III Sunday of Easter (Cycle B) – April 18, 2021 Sharing the fruits of the Risen Lord: Moving from fear & ignorance to hope & dialogue Acts 3:13-15, 17-19 / Psalm 4 / 1 John 2:1-5a / Luke 24:35-48
Years ago, when serving as chaplain on another campus, one of our parishioners would frequently offer at Mass a simple but profound petition, “For an end to ignorance, we pray to the Lord.” No matter how many times I heard him offer such a petition, it always made me wonder what a wonderful world we would live in if there was less ignorance and more humility and willingness to search for the truth, especially through dialogue.
Ignorance might seem to be limited to the realm of personal opinion, but it can have violent consequences. Ignorance can provoke crucifixion and death, even of one – Christ - who only went about doing good. The testimony of St. Peter to the Pharisees in today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles brings the danger of ignorance clearly into focus. Still, he manages to do so respectfully and without rancor or vengeful thoughts.
As is recounted in the readings, even though outnumbered and facing hostility from the religious leaders, he speaks the truth firmly and charitably to the multitude:
“You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses. Now I know, brothers, that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did; but God has thus brought to fulfillment what he had announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer. Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away” (Acts 3: 14-15, 17-19).
In a Christ-like manner, Peter teaches us how ignorance can be overcome and dialogue fostered when he offers those who only days before had denied and violently opposed Jesus the opportunity of conversion and redemption. He does not consider following Christ and believing in him to be the exclusive domain of those who were always followers from the beginning. Instead, the now fearless apostle demonstrates what it means to “love your enemies.” Peter experienced new life and reconciliation because of Christ and so wanted others to receive the same blessing. He invited others to share the same blessing.
Even so, ignorance is real. Ignorance is not always a lack of knowledge but can result from being convinced with a prideful disposition that the knowledge you possess is correct and true. In such cases, the mind of an individual is closed to the possibility of being incorrect and refuses to weigh and discern the concerns of others in addition to one’s personal preference or opinion.
Guarding against ignorance calls for the humble assessment of ourselves and the space we allow God to occupy in our lives A meditation for today from Magnificat offers a helpful insight in this area: “Pope Francis has warned against spiritual amnesia, of forgetting what the Lord has done for us: ‘It would be good,’ he said, ‘for all of us to ask for the grace to preserve memory …of everything the Lord has done in my life: how he loved me so much. And from that memory to go forward.’”
It is imperative that we remember who we are, God’s beloved children but always in need of his mercy and forgiveness and sometimes frequently, in need of forgiveness from our neighbor, from those we interact and who might not be persons we agree with or like.
It is imperative that we know our strengths and understand our knowledge and are grateful to God for such gifts in order to be of true service to others. It is imperative that we recognize our limitations in order to engage others and rely upon them for assistance and leadership. Such measures can be antidotes to falling into the snare of ignorance and they each serve to bring us more into union with God and neighbor.
In times like ours, how can we proceed forward in working against ignorance. Is dialogue possible? In her recent presentation, our campus minister, Claire McMullin, said, “To dialogue is to pursue the truth together.” This requires a willingness to love and to recognize the other as one we should love first before anything else.
Perhaps the most harmful form of ignorance is not believing, not knowing and forgetting we are loved. This, as history and experience have shown us, also results in the idea that others are not worthy of love or being treated with love. Ignorance, certainly, is a lack of knowledge, not truly knowing Christ.
When the Risen Lord appeared to the disciples, “they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost.” It is obvious that fear reigned in their minds. Their own form of “spiritual amnesia” resulted in an ignorance of what Jesus had taught them and shared with them before he died. The fruit that the Risen Lord offers them is peace, which is not an imaginary state of affairs, but is the fruit of mercy and justice.
In Christ, the disciples remembered that they were loved; in Christ they remembered his love for others. This was their way to new life and purpose; this was their way to overcome ignorance and it is ours as well.
Peace in the Risen Lord! Fr. Charles Johnson, O.P.