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Homilies are posted no later than during the week
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Easter |
Two women stood before the 12th century Gothic cathedral
of Notre Dame in Paris. One asked, "Why can't we build structures like
this anymore?" Her friend answered, "The people who built this had
faith. Today we have opinions. You can't build a cathedral with
opinions."
Once Jesus was arrested, the apostles except the teenage
John remembered pressing appointments miles from the trouble
scene.But the women followers of Jesus were cut from a different
cloth. They dug in and held their ground. They would not desert their
Man no matter what the cost.
Women and not men starred in the critical, early hours of
Christianity. Their reward for heroism was demotion to a minor and
non-priestly positions by men. Women got a raw deal. They ride in the
back of the bus. (Associated Press)
Friday found the women on Calvary. Christ's male followers
were AWOL. The women were not intimidated by the Roman soldiers who had
the death watch that afternoon. Though exhausted, the "weaker sex"
busied themselves that evening preparing spices to anoint the body of
their deceased Leader. Their male counterparts were still MIA.
On the Sabbath, the women "rested, as the law commanded."
(Luke) They were devout Jews. It would be sometime before the term
Christian was coined to describe this movement. Early Sunday AM was
their target date for anointing His corpse. As dawn broke, the women
bolted out of their economy motel and made for the tomb. It was no
contest. The young Mary of Magdala reached the tomb first.
That famous boulder had been rolled from the tomb's mouth.
There is no way of telling whether Mary investigated the tomb interior.
She did an about face. She raced for the fax machine to tell Peter the
tomb had been disturbed.
Peter was convinced Mary Magdalen was hallucinating. But
He angrily stepped into his sandals to check out the scene for himself.
Young John came along to keep him company. John soon had the older man
eating his dust. Ignoring his curiosity, John waited for the
out-of-shape Peter to catch up. Despite his Friday flight, when he
betrayed Christ and ran, Peter was still the CEO.
Peter put two and two together and brusquely told John,
"Some ghouls have stolen Jesus' body."
But, although he kept quiet, the boy apostle did not
accept Peter's conclusion. John's mental computer raised a horde of
interesting questions. If this was the work of body snatchers, why
would they have wasted the precious time needed to unwind the sheets?
Why would they have risked a disease from handling the decomposing
body? Furthermore, why would they have left the linen cloths behind?
Material of the quality, provided by the wealthy Nicodemus and Joseph
of Arimethea, would bring top dollars at the nearest flea market. One
washing in detergent at the village laundromat and they could be sold
as Irish linen. A bulb then flashed in the teenager's brain. Jesus had
pulled their leg one more time. He had risen from the dead.
Nor was the symbolism of the cloths laying about lost on
the boy. When Lazarus walked out of his tomb, he carried his winding
cloths with him. He would need them for a second death. But not so
Jesus! He would never die again.
The Feast of the Resurrection belongs to women and young
people.
It was women who stood by Christ on Good Friday.
It was Mary of Magdala, just a slip of a girl, who was the
first person to reach the tomb that first Easter AM. Her
overpowering love, even for a deceased and vanquished Jesus,
caused her to destroy all existing track records.
It was the gangly teen John who was the first one of
record to realize that the foxy Master had risen. Remember all John had
to go on was faith. He had not seen the resurrection. No one had. Like
ourselves, he was peering through a glass darkly. Only his own glass
was much more clouded and cracked than ours. Yet, that same faith
changed the life of the women, that boy and the girl Mary.
The old life is comfortable. The new life is demanding.
Yet the new life is rich and the old life is barren. (Unknown)
The Resurrection of their Teacher was the beginning
of a fresh life for women and the young John and Mary of Magdala. Why
could it not be the same for us?
The Gospels do not explain the Resurrection. The
Resurrection explains the Gospels. Belief in the Resurrection is not a
footnote in the Christian faith; it is the Christian faith. Faith in
His Resurrection teaches that the best is yet to come. (Unknown)
This Easter season live your life with that
conviction.
