Third Sunday of Easter – Kerygma and Didache

Central idea: The Savior has risen. Doctrine: Kerygma and Didache. Practical application: Christian formation

Lectionary 46.

Central Idea: The Savior has risen

Reading 1 Acts 2:14, 22-33

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven,
raised his voice, and proclaimed:
“You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem.
Let this be known to you, and listen to my words.
You who are Israelites, hear these words.
Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God
with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs,
which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.
This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God,
you killed, using lawless men to crucify him.
But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death,
because it was impossible for him to be held by it.
For David says of him:
I saw the Lord ever before me,
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted;
my flesh, too, will dwell in hope,
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.

“My brothers, one can confidently say to you
about the patriarch David that he died and was buried,
and his tomb is in our midst to this day.
But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him
that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne,
he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ,
that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld
nor did his flesh see corruption.
God raised this Jesus;
of this we are all witnesses.
Exalted at the right hand of God,
he received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father
and poured him forth, as you see and hear.”

• This passage from Acts on the day of Pentecost is one of the examples of the kerygma, or most basic proclamation of the Gospel or glad tidings about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and its messianic meaning.
• Peter shows his audience—his fellow Jews and proselytes visiting Jerusalem—that David himself prophesied that his descendent, the Christ, would rise from the dead.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

R. Lord, you will show us the path of life

Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.”
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.

I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.

Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.

You will show me the path to life,
abounding joy in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.

• One way we can always read the Psalms is to think of them as being prayed by Jesus Christ. Here we can see the perfect and constant filial relationship between Jesus and the Father. The Father will never abandon the Son-made-man to death but will show him the way to eternal joy with him.
• Another way we can always read the Psalms is to put ourselves into them. Here we can see how close we should be to God our protector, benefactor, and guide, who will show us how to escape death and enjoy that same eternal happiness.

Reading 2 1 Pt 1:17-21

Beloved:
If you invoke as Father him who judges impartially
according to each one’s works,
conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning,
realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct,
handed on by your ancestors,
not with perishable things like silver or gold
but with the precious blood of Christ
as of a spotless unblemished lamb.

He was known before the foundation of the world
but revealed in the final time for you,
who through him believe in God
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,
so that your faith and hope are in God.

• We Christians are to see ourselves as sojourners or exiles, living here on earth for only a little while until we meet Christ.
• At the end of this time, we will be judged by the justice of God, “according to each one’s works,” that is, by our thoughts, words, and deeds.
• Therefore, during our time left, we are to behave reverently, that is, with respect for, a healthy fear of, and an awe toward God, having been ransomed through the sacrifice of the wholly innocent Christ from sin and death.

Gospel Lk 24:13-35

That very day, the first day of the week,
two of Jesus’ disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them,
“What are you discussing as you walk along?”
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?”
And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”
They said to him,
“The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see.”
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
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?”
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together
the eleven and those with them who were saying,
“The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
Then the two recounted
what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.

• In Acts, Peter says to the Jews in Jerusalem, “Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs.” In his Gospel, Luke reports that the two disciples on the road to Emmaus say, “Jesus the Nazarene . . . was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.” Jesus publicly proved he was a great prophet by his sublime teachings and by his miracles.
• But prophets can die: in fact, they are usually executed.
• Jesus himself teaches the disappointed disciples that he is the one who has redeemed Israel and that doing so was God’s “set plan” from the beginning. It was necessary “that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory.” This plan was foretold in the Jewish scriptures (in Moses and the prophets). Now Jesus shows them what was there that they had never seen.

Doctrine: Kerygma and Didache

• The Greek word kerygma or preaching, refers to the most fundamental proclamation of the Gospel. It tells us who Jesus Christ is, what he has done for us, and how we should respond.
• It is essential and answers the question of why we are followers of Christ.
  • We have heard the glad tidings that God the Father out of love sent God the Son to become man; and that through his life, death, and resurrection the Son Jesus Christ has redeemed us from sin and death; and that God the Holy Spirit is pouring out graces on us so we can repent and live transformed lives until we enjoy eternal life with the Blessed Trinity and all the saved forever.
• The central salvific message of every one of these doctrinal homily outlines is some aspect of this kerygma.
• The Greek word didache or teaching (or catechesis or formation) is the ongoing total formation we need to deepen our understanding of the Gospel and to live it more faithfully.
• How do kerygma and catechesis relate? Pope Francis explains: “All Christian formation consists of entering more deeply into the kerygma, which is reflected in and constantly illumines, the work of catechesis” (Evangelii Gaudium165)
• This ever-deeper formation is doctrinal (knowing the faith better), scriptural (knowing what God has spoken in his Word), moral (living according to Christian morality and the virtues), sacramental (the basic means by which we receive grace), ascetical (having a personal relationship with Christ through prayer), and communitarian (we are a people, not a collection of individuals).

Practical application: Christian formation

• It is impossible to do everything at once but we can begin to do one thing at a time for ourselves and others in our family, parish, or diocese. Here are some ways to become better formed:
• Be able to put the kerygma or central good news of our faith into our own words and speak them to others.
• Deepen our knowledge of the doctrine of the faith.
• Read the Bible prayerfully.
• Struggle to obey the moral law as the Church teaches it, especially fighting against the sins that most attract us.
• Work on acquiring particular virtues, especially the ones we need.
• Frequent the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and regular confession.
• Spend time in prayer each day, talking with Our Lord.
• Be involved with other people in friendship and service.