The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Who Missed Easter?

Episode Date: April 3, 2026

As the Church gets ready to celebrate Easter, Jeff calls us to remember those who are absent—family members, friends, and neighbors who are not present at Mass and may be far from the faith. Jeff invites us to reach out to them and emphasizes that the Resurrection is not only something to celebrate—it’s a mission to live. Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail]. Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit https://media.ascensionpress.com/?s=&page=2&category%5B0%5D=Ascension%20Podcasts&category%5B1%5D=The%20Jeff%20Cavins%20Show for full shownotes!

This podcast is brought to you by Ascension. To discover even more free Catholic podcasts, videos, and resources, to help you live your faith every day, visit ascensionpress.com. Welcome to the Jeff Kaven Show, where we talk about the Bible, discipleship, and evangelization, putting it all together in living as activated disciples. This is show 476, Who Missed Easter? Hello, my friend. Thank you for joining me. And once again this week, I'm Jeff Kavans, and we're talking about this wonderful period of the liturgical calendar, the Tritium and Easter. The resurrection of Jesus. So much we could talk about. By the way, if you want show notes, I've got a few scriptures to share with you today. We're going to talk about who missed Easter. But if you want the show notes, you got to text my name, Jeff Kavins, to the number. 3377. That's 33777. Well, you know, I'm not going to make this real long today. I know this is a very full weekend for you if you're listening to it on the weekend, Holy Week, the Tritome. But I do want to bring up one thing, and especially get to you before you go to Mass on Easter Sunday, is I want to ask the question, with so much going on in your life, so much excitement. And if you're listening to this, no doubt, you're on board and you're excited about the Lord, as I am. But the question that I have for you is, who missed Easter?

Who's not there? Who do you know, maybe a family member or a friend, someone at work possibly, that's not there? In fact, they haven't been there for quite some time, and they are missing. Now, right in the midst of this celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, which when you read Corinthians, chapter 15, 1 Corinthians, you'll see that Paul argues a big case for the resurrection and that if the resurrection didn't take place, well, you and I are in trouble and we're still in our sins. And we're to be pitied among all people putting our trust in such a thing that didn't happen, of course. Well, it's not true. It did happen. The resurrection happened, and we're celebrating it, but I think it's a good idea in the midst of the celebration of the

resurrection to think about those around us who are not there. And they need prayer. They need more fellowship, perhaps. They need someone to come alongside of them and to love them and to share the gospel with them. Now, I've never done this before, but I want you to think about one particular parable in the midst of all this celebration. of Easter, what we call the resurrection Sunday, really. And that is the parable of the lost sheep. That's right.

And this is something I think about in the Trituum, whether it's Thursday, Friday, holy Saturday, the Easter vigil, the very long mass. I look around, I see a full house, but I also think about the people who are not there. And it is the power of the resurrection that should propel us. us to go out into the field, out into the vineyard, and share the gospel with them. And so I'm just going to ask you to think about those people and celebrate the resurrection, but keep them in your prayers. Now, the parable of the lost sheep is one of the most popular parables of Jesus, and it appears in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. And it is about a shepherd

who leaves his flock of 99 sheep in order to find that. the one that is lost. So we're assuming he has a hundred sheep, but he's left the 99 to go after the one. So let me read just one of the examples here from Matthew 18. See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my father who is in heaven. What do you think if a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray? Does he not leave the 99 on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the 99 that never went astray.

So it is not the will of my father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. That's a very moving story, and it brings up a lot of questions. and one of the questions is, well, why would Jesus leave the 99? What's he saying about the 99 if he puts an emphasis and going after the one? And presumably, you're one of the 99. You didn't go anywhere, but he left all of us and he went after somebody. Well, the shepherd is very moved over the one. And who is that one among your acquaintances?

Who is that one that no one seems to be paying attention to? That nobody's praying for? that nobody's talking to? And is Jesus going to ignore that person in your life, your family at work, your neighbor, extended family? You know, sheep are dim-witted, easily distracted, and prone to wander into dangerous areas. They just are. It's part of their nature.

They need a shepherd. They really do. So how does the Lord go and look for the one? How is he going to do it through what means is he going to go? to contact that one that is lost. That may be sort of hidden and out of the way, and they're on the margins of life, and nobody's paying any attention to them.

They're just silently beginning to erode and die. Well, he's going to do it. Not through magic. He's going to do it through his arms, his mouth, his feet, his heart. He's going to do it in his body, the church. That's what we do. If he left the 99 and went after that one, then that's what we do. We pay a lot of attention to the model that he has given us.

