We all know how it feels to be in awe of a person or an experience. My husband remembers the feeling as a child when he sat in a truck with his dad and watched as Sputnik, the first artificial earth satellite, sped by in the dark sky. Many years later, when he and I saw our newborn daughter for the first time, we were filled with joy and wonder. When I woke up feeling surprisingly fine after a serious operation and saw my solicitous smiling family members by my bedside, I knew an awesome feeling of relief and love.

The scripture readings in this Easter season include some intense descriptions of how the disciples felt as the result of Jesus’ resurrection and of their new communal life.

   Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the

   apostles. (Acts 2:43)

   …you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, as you attain the goal of your

   faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:8c-9)

   Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he

   spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us.” (Luke 24:32)

 Awe, indescribable and glorious joy, hearts burning are all very powerful sensations! Those sensations are available to us today in the spiritual realm. Do we pay attention? Are we open? Do we take too much for granted?

Let’s consider the Holy Eucharist. We should be in awe every time we receive this wonderful sacrament. Sure, the host is small and not flavorful, but it is truly Jesus’ Body that is risen after dying a terrible death on the cross for us! Our feast of salvation! We cannot get much closer to him while we are in this world. We consume him, and his love consumes us! After so many Masses and so many times receiving Holy Communion, do we remember whom we are receiving? Only a few minutes go by after we receive Communion until the priest or deacon dismisses us. Why not continue our offering of thanksgiving past the church doors? I am sure we will check our phones right away. Do we rejoice with indescribable and glorious joy? Do our hearts burn? Are we in a rush to go get a meal or a cup of coffee?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if awe would come upon everyone? A good way to nurture that awe is through faith-sharing. It gets easier and easier to talk about our faith when we do it frequently with other Christians. We don’t need halos to do this. It is helpful to find or even start a faith-sharing group. Perhaps groups are available at your parish church, but if not, even gathering with a few close friends and using small-group materials that are available from, for example, RENEW International can help us bask in that precious awe of the Lord. Let’s keep our hearts burning within us—today!

We all know how it feels to be in awe of a person or an experience. My husband remembers the feeling as a child when he sat in a truck with his dad and watched as Sputnik, the first artificial earth satellite, sped by in the dark sky. Many years later, when he and I saw our newborn daughter for the first time, we were filled with joy and wonder. When I woke up feeling surprisingly fine after a serious operation and saw my solicitous smiling family members by my bedside, I knew an awesome feeling of relief and love.

The scripture readings in this Easter season include some intense descriptions of how the disciples felt as the result of Jesus’ resurrection and of their new communal life.

   Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the

   apostles. (Acts 2:43)

   …you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, as you attain the goal of your

   faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:8c-9)

   Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he

   spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us.” (Luke 24:32)

 Awe, indescribable and glorious joy, hearts burning are all very powerful sensations! Those sensations are available to us today in the spiritual realm. Do we pay attention? Are we open? Do we take too much for granted?

Let’s consider the Holy Eucharist. We should be in awe every time we receive this wonderful sacrament. Sure, the host is small and not flavorful, but it is truly Jesus’ Body that is risen after dying a terrible death on the cross for us! Our feast of salvation! We cannot get much closer to him while we are in this world. We consume him, and his love consumes us! After so many Masses and so many times receiving Holy Communion, do we remember whom we are receiving? Only a few minutes go by after we receive Communion until the priest or deacon dismisses us. Why not continue our offering of thanksgiving past the church doors? I am sure we will check our phones right away. Do we rejoice with indescribable and glorious joy? Do our hearts burn? Are we in a rush to go get a meal or a cup of coffee?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if awe would come upon everyone? A good way to nurture that awe is through faith-sharing. It gets easier and easier to talk about our faith when we do it frequently with other Christians. We don’t need halos to do this. It is helpful to find or even start a faith-sharing group. Perhaps groups are available at your parish church, but if not, even gathering with a few close friends and using small-group materials that are available from, for example, RENEW International can help us bask in that precious awe of the Lord. Let’s keep our hearts burning within us—today!

Pockets in clothing are very handy. Bob Keeshan, Captain Kangaroo on the popular children’s television show from 1955 to 1984, got his name because of the big pockets on his jacket. Pockets are useful for magicians who are concealing playing cards or other props for illusions. Pockets are convenient, leaving hands free from carrying handbags or other burdens.

 In a broader sense, pockets are small areas that make up bigger areas. I suggest we consider the little pockets in our daily lives that deserve some examination during this Easter season.