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http://www.st.ignatius.net/pastor.html
Easter
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All people, everywhere, and of every time, long for
immortality. The ancient Egyptians used special ointments and wrapped
bodies in cloth making them mummies hoping that if they could keep the
flesh from rotting they could provide immortality. The ancient Romans
made immortality part of the politics of the state declaring that the
Emperor was an immortal god and therefore should be obeyed by mere
mortals. (On his deathbed the Emperor Tiberius, the same emperor ruling
when Jesus died, sarcastically said, "I think I am becoming a god.") In
modern history the wealthy have looked for immortality by granting huge
bequests to construct museums, and other buildings named after
themselves. Others look for immortality, as the ancients did, in
sports. There are even people who take cryogenics seriously. They have
their bodies or their heads frozen immediately after they die. They
figure that when a cure for death is found, they can be defrosted and
live forever, even though their teeth might be chattering for all
eternity.
If you go through ancient Rome, you will come upon
two distinctive sets of tombstones. There are those of the pagan Romans
with words on them such as "Farewell" or "Nevermore." Then there are
the other tombs, those in the catacombs, the tombs of the departed
Christians. These tombs have inscriptions such as "Until we meet
again." and "Alive in the Lord." Christians have been given that which
people for ages have longed for: immortality.
"Are you not aware that we who were baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried with him so
that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, we too might live a new life. If we have been united to him by
likeness to his death, so shall we be through a like resurrection. If
we have died with Christ, we believe that we are also to live with him."
This passage is taken from the first New Testament
reading proclaimed at the Easter Vigil, from Paul's letter to the
Romans. Jesus did something the world had never seen. He totally
emptied himself of his own needs. He lived completely for others. He
died for others. He never allowed selfishness to have any part of his
existence. This lifestyle resulted in his death at the hands of those
who could not bear his holiness. But the result of his death was a
transformation of reality. He was raised up. And those who would join
him in the gift of themselves to God through others, would also be
raised up.
Immortality. That's what Easter is about.
Immortality was granted through the death of Christ to those who lived
the Life of Christ.
The symbol of this eternal life is the sacrament of
Baptism. When we are baptized, we die. Symbolically, we drown. Whether
we are fully immersed or whether water is just poured over our heads,
the symbol is that we die to a world without the Lord, and, rising out
of the water, out of death, out of the tomb, we live in a world
permeated with the reality of the spiritual. We die to a pagan world of
selfishness. We live in a Christian world of sacrifice.
That is why being a Christian is not always easy.
Being a Christian means living with a completely different perspective
of life than that of the world around us. It means emptying ourselves
of our need for self gratification. Being a Christian demands that we
put God first. It demands that we approach God through those around us,
our immediate families first.
Being a Christian demands that we do everything we
can to fight off selfishness. This means death, the death of
selfishness, the death of greed, the death of egocentricity.
"We who were baptized were baptized into the death
of Christ."
The cross of Christ is our reminder of the
distinctive life we accepted at our baptism. By dying as Christ died,
by living our baptism, we receive immortality. The life of God has
entered us!! We have been transformed! We live in the Lord!
His resurrection is a sign that we also live
forever. We light that Paschal candle at Baptisms and Funerals as a
symbol that through baptism the life of Christ is given to us, and that
even at death, the life of Christ remains in us, uniting us to his
Father through his Spirit.
Baptism is the Easter sacrament, the sacrament of
our personal participation in Easter. It is the sign of our death and
the sign of our life. Baptism is the sign of our interaction in the
mystery of Jesus. It is the sign of Jesus' action in the mystery of our
lives.
Jesus Christ is Risen from the dead!!
And so are we!
"Are you not aware that when you were baptized you
were baptized into the death of Jesus Christ?"
Our lives have meaning, and purpose and beauty
because we are not satisfied with the shallow existence of materialism
and self-gratification.
He has called us out of this darkness and death and
given every one of us the ability to make his presence real for others.
If we just allow God to work through us, if we just strive to be that
unique reflection of his love he created each of us to be, then we will
come out of the tomb and live eternally.
