Going up to Die...And Rise with Jesus

I admire St. Thomas, Apostle. You know, the guy who gets a pretty bad and undeserved rap.  Some think he slept in on Resurrection Day. Then, there’s that whole doubting Thomas thing (John 21).  Rather, I’m a St. Thomas revisionist, calling us to recognize the two times he spoke before those resurrection days (John 11 and 14). Those previous stories show a man of great courage and faith. That’s why I imagine on Resurrection Day he wasn’t cowering with the other apostles, but out and about looking for the Resurrected Lord!

In Chapter 14 of John’s Gospel, he has greater courage than the other apostles as he speaks up and tells Jesus he doesn’t understand what Jesus is saying during the Last Supper Discourse. Jesus is telling the apostles that he is going away, that he has prepared a place for them, and that they know how to get where he is going. Thomas speaks up and says “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way.” Thomas opens the way for the apostles, and us, allowing us to benefit from Jesus’ sixth “I Am” statement: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

In Chapter 11, this past Sunday’s Gospel, in a line that would have been omitted if the short form of the Gospel was proclaimed, as Jesus says he’s going to Bethany to Martha and Mary, not far from
Jerusalem, Thomas says “Let us go with him to die.”  Where did that come from!? How did Thomas know Jesus was going to die and how is it that he had the courage to want to go with Jesus to die, calling the other disciples to do the same!?  SomehowThomas intuited the Paschal Mystery, the essential mystery of our Faith about Jesus: suffering, embracing the cross and death, which lead to new life and a counterintuitive inestimable joy and glory!

As an example of us going with Jesus to die in last week’s homily, I said that if Beacons of Light could well have had an apt subtitle it would be, “Beacons of Light: Let us go with him to die!” Most all
the major moves of Beacons of Light will involve dying to self, dying to our parish and some aspect of the old, to allow for new life, the resurrection, and greater glory in our parishes! How have we gone to
die with Jesus already? To mention a few:

1. We have changed Mass times and are rotating priests.
2. Many staff members serve at more than one office location.
3. Individual bulletins have died to rise to a new unified bulletin.
4. Music directors have opened their arms, like Jesus on the cross, welcoming feedback through our Music Survey!

Yet another way we go up with Jesus to die during Holy Week is through the key liturgy of the Church, the Triduum: Thursday, Mass of the Lord’s Supper; Friday, The Passion of the Lord; Saturday,
the Easter Vigil. What is the dying to self/sacrifice being made by Crescent Parishioners?  The sacrifice/dying to self we are making is that no one church will have all those liturgies. In fact, each church will have only one of those key liturgies. This is a huge change and powerfully sacrificial! What new life/resurrection do we gain by such a sacrifice?

With our new approach to the Triduum, Crescent Parishioners will gain unity with each other, as Father, Son, and Spirit are one. Our unity will more closely resemble the unity of all of Christ’s body, the
entire Church, given to us in a new way in Beacons of Light. Concretely, we will experience better liturgies because there will be many more people gathered. More worshippers allow for more vibrant thanks, praise, and worship of Jesus! All we need to do is plan ahead! For most of us, we will only need to leave a few minutes early and go a few more miles to arrive at our new Triduum destination!
Thanks to Crescent Parishioners who, like courageous Thomas, go with Jesus by going to a different parish to celebrate the Triduum this year! New life, more joy, and glory in Christ await!

Sincerely and with Love in Christ,
Fr. Pat