3rd Sunday in Easter B April 14, 2024

Fr. Rick’s Two-Minute Homily for the 3rd Sunday in Easter B
April 14, 2024, Luke 24:35-48
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041424.cfm

Jesus Is With Us Every Day.

“He showed them His hands and His feet.” Then, “They gave him a piece of baked fish; He took it and ate it in front of them.” I put myself in this scene and was confused. Inside my head and my heart, Jesus was dead and buried. But outside of me, in front of me, He is real, living, eating like the rest of us.

When I came back to the present moment, everything flipped-flopped. Inside, I know, through faith, that Jesus has risen from the dead. But outside, where is He in my daily life?

I want to say that Jesus is everywhere, waiting for us to rise with Him in every situation we find ourselves in. I promise you this: His Presence is always filled with peace.

Sometimes, we have to get creative about bringing His peace into our situations.

It’s like an older man who purchased a retirement home near a high school. He spent the first few weeks in peace and contentment. Then, a new school year began.

Three young men came down his street the next afternoon, beating merrily on every trash can they encountered. The crashing percussion continued day after day until the older man finally decided to take action. The next afternoon, he walked out to meet the young percussionists.

He called out,

“You kids are a lot of fun.

“Will you do me a favor?
I’ll give you a dollar if you promise to come around every day
and do your thing.”

The kids were elated and continued to do a bang-up job on the trash cans.

A few days later, the retiree approached them again,

“Look,” he said, “I haven’t received my income check this month,
so I’m not going to be able to give you more than $0.25 each

“Will that be okay?”

“A lousy quarter?” The drum leader exclaimed.

“If you think we’re going to waste our time
beating these cans around for a quarter, you’re nuts!

“No way, Mister. We quit!”

And the older man enjoyed peace and quiet for the rest of his days.

My Dad would often say, “Son, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do everything. If you don’t want to go back and do it all over again, do it the right way the first time. You will save yourself a lot of time and headaches.”

He was right. The right way to do something always produces peace. The wrong way never does. It would be good to look back and see where we can sow some peace or, if you like, the presence of Jesus.

It isn’t hard to find. A little humility always finds Jesus and His Peace. It is my shortcut.

Fr. Rick Pilger, IC
pastor