It’s hard to believe that our current pope, Francis, has been pope for eight years already. I thought of that earlier this week when I happened to drive past the Malvern Retreat House because I had been there with some 200 fellow priests for our annual priests workshop eight years ago and we had all crowded around a television that been set up because the consistory was taking place – the election of the next pope – and news had just broken of the white smoke, indicating that the pope had, indeed, been elected. Some of you may recall where you were when on 13 March 2013 we all witnessed history in the making as we watched the election of the 266th pope: Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who took on the name Francis. For most, he was a completely unknown. He was the first Jesuit and the first from the Americas to be elected pope. I was the only priest in the room who knew him. Cardinal Foley and I had hosted him at our apartment in Rome for lunch when he was there for a visit as the Cardinal of Buenos Aires back in 2010. Shortly after he was elected, Fr. Antonio Spadaro, editor of America Magazine, the international Jesuit magazine, interviewed Pope Francis. The first question of his interview was: “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” The pope’s answer to this question is one that we should all take to heart. After a short moment in thought he answered: “I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech… I am a sinner.” After making a few more comments, he then reaffirmed that the best summary he could give of himself, the one that was nearest to the truth was this: “I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon with mercy.”
In today’s first reading, we hear the apostle Peter, the Church’s first pope, remind his audience that they are all sinners. And their sins were not minor. He declares, “the author of life you put to death.” I’m not sure if there is a greater sin. But, thankfully, like Pope Francis, Peter doesn’t end there. He goes on to explain: “God, however, raised him from the dead.” In saying this, Peter is declaring that God has an answer for sin, for every sin. And, the answer is the resurrection. On the cross, Jesus took upon himself the burden of our sins – and it killed him. Through his resurrection, however, his life has been restored and, in fact, transformed, and so has ours. The burden of our sin has been lifted.
The intimate connection between the resurrection and the forgiveness of sins is highlighted also in today’s Gospel. The disciples are together when Jesus suddenly stands in their midst, greeting them with the words, “Peace be with you.” But, far from being at peace, they are at first filled with alarm and fear. After all, in the first century, just as in the twenty-first, everyone knows that dead people remain dead. Understandably, the disciples think that they are seeing some kind of ghost. Jesus’ response is to show them his hands and his feet, hands and feet that bear the imprint of the nails.
“Touch me,” he says, “and see for yourselves because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” Then, we’re told that the disciples’ joy was so great that they could not believe it. It’s as though they were caught between lingering doubts and overflowing joy; it seemed just too good to be true! Finally, with a humorous touch, Jesus asks if there is anything to eat; ghosts don’t usually ask for a meal.
Once his friends are convinced of his identity, Jesus “opened their minds,” helping them understand why he had to suffer and on the third day rise again. And now, he tells them, it is “in his name,” the name of the risen
Christ, that they are to preach repentance of sins to all nations. Forgiveness of sins is the special gift of Easter. It was central to Jesus’ teaching while he was among us and it is to be central to the Church’s teaching until the end of time. And, if our pope can recognize that he, at the core of his being, is a sinner, so can we. And, like the pope, we rejoice because we realize that our Lord has looked on us with mercy.
During our Lord’s public ministry, he showed God’s mercy in so many ways. And, often, it was at a meal. It was at a meal that he welcomed Matthew, a public sinner, as one of his disciples. It was at a meal that he said to the woman who washed his feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair: “Your sins are forgiven.” It was at that most important meal – the Last Supper – that Jesus washed the feet of those who would soon sin against him by abandoning him at his hour of greatest need. And, as we hear in today’s Gospel, it is at a meal that the risen Lord assures his frightened followers that he had suffered, died and been raised from the dead “for the forgiveness of sins.”
As we gather to celebrate the Eucharist every Sunday, we give thanks to God for his mercy and forgiveness. In fact, we begin every Mass with a Penitential Act, when we are called to examine our consciences and admit our sins. In the Gloria, we glorify God – not once but twice – for taking away our sins and beg him to have mercy on us. Then, we are privileged to share in that same sacred meal – the Last Supper – that was central to our Lord’s mission of overcoming our sinfulness. Nourished by Holy Communion, we, like the first followers of Jesus, are called to witness to all of this – repentance for the forgiveness of sins – in our daily lives. That’s why receiving our Lord in Holy Communion regularly is so important.
Each Eucharistic celebration offers us the spiritual nourishment we need to overcome our sinful nature and live more fully in God’s grace, acting according to his will. As we continue to celebrate this Easter season with such great joy, let us all recommit ourselves to receiving it regularly so that all of us, the living Body of Christ, can continue the work Jesus called all of his followers to do: to witness to all nations the saving power of God!