I read about a Miami senior citizen who bought a Corvette, drove onto I-95 and soon was speeding at 80 mph. In his rear-view mirror, he saw a State Trooper, lights flashing, siren blaring. The man sped up to 90 mph. Suddenly he thought, “What am I doing. Such juvenile behavior!" and pulled over.
The trooper walked up and said, "Sir, my shift ends in thirty minutes. Give me one reason for speeding that I've never heard, and I'll let you go." The man paused, then said: "My wife ran off with a State Trooper and I thought you were trying to bring her back to me.” "Have a good day," replied the trooper. That's creative thinking!
The word of God carries us back in our imaginations to the beginnings of Christianity, to the apostles Peter and John. They were both arrested--Peter for doing a good deed, healing a crippled man in the name of Jesus. I can’t help but think of the saying: “no good deed goes unpunished.”
In this passage Peter courageously proclaims that Jesus Christ is the cornerstone or foundation of a new age and that we have access to God’s awesome triune life through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
The author may be asking us whether Jesus is indeed the cornerstone of our own lives: our way into eternal life, our truth who sets us free from falsehoods, and our light who illumines our pathway in our journey to our heavenly dwelling place.
The letter of John speaks about our future. God is our Father and we are God’s adopted sons and daughters by virtue of the waters of baptism. Yes, one day we shall see God as God is; we shall be like God.
We might ask: Do we realize that we, as sons and daughters of God, are called to live a life worthy of that godlike status?
In the Gospel according to John, we have the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. John gives us many images of Jesus. I am the bread; the vine; the way, the truth and the life; the gate; the door; the resurrection; the good shepherd. These so-called seven “I am” sayings allude to the divinity of Jesus.
I especially like the image of Jesus as the “door” to eternal life. We pass through many doors in our lives, don't we? An open door welcomes friends, fresh air, light. The open door is a sure sign that we belong. And a closed door can shelter and protect us.
Architects sometimes spend a great deal of time and money designing the entry or facade in construction projects. They want to make a statement. Doors can speak for us, as well. They can be opened in an act of compassion. They can be slammed shut in anger. In the corporate world, a door may indicate status.
The doors we pass through may be transitions from fear into safety, from isolation into community. The church door welcomes us into God’s presence where the word is proclaimed and the sacrament celebrated. The courthouse door may be the entry into righting wrongs, seeking justice. The college/university door is the threshold into learning and discovery. Our own front door is the assurance we are safely home.
Jesus calls himself the “gate,” the way to God, the “door” through which we pass from this transitory, fragile earthly life into a transfigured heavenly life. It’s an evolutionary leap from one kind of existence into another. What a magnificent image of Jesus: the door into a new indescribable life.
The Easter season is all about life and hope. In Jesus’s death on Good Friday is hidden his glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday. The Easter season challenges us to “reset our lives” each day. Every day is a new beginning.
But how make a fresh start each day? A best seller titled Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...and Maybe the World offers us some advice. The author, William McRaven, led the manhunt that tracked down Osama Bin Laden. He cites little things, life-lessons, that aren't little at all. Here are some:
--first, make your bed every morning, because when you accomplish one thing early in the day, you'll be motivated to achieve more. The point: if we don't do the little things right, we probably won’t do the big things right. Start each day with a task completed.
--remember life isn't fair, and that's no reason to cry. Keep going. Keep moving forward despite failures, because every life has failures, and what you learn from failures will make you wiser. Take risks, because life is a struggle, and without challenges, you'll never realize your potential.
--and stand up to bullies. There are a lot of sharks in the world and we have to deal with them. Above all, in our darkest moments, we have to be our very best—calm and strategic—so that we can bring all our skills of mind and strength of character to bear on the challenge before you. A case in point is the Southwest pilot who made an emergency landing when an engine blew out in mid-flight. Make others believe in a brighter day. And never underestimate the power of hope.
Yes, life-lessons like these can help us decide how to begin every day.
When I, e. g., enter an airplane, I occasionally think about the many people who take care of it: pilots and flight attendants, schedulers, mechanics, controllers watching radar screens, inspectors, manufacturers, engineers, and the many other people who concentrate on making passengers’ travel safe.
An airplane requires teamwork. And so too does life! We take so many things for granted, often without even an acknowledgment of gratitude. The challenge is to be always grateful. Grateful to God that we are, that we have so many blessings, that we have so many people whose goodness inspires hope.
One person can change the world by giving people hope. Think, for instance, of Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, and of course, Jesus Christ. Not all our dreams will come true, but some will if we persevere.
The Easter season is about hope in God. To paraphrase the letter of John, what we shall be has not yet been revealed...we shall be like God, for we shall see God as God really is. (1Jn 3:2)
Yes, at every stage in our earthly pilgrimage, and ultimately through death, into eternal life, God is present invisibly. As St. Paul put it, “At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face.” (1 Cor. 13:12) Seeing God face to face is the fulfillment of our hope. In the meantime, let us pursue every opportunity to do all the good we can. By all the means we can. In all the ways we can. In all the places we can. At all the times we can. To all the people we can. As long as ever we can.
Yes, Jesus Christ is risen. And because he lives, we live. Ours is a glorious future.
