Second Sunday of Easter B.  April 23 2006.  Our Lady of Grace, all Masses.  Acts 4:32-35.  1 John 5:1-6.  John 20:19-31.

A woman in California was overcome with road rage as she tried to drive through a traffic jam.  A motorist in the next lane cut her off and then had to stop short when the cars in front of him came to a stand still.  The woman stopped behind the man.  She reached into the back seat of her car for one of her kid’s baseball bats.  She got out of her car and smashed the windshield of the offending driver.  She didn’t realize that a policeman was watching from a police car a little way behind her.  When the policemen came up to her to give her a ticket the woman said, “I am in a big hurry.  I need to get someplace really fast.  Cutting me off made me so angry that I had to do something to show my disgust.”   As the policeman moved behind her car to get her license number he noticed that the word PEACE replaced the numbers on her special license plate.  When he asked her about the message on her license plate the woman said, “There is much too much violence in the world.  I want people to know that I, for one, am completely against violence.”   The policeman snorted back, “What you did just now makes it hard to believe that you are for peace and against violence.”

After the Resurrection Jesus appeared in his Risen Body only to a few people.  Why didn’t he appear to everyone?   Why doesn’t the Risen Jesus appear to everyone today?   The Scriptures affirm that there were definitely eye witnesses to the Risen Christ, people like Thomas who saw Jesus with their eyes and even touched the wound marks in his hands and on his side.  These eye witnesses are very important in establishing the faith of the Church.  Jesus has truly risen from the dead!  Yet the primary and on going witness to the Resurrection of Jesus is not the presence of the Risen Body of Christ in our midst, but the effect that the resurrection of Christ has had on our lives.   If the Resurrection of Christ has not changed our lives, the Risen Christ will not have much impact on our violent world, no matter how much we say that we believe in the Resurrection.  The rage-filled woman’s belief in peace meant nothing when she took the baseball bat and smashed the windshield of another motorist.

From its very birth on Easter and Pentecost the Catholic Church has put great emphasis on the effect of the Resurrection of Jesus on the faith community.  The fact that the followers of Jesus were profoundly different because Jesus rose from the dead was one of the most compelling arguments for the truth of the Resurrection.  Jesus was alive.  Jesus changed peoples’ lives.  You can see it in the way they live.  Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles says, “The community of believers was of one heart and one mind and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common… There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need.”   The resurrection of Jesus transformed the way that his followers acted: they were of one mind and one heart – that is they were unified in a very fragmented and hostile world.  They cared for the needs of all and lived as brothers and sister in the midst of a selfish and self-seeking society.  The way that the first Christians lived in community witnessed to the power of the Risen Christ.  Jesus was truly risen - this was the only explanation for the new way that people lived.

The Christian Community at Our Lady of Grace is a powerful witness to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.   This past Holy Week was perhaps the most deep and prayerful Holy Week in my life.  I am grateful to you for that.  Your spirit of prayer is contagious.  Your sense of joy and your welcome to everyone, including visitors and those who do not come very often, was warm and generous.  Your love for the poor, both here and half way around the world is strong and good.  If I talked for hours I could not say enough good things about you and the grace-filled way that you are a vibrant Christian community.  This parish community is proof of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. People come to Christ because of your witness to the Resurrection. 

Today we begin a public process of strategic planning for our parish community.  As we prepare to celebrate our 60^th anniversary, we are grateful for the past, we appreciate the present and we look forward to the future.  We are responsible for our future just as the generations that have gone before us planned and worked to give us the magnificent community that we share today.   If our strategic plan is to be successful it must grow out of both intense communion with the Risen Christ and the involvement of all in setting a direction for our parish life and ministries.  This parish community is much more than an organization.  It is a living witness to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  I have asked Steve Smith, the chair of our Parish Pastoral Council, to speak to you about our parish planning process.   (Steve Smith)

Please, I invite every parish member to get involved in our strategic planning process.  May our community witness to the Risen Christ give God thanks and praise.