Jesus is the Gate or Door into Eternal Life

I am the "Gate" or "Door" into Eternal Life

Welcome again to our celebration of the Easter mystery! As we look forward to protecting and reopening our stores, schools and places of worship, let us open our hearts to the word of God today and every day.

The word of God takes us back to the outpouring of the Spirit upon the disciples, to St. Peter courageously and boldly proclaiming Jesus is risen and gloriously alive; Jesus is the Messiah, the foundation and fulfillment of the hopes of Ancient Israel.

The letter of Peter encourages a persecuted community to see Jesus as their model. The mystery of suffering, accepted in faith, can bring healing for others. The suffering of Jesus reestablished our relationship with God: God in us and we in God!

The Gospel portrays Jesus as the Good Shepherd, the gate into eternal life. It gives us several images: “I am” the bread; the vine; the way, the truth and the life; the resurrection; the good shepherd. These “I am” sayings allude to the divinity of Jesus.

I particularly like Jesus as the gate or door. An open door welcomes friends, fresh air and light. A door can shelter.  Architects spend a great deal of effort on an entry or facade to make a statement. Doors can speak for us, as well. A door may indicate status. The courthouse door may lead to justice.  The college door: learning and discovery. Doors may be transitions from fear to safety, from isolation to community.

The church door – or these days an online portal – welcomes us to God’s presence.

Jesus is the gate, the “door” through which we pass from this transitory earthly life into a transfigured heavenly life. On our journey, Jesus is our gateway into life in all its fullness.

The Easter season is all about life and hope. In Jesus’s death on Good Friday is hidden his glorious resurrection at Easter. Yes, Jesus Christ lives and because he lives, we live. The Easter season challenges us to “reset our lives” each day.

How? A best seller titled Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...and Maybe the World offers some advice. The author, William McRaven, cites little things, life-lessons, that aren't little at all. Here are a few:

--make your bed every morning, because when you accomplish one thing early, you'll be motivated to achieve more. Start with a task done.
--to change the world, find someone to help you, to mentor you from goals to achievement.
--always measure people by the size of their heart, by the will to do well.
--remember life isn't fair, and keep going. Without challenges, you'll never realize your potential.
--In dark moments, you have to be your very best—calm and composed and strategic—to bring all your skills of mind and strength of character to bear.

And never underestimate the power of hope. The Easter season is about hope in God. At every stage in our earthly pilgrimage, through death into eternal life, God is present. May our hope always guide us to look for the good in people; to discover what can be done.

Yes, Jesus Christ is risen. And because he is gloriously alive, we live.

Hidden in Good Friday was Easter Joy

Rubens, the Resurrection of Christ

In the Gospel according to Mark, two disciples, James and John, argue over the privilege of status in “the age to come” without realizing the cost of discipleship here and now. Jesus says: “Can you drink the cup that I drink?” That is, the cup of suffering. Jesus concludes: to be a disciple is to serve others. Serving, not lording, is what leadership is all about in our faith community. Good leadership, many would argue, is a potent combination of good strategy and moral character, that is, working to achieve goals for the greater common good and at the same time preserving one's integrity.

Jesus, completely divine and yet completely human like ourselves, through his horrific death and glorious resurrection, re-established our relationship with God. Our relationship with God and one another is at the heart of Christianity.

Hidden in every Good Friday can be Easter joy. Think about it.

Someone loses a job or home, or is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, or sees a relationship unravel, or realizes a loved one has an addiction. The family tries, as best it can, to deal with this “cross” and thereby brings hope, healing, forgiveness and resurrection to their life.

Or a student can’t understand a calculus problem. The teacher, who wants to go home after a long week, patiently walks the student through the problem. After a lot of work and patience, the “lights come on.”

The point is we sometimes find ourselves stuck in a situation – our problems may batter and even overwhelm us. Yet faith challenges us to remember that good ultimately will conquer evil, love transforms hate, light shatters darkness. The ministry of Jesus did not end in the tragedy of the cross but in the triumph of the Resurrection.

In his book “The Night,” a memoir of his experiences in Auschwitz and Buchenwald, Elie Wiesel describes how the SS marched all the inmates outside and there hung a youngster – as a warning not to try an escape. As the youngster hung dying, Elie Wiesel, a youngster himself, heard a voice say: Where is God now?

This is an eternal question. The entire planet yearns for God’s healing grace. There is of course no satisfactory answer to the mystery of suffering and evil. Suffering does sometimes result from immoral behavior, from the misuse of freedom, and from a universe in progress, to paraphrase St. Paul’s letter to the Romans.

But ultimately, how respond to suffering? First, remember that God is always near us, forever bringing us to fuller life. Chisel in our memories the words of Isaiah, “Can a mother forget her infant…and, even if she does, I will never forget you.”

Second, remember that the mystery of suffering can have healing and redemptive power. Why do I say that? Because Jesus, through the mystery of his own passion in Gethsemane, death on Calvary, and resurrection from the tomb, re-established the relationship we had at the beginning with God.

Yes, our inescapable aches and pains, borne with love, can be redemptive, can bring forth new life in ourselves and in others. The sufferings of Jesus did precisely that.

We can bring Easter hope to someone's "Good Friday" by reaching out with a helping hand, a listening ear, or an encouraging word.