Jesus is the one the Father has chosen, anointed and sent.  And as the Father has sent him, so he sends us.  And his mission is to serve. 

Jesus has just held with his apostles the first Eucharist.  Yet it appears they do not at all understand it and what it means.  For they begin to argue about which of them is the greatest.  So, he tells them that to be the greatest means to serve.  His mission is to serve, after all.

Yes, he sends us to serve also.  In other words, we are to make up the community of love and service, for which the other disciple stands.  We, of course, let Peter, who stands for authority, go in first.  But for him, for authority, to see and believe, he, it, has to serve in love like the other disciple.

Those who see and believe still run out of concern and yearning like Mary Magdalene, Peter and the other disciple.  Like them, they hasten to meet Christ.  Yet they no longer look for him in the tomb.

For he has risen from the dead; his love is stronger than death.  No, he is not with those who bring death to themselves and to others since they refuse to serve, love.  Nor is he with the dead victims of selfishness and greed.  They, in fact, are no longer dead; they have gone out of hell with him after his descent into it.

Yes, we will find him with the living, with those who, like him, seek to serve.  These do not look out for their own interests but for those of others.  They think and feel like him.  The example he has set guides them, so they do as he has done to them.  And they love to the end, to the giving up of the body and the shedding of blood.  They are other Christs and show he is alive.

Lord Jesus, grant us to serve like you and not play the master ever (SV.EN XI:313).  Help us to grasp that service makes for a life that is full and whole.  And for others joining your Church and believing, though they have not seen, that you, who were once dead, now live forever and ever.

27 April 2025
Second Sunday of Easter (C)
Acts 5, 12-16; Rev 1, 9-11a. 12-13. 17-19; Jn 20, 19-31