Alleluia, alleluia! Reality has been transformed.
Those who have died to selfishness have received immortality.
We live the Life of Christ!
As the sun rises in the East to begin a new day, may
this Easter, the celebration of the transformation of the world, bring
us all a new commitment to living the death and life of Jesus in our
own lives. Happy and Blessed Easter from the People of St. Ignatius of
Antioch, Tarpon Springs, FL!
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http://www.geocities.com/seapadre_1999/
* available in Spanish - see Spanish
homilies
Easter
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Bottom line: Jesus' Resurrection shows that eternal life continues
something which begins in this life: a relationship with the Father,
founded on the desire to do his will.
Happy Easter! This year we have a unique Easter. It will not come this
early for another 150 years - 2160 to be exact. I don't know about you,
but I plan on spending that Easter in a different place! I want you to
be with me. I am your spiritual father. I have no greater desire than
that we spend eternity together.
That raises a question: What is eternal life? We get some glimpse on
Easter Sunday - and throughout the fifty days of the Easter season.
Jesus has been transformed in a radical way - and so will we, in him.
But, in spite of the great change, there will also be continuity.
Eternal life will continue something that begins in this life. A week
ago, on Palm Sunday, we received some hints. We heard Jesus' prayer,
"Not as I will, but your will be done!" He accepted the Father's will
even though it meant horrendous suffering. And St. Paul told us that
because of his obedience, the Father greatly exalted him. For Jesus
eternal life means perfect union with the Father's will.
Something similar applies to you and me. Eternal life means that we
become sons and daughters of God - in Jesus. This is a hard concept to
grasp. The Italian poet, Dante Alighieri can help us. He wrote a
beautiful poem called the Divine Comedy. It tells about his journey
into the depths of hell, then his arduous climb up the seven story
mountain of purgatory. Finally he gets up to spheres of heaven. The
lowest sphere of course belongs to the moon. In that sphere are those
who broke their vows, but repented before they died. There Dante meets
a woman who he recognizes. Piccarda is her name. Dante asks her if the
souls on this lowest sphere aren't perhaps a little bit unhappy, maybe
they yearn for a higher place in heaven. But Piccarda gently smiles and
she seems "to glow with the first fire of love." She explains to Dante
that the essence of heaven is to dwell within God's holy will. Then she
speaks what is the most famous single verse in the Divine Comedy, "In
his will is our peace."
His will is our peace. This does not mean God absorbs or destroys our
individual wills. What it means is that a person discovers the the
power and freedom of his own will - by aligning it with God's will.
Heaven, eternal life, means to embrace the Father's will - in Jesus.
That has to begin now, here on earth, or it will never begin. At the
start of Lent - on Ash Wednesday - I gave you a quote from St.
Alphonsus Liguori, "Those who pray are certainly saved; those who do
not pray are certainly damned." You can find that quote in the
Catechism of the Catholic Church. (#2744) If you pray, you are saved;
if not, you are lost. What that means is that our relationship with God
begins now.
I encourage you during these fifty days of Easter to find some time
apart for prayer. Our Blessed Sacrament Chapel is good place. It is
open twenty-four hours a day. You will not regret the time you spend in
prayer. Perhaps you heard about the two men who were chopping trees.
One man chopped for eight hours straight. The other chopped for fifty
minutes, then rested for ten and started again. The second man chopped
down more trees. How did he do it? He was not stronger than the first
man. When they asked him his secret, he said, "During my breaks, I
sharpened the ax." Take time to pray. Everything will go better. But
above all you will desire to embrace the will of the Father - in Jesus.
In his will is our peace. I would like to conclude this Easter homily
with a bit longer quote from Dante:
Think carefully about what love is and you'll see
such discord has no place within these rounds,
since to be here is to exist in Love.
Indeed, the essence of this blessed state
is to dwell here within His holy will,
so that there is no will but one with His.
In his will is our peace - it is the sea
in which all things are drawn that it itself
creates or which the work of Nature makes.
