On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you."
Why do you think Jesus greets them thus? Could it be because they had abandoned him and ran and he wanted them not to think he had come to condemn them? Imagine yourself in that situation as one of the apostles, what would you be feeling or thinking if Jesus so appeared to you? When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."
What did the Father sent Jesus to do that Jesus was now sending the apostles to do? To be witnesses of his love and mercy. Do we have the same commission from Jesus? What are we doing about it? And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."
In John’s theology the Paschal Mystery is unified: The Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus and the Coming of the Spirit. In Luke’s Gospel there is a time factor between Easter and Pentecost.
As the Spirit was essential in the ministry of Jesus so the Spirit would be necessary in the ministry of the Apostles and ours as well.
Why did Jesus emphasized the power of forgiveness at this time? Who needed to know they were forgiven?
What is the relationship between the gift of the Spirit and the experience of forgiveness? How do you connect this to the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."
Why do you think Thomas responded this way? Was he reacting out of human resentment that Jesus had not appeared to him or was there something deeper? Have you experienced doubts in your life about faith issues? Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe."
How did Jesus know Thomas’ heart? Does he know your heart as well? Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Notice Thomas is not said to have put his finger in the nail marks or his hand in Jesus’ pierced side. Rather he moved from doubt or anger to faith and love. Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."
Can we relate to what Jesus said to Thomas? Is our faith based on "seeing"? Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.
Is our faith in the person of Jesus whether we see signs or is it depended on signs and confirmations?

"The story of Easter is the story of God's wonderful window of divine surprise." (Carl Knudsen) The Birth of the Son of God was a WOW moment in the history of the world. So to, Easter is a WOW moment that has changed the world of human beings forever. For us, personally, our moment of baptism was a WOW moment. Every time we receive forgiveness of our sins and the gift of his Body and Blood, God surprises us with his divine mercy and love.  We remember another WOW moment, the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and our Confirmation. For those who are sacramentally married, God broke through in your individual lives and sealed you in his love. As a priest and Bishop, my ordinations were such moments.  How should you and  I response to each of these WOW moments? Gratitude, love, commitment and witnessing.

The women who went to the tomb on Easter were told to tell the disciples to go to Galilee. "For each of us, too, there is a “Galilee” at the origin of our journey with Jesus.  'To go to Galilee' means something beautiful, it means rediscovering our baptism as a living fountainhead, drawing new energy from the sources of our faith and our Christian experience.  To return to Galilee means above all to return to that blazing light with which God’s grace touched me at the start of the journey.  From that flame I can light a fire for today and every day, and bring heat and light to my brothers and sisters.  That flame ignites a humble joy, a joy which sorrow and distress cannot dismay, a good, gentle joy." (Pope Francis) Where did our journey with Christ began? That is our Galilee. What has happened on that journey? What did we hear, what did we learn, what did we experienced? Now see all in the light of the resurrection if we want meaning to all of it. Remember the past so as to live in the present with greater purpose.

"(With Easter we see) the long war brought to an end, and reconciliation made between God and our nature, the devil brought to shame, demons in flight, death destroyed, Paradise opened, the curse blotted out, sin put out of the way, error driven off, truth returning, the word of godliness everywhere sown, and flourishing in its growth." (John Chrysostom, Homily 1, Commentary on St. Matthew) How appreciative are we for what Jesus has done for us through his death and resurrection? How do we show this appreciation in concrete ways? Easter is not just a day but a way of life. We are a new creation, called to live more consciously the life of Christ.

"(Easter means) to pass from sin to life, from guilt to grace, from being blemished to holiness." (St Ambrose) Have we made that journey? Yes, when we were baptized; each time we experience the merciful grace of reconciliation in the Sacrament of forgiveness; and finally at the moment of our death in Christ. Alleluia! Thanks to Jesus' death and resurrection. Never forget what he has done for us.

"Let us then, with full confidence, partake of the Body and Blood of Christ. For in the figure of bread His Body is given to you, and in the figure of wine His Blood is given to you, so that by partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, you might become united in body and blood with him. For thus do we become Christ-bearers, His body and blood being distributed through our members. And thus it is that we become, according to the blessed Peter, sharers of the divine nature." (St. Cyril of Jerusalem) What a divine mystery! Today, we celebrate that first Eucharistic sacrificial meal. What the apostles experienced without fully comprehending, we also experience without fully understanding. Jesus comes into us and in the process continues the process of transformation: more of him and less of me. Reflect on this so that the mystery becomes more a conscious reality.

"When God makes a covenant with us, God says: 'I will love you with an everlasting love. I will be faithful to you, even when you run away from me, reject me, or betray me.' In our society we don't speak much about covenants; we speak about contracts. When we make a contract with a person, we say: 'I will fulfill my part as long as you fulfill yours. When you don't live up to your promises, I no longer have to live up to mine.' Contracts are often broken because the partners are unwilling or unable to be faithful to their terms. But God didn't make a contract with us; God made a covenant with us, and God wants our relationships with one another to reflect that covenant. That's why marriage, friendship, life in community are all ways to give visibility to God's faithfulness in our lives together." (Henri Nouwen) This weekend, Easter, we will have an opportunity to renew our covenant commitment to the Lord in response to his death and resurrection. As we do, we need to think about what we are saying in response to God's fidelity to us. To be faithful to that covenant of love is our commitment, no matter how hard it will be.

