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Homilies are posted no later than during the week
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Easter
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Easter Sunday - Cycle B - John 20:1-9
Listen to an Easter parable. The father was in a foul mood. He wanted to attend
the Easter Liturgy with his wife and three children. Sunday worship with his
family was special for him. He believed in the dictum that teaches that the
family that worships together stays together. But he was the new manager of a
fast-food restaurant. The owner, anticipating a large crowd, ordered him to
work Easter Sunday.
He had no choice. Furthermore, he needed the manager's job badly. His children
required a lot of food and clothing. He swallowed his disappointment.
However, the manager had to concede his employer wascorrect. The people looking
for Easter Sunday breakfast were double the usual number. Before noon he found
himself tired. From the crowds coming in the front door, he saw no relief. If
anything, he could use a few more counter-clerks. He felt guilty getting
bad-tempered with several customers. They had grown impatient at the long wait.
He sensed too that his anger arose from his envy that they were free and he was
not. Some of them had their children clutching their precious Easter bunnies.
The young man, who was next in line, was wearing a gold cross around his neck.
He politely said to the manager, "Two orders of scrambled eggs please with a
double order of bacon and sausage, whole wheat toast, two fresh orange juices,
two large coffees." Then he said, "Please put each breakfast on a separate
tray, but give me the check for both."
The manager assembled the breakfast order for the pleasant man. He presented
the trays to him and said, "$15.53." The manager was giving the man his change
for $20. At that point, the fellow, dressed in workingman's clothes, said,
"Please give the change and the second tray to the man behind me." Then he
disappeared into the large crowd. It was the last he saw of him.
The manager saw the man behind his last customer. He was dressed in old
clothing, needed a shave, and was carrying what appeared to be his belongings.
They were spilling over from two shopping bags. He looked exhausted. He
appeared as though he would be lucky to have the few coins needed for a senior
coffee. The manager gave the surprised man the second heaping tray and
the change from the $20. He smiled at him. It was his first genuine smile that
morning. He whispered his benefactor was the fellow who had just preceded him.
The old man looked confused but delighted. His Easter Sunday had been made. For
this beggar, the Christ had indeed risen. The good news was very good. He would
have a good breakfast. He was tempted to shout ALLELUIA. Wasn't this impulsive
gesture of the workingman what the Easter Jesus is really all about? The
Christian truckdriver was "walking the talk." The manager recalled the line
someone had recently spoken to him: "I can't save the world, but I can send a
poor man a pizza." The resurrected Jesus had come to that fast-food shop
in the person of the young truck driver. He was driving an eighteen wheeler. He
too was away from his family on Easter.
The manager realized the driver had touched not only the hungry old man down on
his luck but also himself. He had transformed his shop into a cathedral. The
work day passed quickly after that. He mused on the aphorism that while it is
not easy to become an Easter Christian, it sure is easy to start. When he
got home tired that night, his three year old embraced him and shouted, "Daddy,
daddy, we saw the Easter Jesus in church." As he picked up the child, he kissed
her warmly. Then he whispered to her with a large smile, "I saw Him too, Dora."
As he got down on his knees for his night prayers, he thanked the risen Jesus
for sending both men into his shop that Easter Sunday. For a fleeting moment,
he wondered whether the poor man had been the resurrected Jesus Himself. But he
dismissed that notion as much too grandiose. But was it? After all, is
there not a story that the thirteenth century Francis of Assisi once had been
asked for a coin by a beggar? Francis was coming from Easter services. He
embraced the beggar warmly, called him "my brother," and gave him several
coins. As Francis left the poor man, he turned back to wave. He saw Jesus
Himself standing where the beggar had stood. He waved at Francis with a smile.
There was a huge bleeding wound in His hand.
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http://www.st.ignatius.net/pastor.html
Easter
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Easter: From Sacrifice to Salvation
Recently I was going through some of my classical CD's and I came upon Anton
Dvorak's New World Symphony.I hadn't heard it for a while, so I popped it in
and then reflected on the times that Dvorak was portraying in music. Dvorak was
born in Bohemia in 1841.He became popular in Germany and then in England in the
1880's.In 1892 he became the Director of the New York National Conservatory.
