All three readings today echo the sentiment that Jesus suffered for the forgiveness of sins.
In our 1st reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard, “God fulfilled what He had foretold through all the prophets that the Messiah would suffer. Therefore, repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out.”
In our 2nd reading from 1st John, we heard, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
Then in our Gospel from Luke, we heard, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”
And Jerusalem is exactly where it did begin. It began with Jesus forgiving the Apostles on that first Easter Sunday.
In last week’s Gospel reading, we heard how the Apostles were gathered on that 1st Easter, locked in a room in fear of their lives. They had just spent three years following Jesus. He had become their friend and their teacher and had slowly come to believe that he was the Messiah. Now they had just witnessed him being handed over, being tortured and then crucified. What was worse was that they had abandoned him. During Jesus’ Passion, when the…spam was about to hit the fan, the Apostles scattered. And Peter, whom Jesus had declared a rock, even denied him three times. So, on that 1st Easter, the Apostles were understandably in fear and in great need of forgiveness.
In last week’s Gospel we heard of Jesus’ first appearance to the Apostles after the Resurrection. Last week’s Gospel account was from John. This week’s Gospel account is from Luke. It tells us of the same appearance of Jesus on that first Easter evening, but from a slightly different viewpoint. Today, we hear that Jesus had first appeared to two of his disciples on the road to Emmanus, but they didn’t recognize him until the breaking of the bread. This is what they were recounting to the rest of the Apostles when Jesus appeared to the whole group. And the first thing Jesus said to them was, “Peace be with you.” He not only calmed their fears, but he was offering forgiveness and letting them know that even though they had abandoned him, he would not abandon them.
The Apostles must have been feeling some level of shame or guilt for having abandoned Jesus. And we too should feel a sense of shame when we sin, because that’s what we do when we sin. We’re abandoning Jesus. If we have formed our conscious with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will recognize when we have chosen something else above Jesus. Sin is always abandoning Jesus for something or someone else. That sense of shame or guilt is good, because that’s what leads us back to Jesus for healing.
Jesus doesn’t want us to remain in shame or guilt, and he didn’t want the Apostles to remain in shame or guilt. That’s why his first words to them were, “Peace be with you.” That first meeting with the Apostles after his Resurrection did so much to ease the tension and calm their nerves. Jesus is accepting his disciples as his disciples again and not chastising them for abandoning him. After we sin, Jesus wants us to return to him as soon as possible also.
Once the Apostles fears were calmed and they came to realize that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead, they were ready to be sent on their next assignment. As we hear in the Gospel, Jesus gives them the mission to preach forgiveness in his name to all people. But listen to his words carefully. “Thus, it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name to all nations.”
Notice that Jesus expects people to repent of their sins. When we repent and are genuinely sorry, we want to return to Jesus and not sin again. And the best penance is to make a firm decision not to commit that sin again. Jesus expects us to ask for forgiveness. It is there for the taking, given freely, but we must ask.
Jesus has already paid the price for our sins by his Passion and Death on the cross. The forgiveness of Jesus flows to us from the cross. Remember the words of Jesus at the Last Supper, which we also hear at every Mass, “this is my body which will be given up for you,” And, “this is the cup of my blood. It will be shed for you and for all for the forgiveness of sins.” It is from Jesus on the cross that forgiveness comes to us. In our Gospel today, Jesus shows the Apostles the wounds on his hands and his feet. It is the pain that Jesus suffered from those wounds that heals the Apostles and us.
Our goal, of course, should be not to sin at all, but we are human, and we are weak, and so when we sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus. Jesus pleads on our behalf, and his wounds are the defense on our behalf so that we can gain forgiveness. He is expiation for our sins.
When reflecting on the atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, the lives of many of the saints come to mind as perfect examples of that same type of sacrifice. It’d like to share just a short biography of one such saint, St. Maximilian Kolbe. Maximilian was born in Poland in 1894. At age 13 he entered a Franciscan seminary, and at age 20 took his final vows and was ordained a priest. At the beginning of WWII, Fr. Kolbe was first arrested by Nazi forces shortly after Poland was overrun. He was released shortly after, but then arrested again in Feb. Of 1941 after managing to hide, feed, and clothe over 3,000 Polish and Jewish refugees. He was sent to the Auschwitz prison where he was often singled out for particularly brutal treatment, but he met all difficulties simply with prayer and hymns to our Mother Mary. Twelve weeks after he had arrived, a prisoner had escaped, and in retaliation, guards chose ten men at random to die of starvation. One of the ten men was a young father, with several young children. Fr. Kolbe offered to take his place and the guards accepted. After suffering more than two weeks, Fr. Kolbe died of starvation on Aug. 14, 1941.
In this one act of self-sacrifice, we can see true Christian love.
So let us call upon the spirit of Christ to teach us to perceive the atoning sacrifice of Jesus; how he suffered in our place for the forgiveness of our sins, and the tremendous love that Jesus has for each and every one of us.