March 31, 2013 EASTER SUNDAY - Saint Hedwig Church - Erie, PA

Today is Easter Sunday and our first
reading during the Easter season will
always come from Acts of the Apostles.
Usually, the first reading is from
the Old Testament with the exception
of the Easter season. Luke ‘s gospel
ends with Jesus ascending to heaven.
He then goes on to write Acts of the Apostles
which begins with Pentecost and traces the early
church. These writings are the only records we
have of the early church and they are invaluable
to us.
Each Easter, the first reading is Peter’s first sermon
to the Gentiles, an extremely important
speech because it contains the core truths of
Christianity. Up until this time, Peter thought his
mission was to the Israelites. However, Peter
had a strange dream in which he was told to
slaughter animals and eat, but he refused saying
he would eat nothing unclean. A voice in the
dream says, “What God has made clean, you are
not to call profane.” Following the dream, servants
come asking him to visit Cornelius, a Gentile.
Peter would not have gone into Cornelius’
house because it was considered unclean, but
based on the dream, he enters and delivers this
sermon to them.
Our second reading comes from Paul’s letter to
the Colossians in which he reminds them that
they were raised with Christ in baptism. This fact
affects the way they live their lives. Remember
that infant baptism would not begin for several
more centuries; only adults were baptized. The
good news that Paul proclaims is that not only is
Christ raised from the dead, but those who are
baptized into Him are also raised from the dead.
Today we read our gospel from John and it is only
in John that “the beloved disciple” appears. He
is not mentioned as being at the tomb in the other
three gospels; in fact, he’s not mentioned at all
in the other three gospels. He is first mentioned
in John at the Last Supper and then remains a
major figure in the post-resurrection appearance
stories. The fact that this person is never named
is John’s way of telling us that the beloved disciple
functions in the story not as a person, but as
a symbol. He symbolizes the importance of having
a loving personal relationship with Jesus
Christ. Note that the beloved disciples gets to the
tomb first but waits for Peter to come. Peter
comes to no conclusion as to what happened but
the beloved disciple enters the tomb and “he saw
and believed.” John is telling us that although authority,
represented by Peter, is important, it is
love that enables a disciple of Christ to believe in
the resurrection.
All of that is consistent with what we’ve been exploring
in our Lenten homilies, ie., how Jesus
dealt with sin, with sinners, with compassion and
with forgiveness. It can all be summed up in his
words to the Pharisee Simon concerning the
woman known to be a sinner. Recall, she stands
behind Jesus, they never exchange a word, she
merely begins to weep so profoundly that she
washes his feet with her tears and anoints his
hair with oil. And Jesus says, “Do you know why
her sins are forgiven? Because of her great love.
Little is forgiven the one who does not love.” And
there lies the totality of this whole gospel event..
Take note today to listen to the bell carillon as we
now have bells again at St. Patrick’s. This carillon
has been donated in memory of Joe Kohler.
The parish office will be closed Easter Monday
and re-open on Tuesday.
During the month of January, the Saint Patrick
Food Pantry distributed 32,045 pounds of food to
822 families. Total cost to the parish for January
distribution was $1,417.27. Thank you for the
very generous way you support this ministry. We
have just completed a new floor in the Food Pantry
thanks to a grant from the Erie Community
Foundation, and we are now installing a new
door for the entry.
Over the past century there has been a dramatic
shift in Catholicism toward the south. For example,
Europe has a total of 177 million Catholics
while Africa has 177 million and Asia has 137
million Catholics. In North American, the United
States has 71 million Catholics and Canada 15
million, but Latin America has 483 million! So it
would seem only natural that the new pope
would hail from the southern hemisphere. Let us
pray that his holiness and simplicity can permeate
the pompous atmosphere of the Vatican.
Belgium has long been THE Catholic country of
Europe with a flourishing mature faith that went
much deeper than, for example, the piety found
in Ireland. But, like the rest of Europe, the church