22 April 2016
Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter
We have been reading about the many “acts” of the apostles throughout these weeks of Easter from the book of “The Acts of the Apostles.” Today’s reading is no exception. We hear Paul preaching to the Jewish people of Antioch in their synagogue. What Paul is proclaiming to these Jews is a decent teaching homily most of us would hope to hear on a typical day in our own church about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And yet, we are reading about this homily of St. Paul’s today, in the modern day, that was originally preached thousands of years ago. The very fact that we are still able to quote St. Paul’s homily after so long is a sign that he must have been quite the inspiring and captivating homilist. Most priests today hope that people leaving mass can remember just a word, phrase, or general idea of what the homily was about that day! And yet, more than who is ever doing the preaching, who the preaching is about is more the reason why homilies are so memorable. As Jesus is trying to explain to his disciples in the Gospel, which is a short excerpt from the Gospel of John’s last supper discourses; Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life.” Jesus is the one who is, who was, and who is to come. Jesus is the one who inspires and makes every homily worth while and every word, thought, and action of ours come to fulfillment. And in the end, Jesus is the one who we all must put our faith, hope, and trust into because he has promised us that he has prepared a place for us in the eternal city of heaven. What greater message is there for us to hear? Let us follow in the footsteps of St. Paul and the other apostles in performing the “Acts” that proclaim the goodness and salvation of Jesus Christ, who is the timeless good news of great joy.