Gospel-Homily for Third Sunday of Easter (2026)

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When Life Takes a Turn.

Dave’s drains. Did you ever hear about them? No? Never had I. Then last Sunday morning, before the Masses, I saw a pool of water coming from the restroom. Apparently, someone thought it was a great idea to flush hand-i-wipes down the toilet. And that was how I came to know Dave’s drains. Funny how life takes a turn sometimes. The apostles are enjoying successful careers as fishermen. It is a nice outdoor job in nature, many miles away from Jerusalem. The next thing they know is that they go to the temple, get arrested, thrown in prison, yelled at by the religious leaders, and beaten up. Yet, they will never leave the path they are on. They will never stop following the Lord’s directives. That is because they know that suffering and joy go together. You would think that the two cancel each other out. They are opposites that cannot co-exist, just as you cannot have a room in total darkness and be lit up at the same time. But for Christ, they go together.

In the Gospel, life takes an unexpected turn. Jesus dies. The two want to throw in the towel and quit. You would think that after hearing a report that the tomb was empty, they would stick around. Wouldn’t they say to one another, “The tomb is just down the street. Let’s check it out. Maybe we will see the empty tomb, and perhaps there will be a few angels there. But no, they have to give up and leave. The reason they leave is that they do not know that suffering and joy must go together. They will do this at the end of the story. And once they know, they will never throw in the towel again.

Why is that? Why do suffering and joy co-exist? The hardest mile in the marathon is the last mile, but it is also the mile that has the finish line. Here is the faith lesson. When you walk with Christ, you will never throw in the towel.