Easter Sunday, April 5: “Come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life” (Is 55:1-11).

This little gem of a verse is hidden in one of the readings for the Easter Vigil. The Hebrew translation reads, “Bend your ear and come to me; listen and be revived.”  The Message translation: “Pay attention, come close now, listen carefully to my life-giving words.”  I love how well these fit with our theme this year, this season: “Listen. Pay Attention. Choose.” Later in this same passage, Isaiah reminds us to “seek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near.” We know, of course, that God is always near, always available to us when we call. Yet something about this day, this liminal space between heaven and earth, God and humanity, seems so perfect for us to come close, listen well, pay attention to God’s invitation to life…and choose.

Provision: LISTEN. I hope everyone will take some quiet time amid the Easter celebrations to reflect on what this invitation to life means for each of us. Maybe some of the New Year’s resolutions you made not so long ago have fallen away; maybe they were not the right resolutions, anyway. Perhaps a good way to start new ones for Easter is to consider how you listen: Do you give God enough time to get a word in edgewise? Do you even give God “the time of day?” Do you “bend your ear” when you hear or read Scripture, or do the words barely alight in your mind or heart? Do you think you might be able to try and listen to God rather than asking for this and that? Even just five minutes of quiet can help. And the nightly awareness examen of the day (remember, not judgment, just awareness) followed by a little quiet can also be enlightening. Give it a try. I wish all of you a blessed Easter, filled with hope (and a bit of silence!)

Monday, April 6: The chief priests assembled with the elders; then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep’” (Mt 28:8-15).

If you believe this story, then you are likely incredulous at what the elders and the soldiers do. Yet this is a common human trait—we see it everywhere today—people justifying previous decisions or acts by continuing to lie and committing even more grievous acts, all to rationalize one’s initial stance. So, the elders and the guards conspire — with the help of a bribe, of course — to do just that. We even hear the story circulated among the Jews “to the present day” (70-90 CE). There are two psychological phenomena at play here: “escalation of commitment,” whereby someone continues to invest in some questionable course of action or financial scheme even when it is obvious the scheme is spurious; and the “illusory truth effect” -- the tendency to believe lies and falsehoods to be correct after repeated exposure to those lies.

Provision: PAY ATTENTION. CHOOSE. I’ve read articles recently about some folks in the US gathering their courage and admitting they were mistaken in choosing a particular direction for our country. None of us like to admit we are wrong, and yet that is the only way for things to begin to heal. If you are questioning decisions you have made, be they political or highly personal, stop for a moment. Pay attention. What is your common sense and conscience telling you? Ask that overused, but essential question: “What would Jesus do?” And remember, “telling the truth makes a problem part of the past; lying makes it part of the future.”  It’s your choice.

Tuesday, April 7: “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation” (Acts 2:36-41).

“Ok, Peter, I really want to. But how do I do this? Do I just turn off the newsfeed? Will that be enough to save me? Maybe it would save my sanity, but it won’t save my soul!”

Speaking of the newsfeed, did you hear about this one? There are people who made a lot of money placing bets on when the US would begin bombing Iran, and there is speculation of insider trading. “Corrupt generation” puts it mildly. (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/upshot/prediction-markets-iran-strikes.html)!

I am waiting for a modern-day Joseph Welch to arise and ask that fateful question of the Joe McCarthys of our age: “Until this moment, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness… Have you no sense of decency?"

Provision: Be a decent person! What is your opinion? How do you think Jesus would advise us? I am reminded of his words in John 17:16 -19: “They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. …As you sent me into the world, so I send them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.”  To be a true Christian means to reject ALL forms of hate, nationalism, racism, xenophobia, and bigotry of ANY kind. Sorry to anyone who thinks they can worship at the altars of blind patriotism, greed, political party, false religion, and the like and still say they follow Christ. The only way to save ourselves from this corrupt generation is to reject what it offers, and this requires me, at least, to take a good hard look at how I tacitly support it. Let’s start by trying to be decent people, showing mercy and compassion to those who are suffering under the indecency and evil of those in leadership positions. Jesus sends us out into the world, not into hiding. Do what you can do to make a difference.

Wednesday, April 8: As they approached the village to which they were going [Emmaus], [Jesus] gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us” (Lk 24:13-35).

