Thomas a Kempis’s sixth chapter of the second book of The Imitation of Christ is given the title, “Of the Joy of a Good Conscience.”  True joy and contentment to do not come from temporal affairs or material things, but from knowing that we are right with God, who is Truth itself (see Jn 14:6 and Jn 18:37).

Today’s Gospel brings us to the beloved Emmaus Road interaction between the risen, but unrecognized, Jesus and two of His disciples (Lk 24:13:35).  He joins them as they are walking home from Jerusalem, finding them despondent due to the Good Friday event, then cheers them with an explanation of the Scriptures pertaining to the messiah (thus their exclamation highlighted in the headline).  They only recognize Jesus later in the breaking of the bread, the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Kempis tells us that joy comes from the truth.  Cleopas and companion had hearts afire when hearing the Word of God proclaimed and explained perfectly; their deep sorrow turned to unspeakable joy in their encounter with Jesus in the Word and exploded, such that they did double time in the miles back to Jerusalem, when He revealed Himself in the Eucharist.

This is a pattern for us.  Our only true and lasting joy must come from the Lord.  Hearing the Word, knowing the Word, meditating on the Word, and, most importantly, living the Word brings the interior peace and joy that only comes from embracing wholeheartedly the Truth.  The disciples on the road to Emmaus experienced an extended form of the Mass from the only High Priest.  We get the short form every day from the priest operating in the person of Christ.  May our hearts also burn within us at the proclamation of the Word and the confection of the Eucharist!

The Road to Emmaus (contemporary) by Jorge Cocco

We finish off Chapter V of Book II of Kempis by again quoting from the last section.  The author continues to emphasize looking heavenward, not toward others here on earth, for true and lasting consolation and joy.  Why settle for a distant second best?

The words above from St. Peter in today’s first reading (Acts 2:36-41) are imploring his hearers on Pentecost to embrace “Jesus whom you crucified” as the one “that God has made… both Lord and Christ.”  They are “cut to the heart” and want to know what they need to do.  “Repent and be baptized,” he tells them and then goes on to say the words we are focusing on here.

Acts here says that Peter “testified with many other arguments,” but the exhortation in the headline is the only one Luke, the author of this book, explicitly mentions.  We should ask why, not only out of curiosity regarding what it meant to this first century Jewish crowd, but to consider its everlasting significance (after all, “the word of God is living and effective” — Heb 4:12).

It seems to me that we could find a substantial number of folks in every generation from time immemorial who lament how corrupt their generation is.  And they would not be wrong.  We are sadly easily corruptible due to concupiscence, that tendency toward sin that comes with our fallen nature.  Peter implores the persons he is addressing to rise above their human weakness, with the help of the Holy Spirit promised if they repent and receive baptism, and no longer be of the world even as they continue to live in the world.

Taking our cue from Kempis, all that is corrupt and corruptible is inferior to God.  The moral decay we see around us should not be allowed to drag us down with it.  Bishop Robert Barron, in a recent homily, spoke of a famous author who used the image of the Son of God coming down into the muck to save us by bringing us out of the slop to clean us up.  If Jesus did that for us, paying for it with His Passion and death, why would we choose to remain in the quagmire?

St. Peter Preaching the Gospel in the Catacombs (1902) by Jan Styka

Kempis concludes his chapter on the self by pointing to the Other (2,5).  It is only in doing God’s will and looking to that which is above and eternal that we find interior peace.

Continuing yesterday’s joyful proclamation of the Resurrection from John, Matthew today goes on to relate the immediate aftermath of that glorious event beginning with the Marys’ encounter at the empty tomb with a messenger from God inducing fear (angels are imposing creatures) and joy (Jesus is risen!) (Mt 28:8-15).  They rush to tell the apostles this news as ordered when they encounter Jesus in the flesh (see the headline) and their joy is complete.

Who else but Jesus could have given these women “true consolation of the soul and true joy of the heart”?  They who had been with Him and supported Him and His ministry for years were lost at His death.  They must have been looking very much forward to seeing Him again in the next life.  Little did they expect that they would seem Him alive less than forty hours after witnessing the closure of the tomb.

As the women initially thought, we may also believe that our encounter with the risen Christ will come only at the moment of death.  If that is so, we could not be more mistaken.  We encounter the Eternal Word in prayer, in our hearts, in others, and most specially in the Holy Eucharist.  If only we have eyes to see Him!

Let us pray for the supernatural lenses to perceive our Lord in this life, and act accordingly, so that we can be happy with Him forever in the next life.  Alleluia!

Book II, Chapter V of The Imitation of Christ: “Of the Consideration of One’s Own Self.”  The title sums up the chapter well.  Do not spend (read: waste) time reproving or resenting others or pondering the slights received from our fellow man.  Rather focus on the self and the deficiencies therein.  That is a good use of time and will keep one busy for the rest of his life.