But what happens if the church isn't looking for that one? Now think about that for a minute. I'm just going to assume you know of someone who's not at Mass this Sunday, Easter Sunday, or the Saturday Vigil. And the question is, what happens if the church isn't looking for that one, that loved one of yours? What if nobody in the church? church is looking for them. How would that make you feel? Right? Well, we are called as Christians

to be in constant prayer with the shepherd, with Jesus. And we're also called to look for opportunities up ahead, where we run into people that might be on someone's prayer list, a prayer intention to pray for their son, their daughter, their father, their mother, their cousin, grandma. And that person that you are interfacing with at work or wherever, maybe it's at Walmart, I don't know, the parking lot, that person might be on someone's prayer list. Now think about that for a moment. If you've got a prayer list, and let's say you've got 15, 20 people on it, of the people you really care about in your life. Today alone, how many Christians, Catholic Christians who are on fire, are going to walk by those people on your list and never do a thing? Or never enter into a conversation.

Or never open the door for a possible conversation. Or approach them when they know that they are out of sorts and they are discouraged or crying at a restaurant or whatever it might be. Now there are two things that are assumed here. Number one, it's assumed that the church is looking, that Christ is looking for that one today. And he's not doing it independent of the church. He does it through the church. He says, I'm going to the Father.

I'm going to send the helper of the Holy Spirit. It's better that I go to the Father for your sake. And you're going to do greater things than I did because I go to the Father. So the church should be looking. You should be looking. I should be looking. And number two, the church knows how to bring them back into the flock. The church knows that.

And we need to learn that and learn what OCI is. All those people that you're going to see standing up and coming into the church during the Tudorum, there was a time where nobody was paying much attention to them. But somebody reached out and brought them into the OCIA experience. And you've got a year now to do this for next year. Maybe it's too late this year, but you certainly have next year. Let's continue to talk about this because I'm going to challenge you in a few ways on how to go about this and why it is so important that we not only celebrate the resurrection, but we think forward to next year and realize that there's a lot of people that didn't come to the table this year, a lot of people who didn't come to the altar. but we can go after them.

You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. So often during mass, we can go on autopilot. We are physically there, but mentally we're somewhere else. We're distracted, we're bored, or we're just going through the motions. A lot of Catholics think that the problem's them. They might say, oh, I'm bad at prayer. I'm just not spiritual enough. But we want to realize is that at every mass,

something extraordinary is taking place in our souls. And that's why Dr. Edd-Sree and I co-wrote a book on the Mass called Pocket Guide to the Mass. And in the book, we walk through the Mass, step by step, explaining what the Mass is, what's happening, why we say what we say, do what we do, and how we can more deeply enter into the sacrifice the Mass and more fully received the gift of the Eucharist.

It's a simple, faithful, and small enough guide to bring with you at every Mass. And if you want to understand the Mass more deeply and pray it more intentionally, I invite you to check out Pocket Guide to the Mass at ascensionpress.com. Welcome back. We're talking today about the parable

of the lost sheep. Jesus talks about the good shepherd leaving the 99 and going after the one, and we're asking the question, is he still doing the same thing today? And if he's doing the same thing today, is the loved one on your prayer intention list? Is that one being pursued by anybody around the world? While both parables versions, that's the Luke's and Matthew story of the lost sheep, They use the same cast of characters, right?

Different versions, but same cast of characters. Jesus was actually speaking to two different audiences about two different concerns. In Matthew 18, the Lost Sheep Parable is given in response to a question asked by Jesus' disciples about who's the greatest. And he uses it to address appropriate attitudes and disciplines among believers. But in Luke's gospel, Luke 15, the lost sheep parable is given in response to the disapproving comments of religious leaders. This time, he addresses their judgmental attitudes toward the unrighteous, liars and cheaters in the crowd. Now, when the shepherd goes out in search of the one sheep, it's good news for all the sheep.