**********
Spanish Version
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http://www.agreeley.com/homilies.html
Easter
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Easter Sunday
Background:
The basic theme which runs through all the Easter stories is
surprise. The stories, which arose perhaps in different traditions, do
not always fit into a coherent pattern. But the theme is always the
same. The disciples in the upper room, especially poor Thomas, the
couple (man and woman perhaps) on the road to Emmaus , Peter and his
crowd on the shores of Galilee, were all astonished. The person they
encountered was clearly Jesus – as ambiguous and challenging as ever –
though a little different too. But he was surely Jesus. Who had died on
the cross. But here he was still alive, still teaching, still eating
with them. How could this be? Even to this day the surprise ought to
endure. The Resurrection is less a proof than it is a surprise, an
astonishing, delightful, enigmatic surprise
Story:
Once upon a time, during one of the many wars in which our
country has engaged, a bright young man, fresh out of high school
enlisted in the air force and entered flight training. He was an
intelligent, charming, likeable kid, thoughtful, sensitive,
considerate. He qualified as a pilot and went off to the war. On his
last mission his plane was hot down. He was listed as missing in
action. His family and friends were devastated. He was too young, you
promising, too nice to die so young. Then the sad news came. He was not
listed as killed in action. Then two years later he suddenly returned,
alive and well, and apparently unchanged. He did not (perhaps could
not) talk about his survival. Otherwise he was just like he used to be,
no trace of the ordeal he had endured. He went back to school, began to
play basketball and softball, dated the young woman he had gone to the
prom with and was the same as ever. Only not quite the same. As time
went on his friends and family noticed he was different, though they
couldn’t quite say how. He seemed a little more thoughtful, a little
more gentle, a little more sensitive.Sometimes he seemed like a
very different person and then this changed and he was his old self
again. Finally the prom girl asked him when they were walking back from
a softball game, “Were you really dead?” “I often thought I was, but I
guess I wasn’t.” What difference did it make she asked. He hesitated.
“All the difference in the world. Now I’ll never be afraid of death
again.”
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http://benedictine.stvincent.edu/archabbey/Weeklywords/Weeklywords.html
Easter
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Demetrius R. Dumm, O.S.B.
Easter Sunday
Gospel Summary
John's resurrection account is relatively brief and differs
significantly from the Synoptic accounts. Mary Magdalene has a
prominent role here and the mysterious "disciple whom Jesus loved"
appears again just as he did at the Last Supper. The special attention
given to Mary Magdalene suggests that she is a person who embodies the
ideal of love that is so evident in the fourth gospel.
After hearing about the empty tomb, Peter hurries there to see what
this might mean. But the unnamed “beloved disciple” outruns him, and
then defers to him, thus permitting Peter to be the first to enter the
tomb. This gesture acknowledges the authority of Peter but it also
reveals how fully the beloved disciple has understood the teaching of
Jesus about unselfish love. It has been noted that in John's gospel
Peter is the unquestioned leader of the Church, (see John 21, 14-17),
thus guaranteeing good order, while the "disciple whom Jesus loved"
represents the prophetic and mystical dimension of the Church that
prevents authority from becoming too authoritarian.
Life Implications
Easter is the feast of all feasts. The feast of Christmas did not even
exist for the first two centuries of the church's life, but
Christianity is inconceivable without Easter. This feast is the contact
point between the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament for it
occurred on the anniversary of the Exodus of Israel from Egyptian
bondage and fulfills the promise in that central event in Israel's
history. If we do not understand Easter, we do not have a clue about
the meaning of Christianity or about its relationship to Israel.
To understand this central feast, we must realize that it is, as it
were, the third act in a drama that begins already on Holy Thursday and
continues through Good Friday. Missing the first two acts of the drama
almost guarantees that one will miss the meaning of the drama.
Therefore, to ignore Holy Thursday and Good Friday almost guarantees a
misunderstanding of Easter Sunday.