On this Easter Sunday, we and the Colossians are implored by Paul (Col 3:1-4) to “[t]hink of what is above, not of what is on earth.”  Christ is risen!  We have no lasting place here (see Heb 13:14).  So why get caught up in the minutiae (and, ultimately, it is all minutiae) of this brief mortal coil?

Paul was speaking to young believers in Christianity who were being misled by certain agitators who were planting doubts in the new soil of their faith (see 2:4-8).  We can easily understand their need for clarification and correction.  What is our excuse?  With nearly two thousand years of the Christian era elapsed, and the rock of the Catholic Church our sure foothold, adhering to this necessity is still a great challenge even to the present time.

Let us pray in a special way this day, as we commemorate Christ’s exit from the tomb, rendering our faith anything but vain (see 1 Cor 5:12-19), that we are open to the abundant graces God is so willing to give to help us overcome our fallen nature.

It is fitting that we read for Holy Saturday Mass the closing of Kempis’s chapter on purity and simplicity (2,4).  What does the author consider “burdensome”: tribulation, anguish, lukewarmness/tepidity, fatigue.

Consider the apostles’ disposition from the Passover meal until the scene of the Resurrection (Mt 28:1-10).  Kempis hits on at least three of their experiences: tribulation in the fear for their very lives as the man whom they were with daily for three years is executed in the most ignominious way they could ever conceive; anguish in the loss of their dear master and friend (see Jn 15:15) whom they came to believe to be the Son of God (see Jn 6:69); and the fatigue of grief in seeing the world they had come to know and embrace come crashing down around them.

So what is Jesus’ message to the apostles and His other followers, the first words from His mouth, repeating the angel’s exclamation?  “Be not afraid!”  No disappointment, no admonishment, no sadness.  Regarding all the burdens weighing heavily on the hearts of those who loved Him most, Jesus says to put aside their fear and troubles and be bold.  The Christ is victorious over death.

Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting? (1 Cor 15:55)

They (and we) no longer need to fear when we put aside inordinate affections (as Kempis emphasizes earlier in the chapter) and keep our eyes fixed on the Risen One with the promise that, no matter what this life dishes out (see Rom 8:38-39), we will rise with Him when He calls us to Himself.

Christ is risen!  Indeed He is risen.

Kempis urges his readers to “desire and seek … nothing but the will of God and the good of your neighbor” (2,4).  In doing so we will see how every person “represents” (also rendered “shows forth”) the goodness of God.  We are not “totally depraved” as some Christians would have it.  All persons have the capacity for goodness even if it has been some time since they have practiced the virtues.

Maybe Isaiah’s most famous prophecy of the Suffering Servant comes in reading chapters 52 and 53 of his book proclaimed during the Good Friday Passion service.  We hear of God’s favored one, an innocent man spurned, “a man of suffering.” “pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins,” bearing the guilt of all, silently going to His death, and giving His life for us.  The words in the headline close this reading.

Kempis implores us to see goodness all around us.  God created all things good, and when man came along all was declared “very good” (see Gen 1).  So all creation is a lesson in God’s goodness — He made it all and sustains it all in being.  While the world is fallen because of sin, God did not intend it that way from the beginning and, of course, we await a new heaven and a new earth (see Rev 21:1).  Meanwhile, we are called to help usher in God’s kingdom here and now (as we petition in every Our Father).  We don’t settle for sin but are to pray and work constantly to bring ourselves and others out of the muck.  Jesus did the heavy lifting in dying for all sinners.  But He didn’t take away our ability to reject his free gift.

God made us very good.  The entrance of sin into the world (see Gen 3) severely tarnished the human race.  But we don’t deny the goodness nor the extraordinary lengths through which God in Jesus went to redeem us.  Who are we to declare worthless what God has called good?  Who are we to hold in contempt whom Jesus pardoned?

Father, forgive us, for we know not what we do (see Lk 23:34).

Stained Glass (2013) by Ray Downing

Thomas à Kempis, in Chapter IV of Book II of his masterwork, The Imitation of Christ, speaks “Of Purity of Mind and Simplicity of Intention.”  Having these qualities provides an interior freedom that is the result of not having inordinate affection.  Then one can more easily perform good deeds without hindrance (that is, without difficulty).

Jesus, in this famous scene at the very beginning of John’s lengthy exposition of the Last Supper (Jn 13:1-15), has Jesus washing the feet of the apostles as an example of how they are to treat one another and others.  There may be no greater example of Jesus as humble teacher as in this last physical act of love and example toward His apostles so soon before His torture and death.