One such life pocket could hold some small prejudices. Just as God raised Jesus from death and opened the tomb, so we can open our hearts to new life and leave prejudices and rash judgments behind. Certainly, we need to avoid near occasions of sin, but sometimes a lack of self-confidence or memories of past failures or shortcomings can blind us to new possibilities for graces and blessings. Perhaps circumstances have changed and a grudge we hold or a lesson we had learned long ago needs to be reassessed. We might have to move things to a few different pockets, maybe ones that are bigger or have different openings.

Another life pocket could be the place we store our evangelistic witness stories. We might not pay attention to how many stories are really in that pocket, especially if we don’t pull some out now and then to share with someone else or to refer to in one of our prayers of gratitude.

Still another life pocket could involve our creativity and talents or gifts. False humility or lack of self-confidence might just keep that pocket flap buttoned up. In yesterday’s gospel reading, addressing the disciples,

 Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I

   send you. (John 20:21)

 We are challenged in this Easter season to humbly spread the good news of the gospel to others with our gift of speech and by example. We are sent by our risen Lord. Through our baptism, we are born of water and the Spirit. Our gift pockets are overflowing with possibilities!

 Pockets are very useful for keeping things close and handy. Some of them might be near our hearts where love resides. Just as the risen Jesus wished peace to his disciples when he appeared to them, may our pockets be brimming with joy and peace to enjoy and offer to the people we encounter. Alleluia! Jesus is risen! May we keep our pockets open for Holy possibilities!

    May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may

   abound in hope by the power of the holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

While it was still dark, Mary of Magdala arrived at Jesus’ tomb to find it was empty. What stones in our own lives can we move so that we can consider and receive the wonderful graces of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead?

There are many awesome graces available to us because of Easter. We should endeavor to make ourselves eagerly open to the fullness of redemption Jesus offers. What does Easter bring? Let us open our eyes!

Easter Energy. No longer is the world burdened with sin in control. We have new life and vigor and hope. Death is not the final word. We can and must seize the energy!

Easter Enlightenment. We know that all Jesus said is true! We can use the season’s newness of life to reassess our priorities in the light of Jesus’ truth! We just need to take the time.

Easter Encounters. Mary of Magdala encountered Jesus that Resurrection morning. We can become more aware of Jesus in our encounters with those who live in poverty or are otherwise in need. In joy, we can make the most of these blessed meetings.

We also may come together with a few extra family members and friends. Treasure and be thankful for the experience of the love of God as seen in these people!

Easter Eagerness. Let us not allow our enthusiasm concerning our faith wane. Let us keep up the attention to holiness and our spirituality, even in simple, gradual ways. We read that Simon Peter and John, at Mary of Magdala’s news, ran to the tomb of Jesus. May we run into our loving Savior’s arms as we continue to celebrate his resurrection.

Easter Encouragement. People often color ordinary chicken eggs at Easter to add variety and beauty and to draw attention. How can we draw attention to the good news of Easter—the good news that Jesus is risen? May we urge others to consider the true meaning of the resurrection and rejoice together? We don’t have to be Sunday-school teachers to remind others of the great sacrifice Jesus Christ made to atone for our sins!

Easter Empowerment. Jesus’ death and resurrection have granted us access to eternal life with our loving, forgiving God. We have the power to forgive others’ transgressions against us. We can repent of our own bad choices and strengthen our resolve to try again. We can be strong in that resolve!

Easter Excitement. May we bloom like the many colorful flowers are blooming right now! May we not become passive and take the blessings around us for granted. New life is blooming, and new resurrected excitement can bloom in us at any age or stage of life. Jesus’ resurrection is true and full of promise! We are saved! Alleluia!

When I moved to Florida last year, I was surprised at the number of different kinds of palm trees. I had never really thought about the palm fronds that are blessed and distributed at Masses on Palm Sunday. They are suggestive of grace and majesty. How fitting that they were strewn before Jesus as he triumphantly rode into Jerusalem!

What about other kinds of palms? How about palms of hands? Often, we see crucifixes with nails puncturing the palms of Jesus’ hands. Whether he was really nailed to the cross by nails in his hands, or more likely through his wrists, the hands of Jesus were truly hurt. At the Last Supper, those hands were the hands that held the bread that he transformed into his body and the cup of wine that became his blood. Those gentle healing fingers and palms prepared these wonderful, personal gifts for us for years to come.

We also remember the many healings Jesus performed with his touch, even when he mixed by hand his saliva and mud to cure a man of blindness. We read in Matthew’s Gospel that Jesus gave a hand to a sinking, doubting, Peter and pulled him from the water (Matthew 14:29-31).