On Holy Thursday, Jesus sums up the whole meaning and purpose of his
mission on earth. This meaning is found in the Eucharist in which Jesus
offers his Body and pours out his precious Blood for others. In other
words, Jesus has come to tell us that the only path to real life and
happiness is the path of unselfish love. We must begin our Easter
celebration, therefore, with our acceptance of this ideal as the model
for our own behavior.
Good Friday tells us that living unselfishly will be very difficult.
Every act of unselfish love is a little dying. But in such dying there
is also a hint of the happiness and life that are promised to those who
are not afraid to walk the path of Jesus.
On Holy Saturday, it seems that the whole universe holds its breath as
it waits to see whether unselfish love, which often appears to be so
foolish, really does make sense for us. Was Jesus the wisest of all
men, or was he just a misguided idealist?
The answer is given on Easter Sunday when the flowers and the bells and
the Alleluias attempt to capture the glory of this resounding victory
of Jesus over sin and death. The celebration of Easter joy thus
confirms the wisdom of believing what Jesus taught on Holy Thursday and
of living this wisdom, patiently and trustingly, on the Good Fridays of
our lives. Have a happy Easter!
Demetrius R. Dumm, O.S.B.
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http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html
Meeting Christ in the Liturgy
Easter
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Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Alleluia! Christ is risen! This day is the Sunday of Sundays. On this
and every Sunday we identify ourselves as members of the one Body of
the risen Lord, the Church, by worshipping as one people in the
Eucharistic sacrifice.
The early Christians called this day "the Day of the Sun" as did
everyone else in the Roman Empire. What they meant by that was much
more than could be said for the typical Roman, for whom the day marked
merely one more rising and setting of the fiery orb that coursed
through the skies. For the Christian this was the day on which the
"rising of the Sun" reminded them of the glorious rising of the "Son"
of God. Many today habitually profane the Lord's Day, going about their
business with no thought of the Lord's Resurrection.
If Christ is to be our light, if we are to share one day in the new
dawn of His Resurrection, we must begin now to learn to celebrate the
Lord's Day in a worthy way, and according to the ancient discipline of
the Christian communio, or communion, and the law of Christ.
In the Eucharistic Sacrifice we offer the perfect prayer of Christ, the
perfect means of keeping the Lord's Day holy. Our indifference to the
Mass condemns us as indifferent to Christ Himself. Worship with the
Christian communio is not an option among options. It expresses and
makes present the core reality of our identity as Christians. Without
the Lord, as he manifests Himself in Word and Sacrament, it is
impossible for us to look forward to heaven and eternal joy. 'Without
me," he warns, "you can do nothing."
The Catechism teaches that the day of the Resurrection is the beginning
of the new creation.
"Jesus rose from the dead 'on the first day of the week.' (Jn 20:1)
Because it is the 'first day,' the day of Christ's Resurrection recalls
the first creation. Because it is the 'eighth day' following the
Sabbath, (Mk 16:1) it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by
Christ's Resurrection. For Christians it has become the first of all
days, the first of all feasts, the Lord's Day (he kuriaka hemera, dies
dominica) - Sunday: We all gather on the day of the sun, for it is the
first day [after the Jewish Sabbath, but also the first day] when God,
separating matter from darkness, made the world; on this same day Jesus
Christ our Savior rose from the dead (St. Justin, Apology) (CCC 2174)
I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we
"meet Christ in the liturgy" -Father Cusick (Publish with permission.)
www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/
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http://www.ctk-thornbury.org.uk/
Easter
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Tonight we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. We have accompanied
Jesus during these forty days of Lent. In particular through our
devotional celebration of the Way of the Cross we have accompanied him
in his last three hours and stood with him as he died on Calvary and
was laid in the tomb.
This journey through Lent ends in a graveyard. When Joseph of Arimathea
and his companions roll the stone to block the entrance to the tomb on
that first Good Friday we, like Jesus’ closest followers, leave the
tomb in silence and sadness.
But that, of course, was not the end. Christ rose from the dead! He
burst through the chains of death and appeared to the disciples!