We can never fully comprehend the Lord's unconditional love nor can we adequately respond to it. His love flows from his self-identity, while my love is limited by my wounded finiteness. He gives me what is more precious than gold and I can offer him only what is cheap as wood. Yet in spite of this vast inequality he does not cease to love me, while my love is a hit and a miss. What can I do or say in the face of this mystery? Only a humble and sincere thanks offered together with my poor love can I give.

The way of salvation is that of obedience to the will of God and suffering humiliation at the hands of others as well as showing humility through service. This is the path Jesus took to the cross. This is the focus of Holy Week from the entrance into Jerusalem through his death on the cross. Neither the acclamations of the pilgrims on Palm Sunday nor the shouts for his crucifixion at his trial changed who he was. He was the Son who came to do the will of the Father, whether he was accepted or rejected. He embraced the present moment whether it was that of unwarranted humiliation or the humility of service. What he embraced was the will of the Father. Can we do the same, even  in a limited way?

Lord, I am in need of your mercy every day and every minute of each day. Why? Because I am a sinner, who means well, but falls short of your glory. In your unfathomable love you cover me with your mercy and compassion, your forgiveness and your healing. I desire to do better, but my wounded nature succumbs. My only recourse is you. The mystery of my tendency to sin is confronted by the mystery of your willingness to show me mercy. May you triumph and I yield! May your mercy have the last word! I am yours by your mercy in creation, in redemption and in sanctification. May I be yours by your mercy in glory!

"God forgives not with a decree but with a caress (mercy). Mercy is something difficult to understand: it does not erase sins. What erases sins is God's forgiveness. Mercy goes further. It is like the sky: we look at the sky when it is full of stars, but when the sun comes out in the morning, with all its light, we don't see the stars anymore. That is what God's mercy is like: a great light of love and tenderness." (Pope Francis) Would that our forgiveness of others be of a similar magnitude. In his mercy God does not see our sinfulness but sees his desire to bring us in union with him once more.  So should our mercy be for others who  have offended us in a much smaller way than we have offended God. It doesn't erase of deny what was done, but mercy and forgiveness do not allow it to remain in front of us.

"Some people think that sin is a stain, only a stain, something that you can have dry-cleaned so that everything goes back to normal.  the way you take a jacket or dress to have a stain removed: you put it in the wash and that's it.  But sin is more than a stain.  Sin is a wound; it needs to be treated, healed." (Pope Francis) How insightful! To see sin as merely a stain is not to understand the damaging effect sin has on us. If it is only a stain, we can take care of it. We don't need confession. But if it is a wound then we need the healing touch of a doctor to cleanse the infection and to apply the proper medicine. This is where the spiritual doctor, the priest, through the power of Jesus and in the name of Jesus, brings the healing grace of God's mercy to transform the wound into healthy, restored tissue.

St. Joseph Novena Prayers

"The Lord never tires of forgiving: never! It is we who tire of asking him for forgiveness. We need to ask for the grace not to get tired of asking for forgiveness, because he never gets tired of forgiving." (Pope Francis) In fact, it gives the Father great joy to extend mercy and forgiveness to those who desire it, because of his infinite love. No, we don't deserve forgiveness, but we dishonor the Father when we don't allow him to forgive us.  We deny and reject his true identity as God and Father, as Lord and Savior, as Spirit and healer, when we feel he will not forgive us. Repent and return to the forgiving Father.

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. How often do we come to Jesus to listen and to be taught? Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him.
Their hearts were not right. They were not interested in doing what is right but in discrediting Jesus. Do we sometimes act of wrong motives? Do we sometimes seem more righteous than others?                  If they were so righteous, why did they not bring the man who was guilty of    
                 the same sin?

Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Even knowing their real motive, Jesus was extending a hand of mercy to them. Even when others are wrong and we know it, are we judgmental or merciful like Jesus? Do we condemn or give them a way out?         Jesus reminded them and us that we are all sinners and who are we to judge the
        other? In another passage, Jesus says that we should take the beam out of our
        own eye before we point to the splinter in the other. Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. What was Jesus doing? Some interpret Jesus’ action by saying that he was writing their sins in the dirt. Others say that he was giving them a chance to save face and not condemn themselves as they were condemning the woman.         Beginning with the elders, was this because they realized they had 
        more sins? So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She replied, "No one, sir." Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more." Jesus knew the scriptures. God desires not the death of the sinner but that the person repents and lives. If we choose to die in sin, that is our choice.
Jesus doesn’t condemn us for our sins but offers us the grace of repentance. He called sin, sin, but he extended forgiveness and mercy to the sinner.
Do we reflect on our sinfulness? Do we remain in sin? Do we repent and heed the word of Jesus: "Go, and from now on do not sin any more?"                  When was the last time you went to confession?