Think about our own palms. We clap them together when we are pleased or impressed with some performance or truth. We rub them together when we are cold. When we are glad about another person’s accomplishment, we might “give them five” and our hands come together in a clap.

Best of all, we can receive the Holy Eucharist host first on our palm before we reverently put it into our mouths. When we pray, we can put our palms together with our fingers pointing heavenward. Many people pray the Lord’s Prayer at Mass with open palms, symbolizing an openness to God’s will and love.

 Let us Psalm 134, a psalm that promotes the lifting of hands:

    Come, bless the Lord,

       all you servants of the Lord

   Who stand in the house of the Lord

       during the hours of night.

   Lift up your hands toward the sanctuary:

         and bless the Lord.

    May the Lord bless you from Zion,

       the maker of heaven and earth.

And Psalm 63:5, a psalm of David, speaks of prayerfully lifting of the hands:

    Thus will I bless you while I live;

       lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name.

 As we pray through Holy Week, may we ask the Lord to take us by the hand and lift us out of any waters of distraction so that we can gratefully appreciate all Jesus has selflessly done for us.

Over the past few days we have been reminded by the scripture readings at Mass about new beginnings: the beginning of motherhood for the faithful Blessed Virgin Mary, the second beginning of Lazarus’ life after Jesus called him forth from the tomb, and the chance at a new and better life for the rescued adulterous woman at whom no one would cast a stone.

We all have new beginnings every day during this season of Lent. Each new start comes with challenges. It is up to us to surrender to the will of God, all the while knowing that God loves each of us as only God can love.

Let’s stop and think. We know we can trust that nothing is impossible for God. It is true that our Savior Jesus can untie any bonds that hold us captive. Each one of us is a sinner, but Jesus is ready to forgive even our most persistent sinfulness when we are ready to repent and to keep trying to sin no more. These recent readings give us such joyful hope!

Lent is full of possibilities for new holiness. Here is a prayer/poem about hopeful striving and surrender to the Lord.

                               Song of Prayer

I can almost taste the sweetness, I can almost see the glow,

I can almost hear the whisper of God who loves me so.

This time, the words are very simple. This time, prayer is, oh, so still.

This time, I grasp in the quiet the message of his will.

What has made now such a difference? What has opened up my heart?

What has brought my God so close now, when I scarce know where to start?

Could it be my meek surrender? Could it be my letting go?

Could it be my leap of trusting in God who loves me so?

I can almost smell the fragrance; I can almost feel the touch.

I can almost sense a oneness with the God I love so much!

May we be open to the Holy Spirit’s inspirations. May we have a new focus on prayerfulness and gratitude to God because we know that in less than two weeks, we all will be rejoicing!

We have all heard that question about whether a glass is half full or half empty, that is, how we see things in life: optimistically or pessimistically. We are about halfway through our 2023 Lenten journey, so we can stop and ask ourselves: Is my Lent half full or half empty so far?

Over the past few weeks, we have read in Scripture about challenges being accepted, thirsts being quenched, blindness being cured, Jesus being transfigured, God’s promises being kept and Jesus being lauded as our Good Shepherd. With such positive experiences, how could we be anything but optimistic? Certainly, fears, doubts, sins, and temptations can get in the way.

It may be a good idea to call upon St. Joseph, whose feast we celebrate today, to be our coach for the rest of Lent. He is truly a model of strength and holiness.

Dear St. Joseph, we ask you to pray for us. You were obedient to the angel of the Lord. You sheltered Mary, protected her, and kept her safe as you traveled to Bethlehem and, later, to Egypt. Teach us to treasure our relationships with Mary, your spouse, and with your foster child, Jesus. Pray for us, that we may be strong against temptations to distractions and despair.

Dear St. Joseph, steady craftsman, faithful worker, you are called “a righteous man” in Sacred Scripture. Pray for us that we may be righteous and persistent as we work at becoming holier and closer to our Lord. Teach us to be courageous on our faith journey.

Dear St. Joseph, as you provided for the earthly, daily needs of your family, pray for us as we work through our daily, mundane tasks. You know the joy of heaven. Pray for us for an increase in the desire to be close to you and your holy family. Help us to follow your example: to be humble and grateful for our opportunities to love and serve God, our Creator.

 Dear St. Joseph, as you watched the boy, Jesus, grow into manhood, pray for us that we might grow into more mature followers of Jesus Christ. Help us to realize our potential as Christians who can encounter Our Savior every day. St. Joseph, you must have been a great comfort to Mary. Pray for us that we may learn to lovingly comfort and encourage others as we prepare for the holy season of Easter. Amen.