So used are human beings to the finality of death, that it took the
disciples some time to realise what had happened. Several of them did
not even recognise Jesus when he appeared to them. Some, like Thomas,
refused to believe until they saw him in the flesh—and we certainly
understand their hesitation!
The significance of the resurrection of Jesus, of course, goes far
beyond the mere resuscitation of a body. The implications are far
reaching and life changing.
Christ’s resurrection proves definitively his claim that he is the Son
of God. Christ’s resurrection means that there is no finality to death.
Christ’s resurrection opens for us the way to eternal life.
Furthermore his resurrection means that through Baptism we can begin to
live this new life here and now. We are no longer slaves to sin because
we have risen with him in Baptism. We now live as members of his Church
and as his ambassadors here on earth.
Tonight we celebrate the baptism of Jordan Kifu, what a wonderful name
to have so reminiscent is it of John Baptising in the River Jordan!
He has spent several months preparing for this great night when he will
be Baptised and Confirmed and receive the Eucharist for the first time.
He makes this decision as an adult out of his own free choice.
Just like us before him he embraces the Gospel way of life and chooses
to follow Christ as a member of his Church on earth.
We congratulate Jordan and we assure him of our prayers on this new
journey, this new way of life, he begins this evening.
Tonight we also recall our own Baptism and how much being a follower of
Christ means to us. We take the opportunity to renew our Baptismal
promises recommitting ourselves to the task of spread of the Good News
throughout the world.
And Good News it certainly is! That on this Holy Night all those years
ago Christ Jesus broke through the chains of death and opened for us
the way to eternal life.
It is Good News that by his death on Calvary all our sins are forgiven.
It is Good News that we can gather around this altar and receive his
body and blood and become one with him.
Good News it definitely is that by our sharing in this meal and by
embracing a common mission we have become part of Christ’s body here on
earth.
These extraordinary things deserve to be made known, and this is our
principal task as Christians to proclaim the Gospel of Christ to those
around us, to bring them the Good News and to faith in our Divine
Saviour.
May God pour out his blessings on each and every person gathered here
to celebrate this great feast and by doing so may your faith be renewed
and strengthened so that you may become an ever more faithful follower
of Jesus, the one true Saviour of the World.
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Contact Father at cbonar@cfl.rr.com;
information about his book of homilies is available at www.clydebonar.com.
Easter |
Romans 6: 3-11; Matthew 28: 1-10
Photographs in Our Faith Album
Introduction
When her grandparents took Erika with them on vacation to Italy, her
school loaned Erika a video camera. The eighth grader's make-up
assignment: tape what she saw and make a presentation when she returned.
And, film Erika did. She captured everything on video tape. The leaning
tower of Pisa, the canals of Venice, the Colosseum in Rome. As Benedict
XVI rode by in his popemobile, Erika taped a close-up view of the pope.
Just like Erika, we're always taking pictures. For our vacation trips,
for special days, weddings, or birthdays. Video tapes or a stack of
photographs remind us of good times and colorful characters. The
photographs trigger great memories.
"Take Your Son Isaac"
Tonight let's look at some of the photographs in our faith album. Our
Catholic heritage is full of photographs. Long before cameras were
invented, our ancestors painted pictures with written words. The Bible
records these word pictures. Open the faith album with me. Let us look
at some video tapes recorded in words.
In one video, we see Abraham with his son Isaac. God told Abraham,
"Take your son Isaac, whom you love, and offer him up as a holocaust."
Take Isaac, place him on a pile of wood, and make your own son a burnt
offering.
Abraham sets out with his son, we see the scene. Isaac carries wood for
the fire. Father and son walk in silence. Until Isaac asks, "Where is
the sheep?" Where is the animal we will sacrifice?
The video shifts. We see Isaac tied up, lying atop the pile of wood.
Isaac is to be the lamp of sacrifice. Abraham stands over his son, his
arm raised, a knife ready to plunge. A voice cries out: Abraham,
Abraham, stop. "I now know how devoted you are to God, since you did
not withhold from me your own beloved son."
What a video. So great his trust in God, Abraham would do anything God
asked. Even to sacrificing his own son.
