The Force of Forgiving Love
Easter's third Sunday
Announcements for April 17, 2021:
Congratulations to our young people who received the Sacrament of Confirmation last night! You can find video of the Mass, Bishop Sweeney celebrating, by clicking here.
We made major improvements to our Listen Everywhere stream this week. If you need help hearing during Mass, check out our Pew Resources.
I have reshuffled some things on the website, but you can still find all of our announcements in our Parishioner Portal.
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Dear Saints,
Our Gospel passage this weekend has Jesus commission his disciples to continue his new creation project. He says:
Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
If we've been following the narrative of the Gospel (or the whole sweep of Scripture) to this point, we'll know that God's good creation is out of sorts. It is marred by the dark power of death and by sin -- human collusion with that disfiguring force.
In Jesus' defeat of the devil, in his life and work, and finally in his death and resurrection, God has achieved victory over the destroying powers of sin and death that had long enslaved us. As God's anointed King, Jesus has inaugurated his Kingdom that he intends now to implement in and through his faithful followers.
By commissioning his disciples to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins, Jesus frames the work of his putting-the-world-to-rights mission.
What I mean by that is that forgiving love - the power behind the work of repentance and forgiveness - is the force by which God renews his world. The animating power of God's new creation is self-giving love, a love that overlooks unworthiness and overcomes transgressions.
When God's world is out of sorts, he sends in the poor in spirit - they know best how to bring God's love to life; he send in those who mourn - those who won't be satisfied by the world's present state of idolatry and injustice; he sends in the meek - those who refuse to profit from the world's power politics; and he sends in those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers.
In short, God renews his world with an army of foot-washers. His troops, one and all, are forgiven sinners, and we'll bring about the restoration of God's good creation - by the power of his own life of love - come hell or high water!
I love you, my friends, and I look forward to seeing you soon.
In the Peace of the Risen Christ,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
Preparing for Mass?
Check out this weekend's readings:
Third Sunday of Easter
Appearance Behind Locked Doors
Duccio di Buoninsegna, ca.1310