Third Sunday of Easter
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves” (Mt 11:28-29).
The Lord invites us to find peace and joy in Him this Sabbath as we set aside time to worship and rest.
“Remember the sabbath day—keep it holy. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God.”
Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word “Shabbat”, which means “to stop.” Keeping holy the Sabbath is not just a commandment, but an invitation. An invitation from the Lord to stop our work, stop our worrying, stop our striving. An opportunity to find rest and to be renewed. A chance to refocus on the things that truly matter - the Lord, family, community. In our culture, Sunday has become a day to “catch up” on everything that didn’t get done during the week, and any time left over is often seen as an opportunity just to “get ahead” for next week. But we Christians have a chance now to remember what it means to keep the Sabbath. During this pandemic the Lord is calling us back to Himself, offering us a chance to reclaim the gift of the Sabbath, reminding us again what it means to “keep it holy.”
A basic principle for observing the Sabbath is only to do things that can be considered “rest” or “worship”. Here are a few ideas to consider to begin more to enter into the Sabbath. Maybe pick just one thing to focus on this Sunday, then next Sunday keep that practice in addition to a second one. And then the next Sunday add a third, to slowly over time begin to enter into this great gift of the Sabbath more and more.
Keep the Lord at the center - read the Mass readings ahead of time, participate in Mass, make more time for prayer, spend some extra time in silence focusing on the Lord
Try not to work - resist the urge to check your email, or catch up on a few things, and leave it for Monday
Plan ahead - take care of what needs to be done before Sunday, so plan the rest of your week to make sure you get the laundry done, have gone grocery shopping, etc.so you don’t have to do any of it on Sunday
Spend the day “screen-free” - try to stay off social media, internet news, and your phone as much as possible. If you can’t make it the whole day try to go for at least a few hours
Be intentional with others - if you live with others (ie. family, roommates), is there something you can do together like play a game or go on a hike? If you live alone, can you reach out to a good friend and catch up?
Leisure, not entertainment - try to do life-giving things; binge-watching a favorite show or playing video games for hours rarely leaves anyone with a new zeal for life. Read a good book, go on a long walk, develop a hobby.
PARTICIPATE
MASS READINGS
GIVING
Take a few minutes to give to St. Ann Parish. Please give generously and sacrificially as an act of faith during these difficult times. You can give online:
After giving, offer ways to be generous of your whole self during this trying time for our world.
“Each must do as already determined without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work.”
PROCESS
“While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them” (Lk 24:41-43).
Our Gospel on this Third Sunday of Easter takes place right at the end of the Gospel of Luke. Jesus Christ has already suffered, died, and been buried. He has already risen, and Peter has seen the empty tomb. On that same Easter Sunday, the Risen Lord appeared to two of His disciples while they were walking along the road to Emmaus, explaining the Scriptures to them, making their hearts burn within them, and revealing His identity to them in the breaking of the bread. Those two returned to the Apostles in Jerusalem and, as they recounted that they too had seen the Risen Lord, Jesus appeared in their midst with His greeting of peace. Our Gospel today picks up here, with the first appearance of Jesus to his apostles as a body, on that same Easter day.
Notice what He says to them. Immediately they are afraid that He is a ghost, and immediately He takes concrete steps to prove to them that He is real, that He is alive, that He is Risen not just in spirit, but also in His body. He asks them if they have anything to eat, not because He was hungry, but to prove that He was really there with them. In a beautiful act of humility and mercy, He descends to meet His disciples where they were at, and He eats for their sake. It’s such a simple action, and its mystery lies in its concreteness. Jesus Christ, who was dead, is now alive and is standing in the midst of His disciples eating the fish that they had caught.
On this Third Sunday of Easter, Jesus stands in our midst, too, and invites us to give Him something to eat. He wants to increase our faith, to help us believe that He is truly Risen not just in spirit but also in body, and that, as part of His body, He wants to raise us up with Him. He draws us in, making us co-operators in His salvific work by asking us for some fish, some charitable action, some good deed, some sacrifice made out of selfless love. Just as Jesus did not need to eat, He does not need anything from us. But in total love and sheer goodness, He deeply desires for us to be a part of His great work. He models for us the path of a servant leader by meeting us where we are at, respecting our weakness and our fallenness, and by humbling Himself in order to raise us up. “Why are you troubled?” He asks us, “‘And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.’ And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet” (Lk 24:38-40).
Practice
As we journey deeper into the Easter mystery we see the exalted humanity of Christ’s resurrection on display. Through all that He does He calls us to ponder His characteristics and imitate His disposition with the assistance of His grace. He calls us to make the Gospel three-dimensional, to live it.
One suggestion to do this is to eat a family or communal dinner together one evening this week, perhaps on Wednesday or Friday, and prepare some fish. When everyone is seated but before the meal begins take a moment to begin with a prayer and read from the Gospel of this Sunday, Luke 24:35-48. Once everyone has some food and people have begun to eat go through the discussion questions below which go over the Gospel and leave room for discussion on anything that strikes people from the scripture. Finally, concluding the meal you can use the following prayer together:
CANTICLE: TE DEUM
You are God: we praise you;
You are the Lord; we acclaim you;
You are the eternal Father:
All creation worships you.
To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
The glorious company of apostles praise you.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.
Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you;
Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.
You, Christ, are the king of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
When you became man to set us free
you did not shun the Virgin's womb.
You overcame the sting of death
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God's right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come and be our judge.
Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.
V. Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance;
R. govern and uphold them, now and always.
V. Day by day we bless you;
R. we praise your name for ever.
V. Keep us today, Lord, from all sin;
R. have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.
V. Lord, show us your love and mercy;
R. for we put our trust in you.
V. In you, Lord, is our hope;
R. and we shall never hope in vain.
LEADER: May your people exult forever, O God, in renewed youthfulness of spirit, so that, rejoicing now in the restored glory of our adoption, we may look forward in confident hope to the rejoicing of the day of resurrection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
LEADER: Let us praise the Lord.
ALL: And give him thanks.
Discussion Questions
Think about how you can continue to reflect on God’s word to you this week, and how you can invite others into the conversation. You can use the questions below for personal reflection, or to grow with others. Be creative! You could consider gathering with friends and family, or starting a group text, or a group FaceTime, to discuss the questions below.
What stands out to you from the readings this week? What might God be speaking to you at this time?
Last weekend was the Sunday of Divine Mercy. Were you able to celebrate this day or pray for divine mercy in any way last week? We were also called to reflect on the community, were there any more ways you took steps to grow in christian community this past week?
Jesus did not need to eat, but He asked to eat a fish. What do you think is the underlying meaning of this request?
Fulton Sheen often said, “Whenever our Lord wished to do a favor He always began by asking for one.” (Life of Christ, p.116). He does this same thing when He asks for fish. What is the “fish'' that He is asking of you? What might He be desiring to give you through this request?
St. Gregory of Nyssa once wrote that “the upright walk of the guide becomes that of the followers too. For what the Master is, such does he make the disciple to be" (Letters 13). Jesus is the master and the guide that we are called to follow and imitate. How might Jesus be calling us to imitate Him as guides to others in this Gospel scene from Luke? What might this action of asking for fish to eat teach us about leading others to God? Who might Jesus be calling us to “ask for fish” from?
St. Peter says of Jesus that “God raised Him from the dead; of this we are witnesses” (Acts 3:15). How have seen others be a witness of the resurrection in this Easter season? How have you been a witness of the resurrection recently? Are there any ways you think you can grow in this?