< <  

Sunday, April 13, 1997

  > >

3rd Sunday of Easter


Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
Psalm 4
1 John 2:1-5
Luke 24:35-48

View Readings
Similar Reflections

easter confession

"My little ones, I am writing this to keep you from sin. But if anyone should sin, we have, in the presence of the Father, Jesus Christ." —1 John 2:1

The only obstacle that can prevent us from meeting the risen Christ is sin. The apostles thought Jesus was a ghost and not a real person. This was not because they couldn't touch or see Him, but because they had been de-sensitized and blinded by sin (Lk 24:37). Therefore, when the risen Christ first came to His apostles, He delegated to them the power to forgive sins in His name (Jn 20:23).

To be witnesses for the risen Christ, we must reform our lives and turn to God so that our "sins may be wiped away!" (Acts 3:19) Then we should preach to all the nations repentance and forgiveness of sins (Lk 24:47), for Jesus "is an Offering for our sins, and not for our sins only, but for those of the whole world" (1 Jn 2:2).

"The wages of sin is death" (Rm 6:23). When we repent of sin, we come to life. When we repent of sin, we come to Jesus, "the Resurrection and the Life" (Jn 11:25), "the Way, and the Truth, and the Life" (Jn 14:6). Go to Confession. Roll away the stone of sin. "Choose life" (Dt 30:19). Come to life. This Easter season and Easter day, meet the risen Christ, Life Itself.

Prayer:  Father, reveal to me how the sacraments of Baptism (Rm 6:3-4), Eucharist (Lk 24:30-31, 35), and Reconciliation (Jn 20:23) fit into Your Easter plans.

Promise:  "Then He opened their minds to the understanding of the Scriptures." —Lk 24:45

Praise:  Alleluia! "This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it" (Ps 118:24). Alleluia forever!

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, November 9, 1996


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, November 15, 1996