I wonder where Jesus “was going on farther” to when he came to Emmaus with the two travelers. Had they not invited this stranger to stay with them, whom might he have visited next? Lucky for the travelers, they made a good choice and weren’t left with their burning hearts. Jesus accepted the invitation to stay on and enlighten and enliven them. Just as he will do for us.

Provision: PAY ATTENTION to what burns inside you. (No, not heartburn from the left-over Easter candy!) On Easter, we talked about giving ourselves time to sit with God and listen to what God has to say to us. This takes practice and persistence and a willingness to invite Jesus to stay, remembering too, we might not recognize him right away, or may have to look where we least expect to find him. Give it time but pay attention to both burning desires and gentle nudges. Where might Jesus have been off to next? Maybe to visit you!

Thursday, April 9: He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (Lk 24:35-48). “God has thus brought to fulfillment what he had announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer
(Acts 3:11-16).

“Ohhh, now we get it!!” I picture the disciples in the locked room that night as the travelers from Emmaus are recounting their encounter with the Risen Lord. Jesus appears and “opens their minds to understand the Scriptures.” They slap their foreheads in a gesture akin to our modern-day, “Doh!” and are embarrassed by their lack of awareness. They get it! They get it so well now that after the Spirit blesses them, they want to share this knowledge with everyone in the world.

But the idea of the Suffering Servant is not one that’s easily accepted, not then, not now. We still struggle with it, preferring the image of the Risen Lord or King of the Universe; or perhaps as we are hearing about these days, the Warrior Jesus (hmm, isn’t that what the Jews were expecting the Messiah to be? I’m so confused!) These images seem to work much better with our human vision of power and might!

Provision: PAY ATTENTION. CHOOSE. I know we’ve been paying attention and choosing a lot these days, but it’s past time we take a stand. In his Confessions, St. Augustine speaks of Jesus’ role as Mediator between humanity and God. These words struck me: “In your unfathomable mercy you gave [us] certain pointers [i.e., the prophets] to the true Mediator, and then sent him, that by his example we might learn a humility like his. …I have been turning over in my mind a plan to flee into solitude, but you forbade me and strengthened me by your words. To this end Christ died for all, you reminded me, that they who are alive may live not for themselves, but for him” (adapted). How do we live for Christ? By being true to his message in the face of opposition, by taking risks to aid the oppressed in whom we find him today.

Friday, April 10: The disciples did not realize that it was Jesus (Jn 21:1-14).

I just read a great article in the NYT about our rapidly shrinking ability to pay attention. It’s a long read, but worth your attention (pun intended): https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/opinion/technology-mental-fitness-cognitive.html. So, what does this have to do with the disciples not realizing it is Jesus calling to them from the shore? Everything, especially now when we cannot escape the fire hose of news, mostly bad, that blasts into every corner of our lives, starting fires rather than extinguishing them. The disciples that night are distracted with so much going on; confused, afraid, scattered, fleeing from reality, too caught up in their own ways of thinking. It’s hard for them to pay attention until Jesus wakes them up, repeating his call to them from three years ago: “Cast your net another way.”

Provision: “Cast your net another way.” What do you think this means for you? For us? Like Augustine yesterday, I sometimes want to flee into solitude, but instead, I’m being called to address more forcefully how these scripture stories of old are repeating themselves yet again. I’m also heeding the advice in the article, not mindlessly doom-scrolling, but taking in the news with a greater sense of awareness and seriousness. How is it for you? I know people who choose to shut out the news completely, not wanting to engage, but I don’t think that is healthy either. How might Christ be calling you to “cast your net another way,” to look at the events of our lives with new eyes so as to heed his call for action?

Saturday, April 11: “It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:13-21).

A good book-end to our reflections this week. The disciples’ minds have been opened to the Scriptures. They have been called to attention. They now see the whole of Scripture—the law and the prophets—in another, new way, and with that understanding, they must share what they have learned with the world. It burns inside of them. It is impossible for them not to speak of what they have seen and heard!

Provision: What burns in you? So, we have a few weeks until Pentecost, the feast of empowerment. The Spirit will be calling on each one of us. What is it that you find impossible not to share?