You know what I mean? You should never have an attitude of, well, he left us to go after. Aunt Jenny, and now we're all alone. No, you're not all alone. He sent the Holy Spirit, the paraclete, the one who comes alongside of you. You're not alone at all. He said, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. And he kept his word, you're not alone when he goes out to get Aunt Jenny. So once again, that he leaves the 99 and goes after the one is good news for all the sheep. It's good news for the 99. Now, I think one of the things that we have to encounter in our own life, lives, to a degree. Mileage may vary here, but a bad attitude that we have about people who are not

at Sunday celebration, particularly family members who you think, well, they should know that mom and dad love Easter and we usually come as a family, but they're not. Here, boy, that's a slap in the face. It might not be a slap in the face. It might be a cry of the heart. It's all how you look at it. This is what a bad attitude is. I see someone. in a bad situation, and I start making up reasons for why they've gotten themselves into that mess. Not got themselves into that mass, but got themselves into that mess. Well, it's because they haven't obeyed God as I have. They're welcome back into the fold any time, you know.

I mean, the door is the front door of the church is open. They can come back any time they want, but they'd better clean up their act first. It's kind of the attitude we have about people. If you're going to come into this church, you better have it all together before you come in here because Lord knows we all have it together. And this is an all together church with altogether people. We just don't have a lot of them. Now, crossing the threshold of disparity, a term that I coined a while ago, crossing the threshold of disparity, entering someone else's life by asking a question or taking some action.

And that's crossing the threshold of disparity. Yes, there is a great disparity between me and this person that I want to talk to that isn't coming to church. They're not there for the Easter Tritome. They're not there for resurrection Sunday. There is disparity here. But I'm going to cross that threshold entering someone else's life by either asking a question or taking some action or observing that they are beside themselves, perhaps crying. or they obviously look alone or you heard from someone that they were going through a very difficult time.

Well, you and I are the people who have the guts and the heart to cross the threshold of disparity. That's right. And to love them. Let me ask you this question for a moment. As we get to wind down on this lovely time together, let me ask you the question. Of all the people you know, family members, work members, neighbors, extended family, people you watch on the news, people you see on local television, you name it.

I'm the person that works down at the grocery store. At the post office, who in your life would Jesus ignore? Now, that's a rhetorical question, which means I think you know the answer, and the answer is none of them. None of them. So who didn't show up at Mass? Is it possible that we've been ignoring? Is it possible that others have ignored? Is it possible that Jesus has ignored them?

Well, I don't think Jesus the head has ignored them, but Jesus, the mystical body of Christ, may have been ignoring them. And that's what we need to think about when we celebrate this resurrection, is that the power of the resurrection, according to Paul, will quicken our mortal bodies. It will give us strength and wisdom and insight, protection. And it is the power of the resurrection that gives us the power given to us a confirmation

to be authentic witnesses and go out into the world and share the gospel. What in the world are we afraid of? There's nothing. Perfect love, John says. Perfect love casts out fear. So the message to the lost sheep, if you're listening now and feel that you're out of the church and wondering, maybe your siblings go to Mass and you're thinking, I know I probably should, and I got some issues. I want you to know five things.

Number one, you are loved. You are. You're loved by Jesus. And by way of extension, you are loved by the church. you're loved by the body of Christ, the household of God. If we have ignored you, I am so sorry. We'd love to talk to you. Number two, you are valuable.

You really are tremendously valuable. So valuable that Jesus put a price on it and was called His Blood, His Life. He laid it down for you. He redeemed you. Number three, you're important to God. Because you're created in the end of life. image and likeness of God, and he sees you as important. Number four, you are needed.

You are. You are not put on this earth to just be here for 75, 80 years, and go away, and everything's gone and forgotten. No, you're needed. You're needed in the kingdom of God. You have a place. And we can work together and figure this out, but you have a place. You really do. And number five, You are precious in the heart of God. You are precious in the heart of God, and he's willing to die for you. You're a pretty big deal. And we're sorry that we've ignored you.

Give us a sign. We'd love to talk to you. We'd love you to come home. We'd love you to experience all the beauty and blessings that we do in the Eucharist, the Blessed Mother, the Saints, the Salus. sacraments, Word of God. It's just so much that we have, and we want to share it with you. And I know that it's not the right model for us to expect you to show up at our doorstep. But when we come by, give us a shot, we do want to talk.

My friend, I hope you have a marvelous tritum. I really do. And again, let's start thinking about next year already. And as you're listening to the readings and the singing and the candles and the incense and all the beauty of the resurrection. Think about what's on Jesus' heart, and that is that one. That one. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus.

We love you so much. We thank you for this time of the year where we get to enter so deeply into the mystery of the Trinity and the resurrection. Lord, put on our heart that one that we might leave the Tritium this year with a mission, and that is to not ignore that one, but to go after him in Jesus' name.

Amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Love you.