The public might think that I am the great star of the trapeze, but the real star is Joe, my catcher. He has to be there for me with split-second precision and grab me out of the air as I come to him in the long jump.’

‘How does it work?’ I asked.

‘The secret,’ Rodleigh said, ‘is that the flyer does nothing and the catcher does everything. When I fly to Joe, I have simply to stretch out my arms and hands and wait for him to catch me and pull me safely over the apron behind the catchbar.’ 

‘You do nothing!’ I said, surprised. 

‘Nothing,’ Rodleigh repeated. ‘The worst thing the flyer can do is to try to catch the catcher. I am not supposed to catch Joe. It’s Joe’s task to catch me. If I grabbed Joe’s wrists, I might break them, or he might break mine, and that would be the end for both of us. A flyer must fly, and a catcher must catch, and the flyer must trust, with outstretched arms, that his catcher will be there for him.’

“When Rodleigh said this with so much conviction, the words of Jesus flashed through my mind: ‘Father into your hands I commend my Spirit.’ Dying is trusting in the catcher. To care for the dying is to say, ‘Don’t be afraid. Remember that you are the beloved child of God. He will be there when you make your long jump. Don’t try to grab him; he will grab you. Just stretch out your arms and hands and trust, trust, trust.’ “

My prayer this week is to trust, trust, trust. Trust the Catcher!