SPEAKER_00: Today in the first reading it contains one of the most important theological divisions in the New Testament, and if we miss it, we miss why Paul says what he says.
SPEAKER_00: Paul stands before the Sanhedrin and suddenly declares, I am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead.
SPEAKER_00: And immediately chaos breaks out.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because standing before him were two groups, the Sadducees and the Pharisees.
SPEAKER_00: You'll remember the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: They did not believe in angels or spirits.
SPEAKER_00: For them, religion became very earthly, very practical, very this world.
SPEAKER_00: The Pharisees believed in resurrection, angels and the spiritual world.
SPEAKER_00: But now here's why all this matters.
SPEAKER_00: Paul understood that Christianity stands or falls on the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: Take away the resurrection and Christianity collapses.
SPEAKER_00: No resurrection means death wins.
SPEAKER_00: No resurrection means the tomb wins.
SPEAKER_00: No resurrection means Good Friday is only tragedy.
SPEAKER_00: No resurrection means this world is all there is.
SPEAKER_00: Saint Paul later says bluntly, If Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Christianity is not just ethics.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just a be a nice person, do good.
SPEAKER_00: It's not merely a philosophy.
SPEAKER_00: Christianity makes an outrageous claim.
SPEAKER_00: Christ rose from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: Death has been defeated.
SPEAKER_00: Eternity is real.
SPEAKER_00: Because of that, suffering changes.
SPEAKER_00: Because if there is resurrection, then your suffering is not meaningless.
SPEAKER_00: If there is resurrection, then death does not get the final word.
SPEAKER_00: Again, if there's resurrection, then the cemetery becomes a waiting room.
SPEAKER_00: This is why Catholics pray for the dead.
SPEAKER_00: This is why we believe in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we bury with dignity.
SPEAKER_00: This is why the Mass matters.
SPEAKER_00: Everything hangs on Easter.
SPEAKER_00: And then notice what happens next.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is in chaos.
SPEAKER_00: The crowd is ready to tear him apart.
SPEAKER_00: And in the middle of all of that comes one of the most beautiful verses in all of the act of Acts of the Apostles.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord stood by him.
SPEAKER_00: You can't pass by that line too quickly.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is not abandoned.
SPEAKER_00: He's surrounded, he's accused, he's possibly terrified, and Christ stands beside him.
SPEAKER_00: He not removes a suffering, not changes the circumstances, he simply stands there.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we ask God to remove the storm, and sometimes he does, but many times he does something even deeper.
SPEAKER_00: He enters a storm with us.
SPEAKER_00: It says the Lord stood by him.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody needs to hear that today.
SPEAKER_00: You may feel alone, you're carrying a burden, fighting a battle nobody sees, wondering where God is.
SPEAKER_00: Today's reading answers you.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord stands beside you.
SPEAKER_00: He stands behind besides his people.
SPEAKER_00: Then if we turn to the gospel, Jesus says, I pray not only for these, but all but also for those who will believe in me through their word.
SPEAKER_00: Do you realize what that means?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is praying for us at the Last Supper, before Calvary, before the cross, before the nails.
SPEAKER_00: He sees across two thousand years, he sees the church, he sees your family, he sees this parish, he sees all of us, and he prays that we may be one.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because unity is evangelization.
SPEAKER_00: The world will know Christ by how Christians love, not by all these beautiful, perfect programs, not by buildings, not by marketing, but by love.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's the challenge today.
SPEAKER_00: We need to ask ourselves, do I really truly believe that the resurrection is real?
SPEAKER_00: Do I live as though eternity exists?
SPEAKER_00: That Jesus broke open the gates of heaven for us to get there.
SPEAKER_00: Because if Christ truly rose from the dead, then everything has to change.
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely everything.
SPEAKER_00: Our lives must be different.
SPEAKER_00: The way we live must be different.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.