"Community is not possible without the willingness to forgive one another "seventy-seven times" (see Matthew 18:22). Forgiveness is the cement of community life. Forgiveness holds us together through good and bad times, and it allows us to grow in mutual love. But what is there to forgive or to ask forgiveness for? As people who have hearts that long for perfect love, we have to forgive one another for not being able to give or receive that perfect love in our everyday lives. Our many needs constantly interfere with our desire to be there for the other unconditionally. Our love is always limited by spoken or unspoken conditions."(Henri Nouwen) How true this is in everyday life, especially in family life! The fundamental community, after with God, is the community of those we are with on a daily basis. We want love from them and they want love from us; we want acceptance and understanding; they want the same. In the times we and they have failed, those are the times forgiveness is most needed. But it is in these relationships that we probably fail the most to forgive and ask forgiveness. In turn, this damages the depth of com union we have with each other.

"Optimism and hope are radically different attitudes. Optimism is the expectation that things-the weather, human relationships, the economy, the political situation, and so on-will get better. Hope is the trust that God will fulfill God's promises to us in a way that leads us to true freedom. The optimist speaks about concrete changes in the future. The person of hope lives in the moment with the knowledge and trust that all of life is in good hands. All the great spiritual leaders in history were people of hope. Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Mary, Jesus,... all lived with a promise in their hearts that guided them toward the future without the need to know exactly what it would look like. Let's live with hope." (Henri Nouwen) To be an optimistic person is better than to be a pessimist. But to be a person of hope is to be more fully a person. Optimism depends on external forces to come together. Hope depends on the person of Jesus who through his death and resurrection has promised us the fullness of life with him forever.

In her very last sentence of her autobiography, Saint Therese of the Child Jesus states clearly : "It is not because God, in His anticipating Mercy, has preserved my soul from mortal sin that I go to Him with confidence and love", and she asked Mother Agnes to add, "Really tell them, Mother, that if I had committed all possible crimes, I feel that this whole multitude of offenses would be like a drop of water thrown into a fiery furnace." We should focus on the magnitude of God's mercy to us rather than on the magnitude of our sinfulness. Though our sins are a reality, his mercy is a greater mystery of what is truly real. As we can't understand our tendency to sin, so we will have a greater difficulty in fathoming his unconditional, infinite mercy.

"Our minds are always active. We analyze, reflect, daydream, or dream. There is not a moment during the day or night when we are not thinking. You might say our thinking is "unceasing." Sometimes we wish that we could stop thinking for a while; that would save us from many worries, guilt feelings, and fears. Our ability to think is our greatest gift, but it is also the source of our greatest pain. Do we have to become victims of our unceasing thoughts? No, we can convert our unceasing thinking into unceasing prayer by making our inner monologue into a continuing dialogue with our God, who is the source of all love. Let's break out of our isolation and realize that Someone who dwells in the center of our beings wants to listen with love to all that occupies and preoccupies our minds." (Henri Nouwen) This takes discipline and practice to become effective. We shouldn't give up when we find it hard to do. Rather, persevere. When monologue turns into fruitful dialogue with the Lord, our mental ramblings will become meaningful prayer, even if happens part of the time.

"Jesus' love is great, Jesus' love is merciful, Jesus' love forgives; but you have to open yourself, and to open oneself means to repent, to accuse oneself of the things that are not good and which we have done. The Lord Jesus gave himself, and he continues to give himself to us, in order to fill us with all of the mercy and grace of the Father." (Pope Francis) The first initiative is always the Lord's, but we are called to respond. Though the sun is beaming brightly, I can lock myself up in a shelter deep  in the mountain and never feel the warmth or see the light nor experience the power of the sun. We have to come out of our self, shelter enclosure, so that we can receive the fullness of what the Lord is offering.

I want to personally invite you, men, to the Man Of God Conference on Mercy this weekend, March 4-5, 2016 at the Diocesan Pastoral Center on Hwy 311 in Schriever.  It begins Friday night at 6:30m till 10:00pm and resumes Saturday at 9:00am till Mass, concluding at 6:00pm. It is a great Lenten, spiritual grace that God wants you to experience so that you can grow as man in relationship to Him and as spiritual leader in your family. You can register either on line (www.htconferences.org) or by phone (985-850-3171) or on site.  Hope to see you there!

To forget is to complete the process of forgiveness. To forgive from the heart is the first step; to forget the pain and anger of the past hurt is the second step. God forgives and forgets as a simultaneous twofold sign of his mercy That is what it means for him to cast our sins into the depth of the ocean of his mercy. That is what he wants us to understand and imitate when he says, though your sins are crimson red, I will make you white as wool. As he show us such mercy, he commands us to show the same mercy by virtue of his grace. To forget does not mean to erase it from our memory, but rather to be free from the negative bondage that the event had over me. Our memory is like the computer. Though we delete something, it is still there, but not readily available for us. It would take some effort to retrieve it.