When we find it difficult to do a good work that we may find embarrassing or beneath our station, just remember the example Jesus gave, doing the work of servant or slave.  As difficult as it can be for us, we must humble ourselves like our Master, Lord, and Teacher.  I imagine the apostles in later years recalling this episode in their minds and hearts during their evangelization efforts.  So should we show humility in all of our dealings with others.  Humility and charity toward all provides a moving display of true Christianity to the world and softens our stony hearts, as much as anyone’s, over time.

Jesus Washes His Disciples Feet by Unknown Ethiopian Artist

Kempis closes chapter three of his second book with the words above.  He ties in suffering with peace to the attainment of wonderful rewards in this life and, most especially and most importantly, the next.   Inner peace comes from not being disturbed by the stubborn, perverse, undisciplined, or those who oppose us.  We are better off accusing ourselves and excusing others, thus finding true peace.

As New Testament people, we easily recognize Jesus Christ in the Suffering Servant Isaiah describes today in this last day before the Easter Triduum (Is 50:4-9a).  Why could Jesus have peace despite the mockery, harsh treatment, and torture He endured?  Because “[t]he Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced.”

Though harshly treated, he submitted

and did not open his mouth;

Like a lamb led to slaughter

or a sheep silent before shearers,

he did not open his mouth. (Is 53:7)

During His Passion and after His death, He had not a harsh word for His accusers or His brutalizers.  The Prince of Peace found perfect contentment in doing the Father’s will to the letter.

Dis-grace does not come from the outside.  Nothing anyone will do to us or has done to us can ever take away our dignity or have us lose our status as children of God.  Only we can extinguish divinity inside us by sinning gravely.  When suffering is caused by outside forces, we can be at peace because we know that “[i]f God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31).

Kempis here (2,3) is referring to the “passionate” man who is overly concerned with the affairs of others while lacking introspection.  I’m reminded of Jesus speaking of removing the log from one’s own eye in order to see clearly to pick the splinter out of another’s eye (see Mt 7:3-5).

Peter’s declaration that he would lay down his life for Jesus meets with the response above.  Peter is certainly known for his zeal and his penchant for speaking or acting before thinking.  As Kempis implores, this zeal needs to be directed inward in prudence and self-reflection so that one is prepared to back up his words with his actions (Pentecost helps him rectify this, although he still has challenges even after that).

How zealous are we to follow Jesus wherever He leads us?  Does our undue interest in the affairs of others, or concern about how they will view our faithfulness to the Christianity we profess, lead us to regrettable speech and/or behavior?  Are we so well grounded in our convictions that we can say in confidence precisely what we will do for the Lord and then follow it up with appropriate works?

May our zeal to reform our own lives lead to ongoing conversion of ourselves so we can properly direct that zeal outwards in word and deed.

Jesus washing Peters feet at the Last Supper (contemporary) by Ford Madox Brown

Chapter III of Book II of The Imitation of Christ speaks of “The Good Peaceable Man.”  Interior peace leads to contentment as well as peace in relationships because such a man bears with and excuses others.  The quote above addresses the man who does not have this peace: he does no good for others or himself.

Jesus, in today’s Gospel (Jn 12:1-11), just days before His Passion and death, seeks the company of his good friends, the siblings Lazarus, Martha, and Mary.  During the dinner they held for Him and His closest followers, Mary is inspired to bathe the Master’s feet with expensive perfumed oil.  Judas objects, claiming his interest is in the poor and how this oil could have been sold to give alms (John knows better and tells us the Iscariot’s true motive: lining his own pockets).  Judas takes a beautiful, heartfelt act from a deeply loving and spiritual person and monetizes it.  How the others must have looked at him after Jesus reprimanded him.

Judas is arguably the most notorious figure in history that fits Kempis’s description of the man with no peace.  We sense from Scripture that Judas was a deeply troubled man throughout Jesus’ ministry.  As this Passover approached, we read in some detail of his machinations regarding giving up Christ to the Jews.  Instead of interiorizing the message of the Prince of Peace, with whom he was with daily for years, worldly concerns closed his heart to the Gospel.  Ultimately, this led to unspeakable trouble for Jesus and his brother apostles.  More so, though, this turned out to be more trouble for himself.  Jesus turned this most egregious evil to the greatest good that the world could ever receive: redemption.  But Judas, quickly regretting his betrayal, despaired of his life, his soul, and God’s mercy, and committed suicide (see Mt 26:24).

Kempis’s advice to his readers is outstanding.  Strive for the inner peace that comes with ever closer communion with God.  With confidence in the Lord and seeing others with the eyes of Jesus, we will not become unduly disturbed by persons and events we encounter in daily living.  We then will be little troubled ourselves and cause little unnecessary trouble for others.

16th-century fresco from Tarzhishte Monastery, Strupets, Bulgaria, showing Judas hanging himself