A bit of a boast

You know, when you think about it, the claims we Christians make about Jesus are fantastic. In fact, they are more than fantastic; they could also be considered a bit of a boast. (Say “bit of a boast” ten times and I know you’ll smile)

In today’s first reading on this Easter Friday, Peter filled with the Holy Spirit, boldly proclaims to those around him, “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” (Acts 4: 1-12) That is the very core of our Christian message. Outside of Christ Jesus and in Him alone, there is no hope for salvation. Well, either we are so full of ourselves, conceited to the max, or it’s true. If we are just blowing hot air, then the wise ones are those who see through the sham. But, if it is true – then our lives and the destiny of all humankind is forever changed. Let’s presume we are right about that. I don't find the alternative very appealing. Obviously, the question of non-Christians is raised. Another blog entry in the future.

The scene in today’s reading from Acts 4: 1-12 is very dramatic. Peter and John are arrested in the Temple area because they are, “proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.” A crippled man, at the word of Peter who spoke, “In the name of Jesus the Nazarene” has been cured and can now walk. It apparently was making quite a fuss and so the temple guard and the Sadducees confronted them. So, they are sent, the next day, to the big boys, those of “the high-priestly class.” What is lacking in this passage is some sense of what Peter and John must have felt: Fear? Panic? Embarrassment for being the cause of such a disturbance? Confusion? Want to cut and run? Evidently, none of that is within their reaction. In fact, the lack of emotion, the bold speech, the evident calm is an indication that likely Peter and John were serene; confident of the truth that Christ was alive, eternal, resurrected, and would forever be with them, regardless of the circumstances. A powerful dose of the Holy Spirit, and the courage that brings, didn’t hurt as well.

The risen Jesus touched all their human senses – that by which we experience the world we live in and know that all is indeed real. It strikes me that this combination of events was the perfect storm for the Apostles. A much needed shot in the arm, a kick start for the Christian message in a world that very quickly turned hostile to those who so boldly preached the message of God’s salvation.

He touched their hearing through the message of the empty tomb eagerly brought to them from Mary Magdalene. Their vision by his repeated appearances. Their sense of taste as we see so tenderly in today’s Gospel from John 21: 1-14 as he invites them to eat with him an early morning breakfast along the Sea of Galilee. He invited them to touch his risen body, his wounds inflicted with hate and now a sign of victory. And they could smell the food, the fish that was baked and the bread that was broken during the dinner as the disciples recognized him in the breaking of that bread in Emmaus. In this way, they could not deny the great truth that Christ was alive for them and for all. To do so would have been to deny what they could, hear, taste, see, smell, and touch. Lucky them! But, as we hear these resurrection stories, can we verify the truth of the risen Christ?

For us, I believe, it is more of a stretch, or is it? It might lead us to question. Now, I’m not an advocate for rebellion by any means. I find that too self-serving. I’m not proposing, as you hear now and then, that these stories are fairy tales. That the Apostles were somehow deluded, conspired to create the impression that Jesus was alive again in order to further their cause or that they so wanted him to be that it was a case of if you believe something long enough, regardless of its truth, it becomes true for you. Such theories have been around for centuries and all can easily be disproved but only through the strength of the stretch for us – faith itself. And that, of course, is where the Holy Spirit comes in for us – big time.

Yet, we can verify the truth of Christ alive in the same way that Jesus did for the Apostles – through the use of our human senses. Our faith is a sensual faith - in the best sense of that word. In the sacraments, we see the community assembled. In the priest who acts, in persona Christi (the person of Christ). We feel the touch of water in Baptism and oil in anointing the sick; we taste the Eucharist; we smell the Holy Chrism used in Confirmation, Baptism and Holy Orders; we hear the Word of the Lord proclaimed, words of forgiveness offered, “I absolve you from your sins,” and witness the exchange of vows through a couple who pledges, better or worse, rich or poor, till death do we part. (Keep your fingers crossed they can maintain that vow through the years ahead of them.) But, we do not experience the actual corporeal vision of Christ – that is yet hidden from our senses to be experienced only in eternity.

But in the Church, His Body, we encounter the risen Lord daily. The familiar story of Thomas the Apostle we will hear this Sunday. As Jesus said to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” We are those who have seen, albeit under the earthly signs of the sacraments, but in the power of God’s Holy Spirit, we have what we need to lead us to a deeper conviction. Christ is alive for us and we can verify that in the same way that we see, feel, hear, taste, and smell the world around us.

The great Catholic theologian St. Thomas Aquinas wrote a beautiful medieval Latin Catholic hymn on the Eucharist entitled Pange Lingua (Sing my tongue the Savior's glory). The last two verses of that hymn are traditionally sung during the celebration of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, a Eucharistic devotion not celebrated as frequently as in the past but still done nonetheless. The title of that familiar hymn, Tantum Ergo Sacramentum supports our faith in the Lord's presence, hidden in our sacraments. The end of one verse reads,(sing along if you remember!), "Faith will tell us Christ is present, when our human senses fail."

Let this be our prayer: “Lord, help me to believe as I see, hear, feel, touch, and smell your sacred presence in the sacraments of your Church and in creation around me.”

May the peace of Christ alive for us be with you.