"I will give you a new heart"
For our second video in words, let's look at the prophet Ezekiel.
Babylonia has conquered Jerusalem and sent the Hebrew people into
exile.
In this picture, Ezekiel is talking with God. God reassures the
prophet, God will bring his people back to Jerusalem, back from exile,
back home again. (Ezekiel 34:11-13, 24-25)
But, Ezekiel reminds God, these are sinful people. They set up idols in
the Temple, they profane the Sabbath, incest is common, exorbitant
interest charged on loans, people are even killed for money (Ezekiel
22).
Ezekiel tells God, these people must change, and change radically.
Human nature itself has to be altered. So God makes a promise, "I will
give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from
your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts."
What a scene, what a promise. Our God loves us so much he reaches right
down into our hearts and fills our hearts with love.
"He is not here"
When our next video tape starts, it's a bit dark. The darkness just
before dawn. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary come to the tomb. The
two women carry oils to anoint the body of Jesus.
Just as they arrive, our video flashes with light. The earth shakes, an
angel descends from heaven, his clothes as white as new fallen snow.
Guards stand frozen, shaken with fear. The angel tells the two women,
"Do not be afraid! I know you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is
not here, for he has been raised" from the dead.
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary peek into the empty tomb. The scene
shifts. Our video next catches the two women walking to Galilee. Their
task, to tell the disciples that Jesus is risen. Then, as they round a
bend in the road, Jesus stands before them. Mary Magdalene and the
other Mary fall to their knees. With great love, they embrace the feet
of Jesus.
Three videos, written in words. Abraham putting total trust in God,
even willing to sacrifice his own son. Ezekiel reminding God what
miserable sinners we humans are, and God reaches right down and puts
love into our hearts. Then, we see Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb.
The crucified Christ, risen from the dead.
"Rejoice! You Are Baptized In Jesus Christ!"
Tonight we record our own video tape, take our own photographs. Nine
people have come asking to be baptized in Jesus Christ, to join our
Roman Catholic Church. Watch as we add another video to our faith album.
For these photographs we will go to our baptismal font. In the
baptismal waters, we will see three adults and six children join Christ
in his death; rising from the waters of baptism, they will rise to new
life in Christ.
The video camera focuses. The priest dips his hands into the water of
our baptismal font. He says the words of blessing, "We ask you Father,
with your Son to send the Holy Spirit upon the waters of this font. May
all who are buried with Christ in the death of baptism rise also with
him to newness of life."
Each of us goes into the waters of baptism a slave to sin; each of us
comes out of the waters of baptism a new creation, clothed in Christ.
The camera can only capture on film the acts of baptism. The
transformation deep within our souls, no camera can see.
But, transformed we are. Remember, Christ promised the Samaritan woman
at the well "a spring of living water welling up to eternal life."
"Rivers of living water flowing within." (John 4:14; 7:38). Internal,
unseen waters, waters that enlighten us in Christ. Waters that take the
natural hearts God planted within us, and makes our hearts into God's
own divine image and likeness.
The camera does record our joy. Watch the newly baptized. The cringe of
being immersed in water gives way to tears of happiness. Like a bud
bursting forth into new life. A smiling face, a joy-filled heart. All
of us sing, "Rejoice, rejoice, child of God! You are baptized in Jesus
Christ! Alleluia, Alleluia!"
Next, the camera records a portrait to treasure. Clothed in a white
baptismal garment, standing pure and cleansed of all sin, our newly
baptized hold a lighted candle. Their hearts alive with the flame of
faith, they hold the light of Christ in their hands.
Conclusion
This is the Easter Vigil. Tonight, we look at the photo album of our
faith, photographs painted by words. At this Vigil, we add new
photographs to our album.
Three adults and six children join our Church this evening. Believers
in Christ, they profess with us our faith. They believe and we believe:
Christ is risen. Alleluia. Alleluia. We shout the Good News. Christ is
risen. |
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These
homilies may be copied and adapted for your own use;
however, they may not be commercially published without permission of
the author.
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