During this time he wrote his 9th Symphony which he entitled, "From the New
World."He wrote from America at a time when thousands and thousands of people
from Ireland, Italy, Germany, and Poland were migrating from the homes their
ancestors lived in for centuries to find a new life and a new world.
My grandparents were part of this immigration.Perhaps your grandparents or
great grandparents were also on those long lines on Ellis Island, still sick
from the sea voyage, frightened by the sights around them, wondering what was
going to become of them in this new strange land.
It is hard to imagine the sacrifices they had to endure.There was the sea, the
language, the search for a place to live, a job in a hostile job market.They
were accustomed to receiving respect in their home towns and villages.They were
belittled and insulted by many in America.Still, they endured all.Why? They
wanted a better life for their children and grandchildren. It was more than
their not wanting their children to go hungry. They wanted their children to be
able to break out of the silent caste system of Europe.They wanted their
children to become professionals if they could.They wanted their children to
have the best of lives without any external limitations.So they sacrificed
their own positions of respect in their community, their own homes, their own
countries, theirfutures, for the sake of a new world for their children.
Jesus the Christ longed for a New World for God's children.He longed for a
world where they would no longer be confined in a mortal prison by hatred, by
paganism, by materialism.He grieved over people who were like sheep without a
shepherd. Their lives were pointless.They wanted meaning but could not find
meaning.They spent millions of dollars on self-help books. They went to gurus
and practiced transcendental meditation.They gave the New Age a try depending
on themselves to provide everything.And they ended up with nothing. They killed
themselves to make enough money to own everything this old world could produce.
And they ended with nothing of lasting value.Jesus would lead them to the New
World,a world which would give meaning and happiness to their lives.But the
journey to the New World would take sacrifice.A Tremendous Sacrifice from a
Tremendous Lover. And so Jesus allowed the world to do its worse to him.The
terrible sacrifice took place on the cross on Good Friday.The New World was
proclaimed on Easter Sunday.
Jesus invites all to join him on the journey to the New World. This journey
demands that we also sacrifice.It demands that we reject the old, dead way of
life.The journey demands that we accept being alone in a world full of
mockers.They tell us that we are wasting our time, our money and our energy on
religion.We tell them that we would rather be in the minority with Jesus than
in a majority that rejects him.We suffer from others.We suffer from our efforts
to overcome our own selfishness.We suffer, we sacrifice, even to the point of
death with Jesus.All so we can have the New Life in the New World of the Lord
not just for ourselves, but for our children.For if we do nothing more in our
lives than lead our children to the Lord, then our lives have been a total
success and have had infinite value.
"Are you not aware that we who were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized
into his death? Through baptism 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." That is from the first New Testament reading during the First
Easter Mass, the solemn Easter Vigil. I love this reading.It reminds us that it
isn't easy being a Christian, but it is worth the sacrifice.Our lives have
meaning, and purpose and beauty because we are not satisfied with the shallow
existence of materialism and self-gratification.Jesus has called us out of this
darkness and death and given each 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 of selfishness this world buries us in and live eternally.
The tomb is empty, Mary Magdalene, sinner who lived it up, but then found life
by rejecting her life. The tomb is empty Mary.But the world is full.The Savior
Lives.May his life change the world.May we lethis life change the world.For the
world craves his New Life.And we need a New World.
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http://www.geocities.com/seapadre_1999/
* available in Spanish - see Spanish homilies
Easter
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Eternal Life Begins Now
(April 12, 2009)
Bottom line: Jesus Christ is risen from the dead: By prayer and sacraments, he
wants us to have his life - eternal life begins now.
First of all, Happy and Blessed Easter to you and to your families. For those
visiting today, my name is Fr. Phillip Bloom. I have been pastor here at Holy
Family for twelve years - and it is a joy wish Easter Blessings on all of you.
You might know that as pastor, in some way I have responsibility before God for
the salvation of each person in my parish. I read a humorous story about a
pastor who took that responsibility very seriously.* To seek the lost sheep, he
would even go to the taverns. (smile)
When the priest entered a local tavern, three men were sitting at the bar. He
asked the first, "Do you want to go to heaven?" The man said, yes, he did. The
priest said, "Then go stand against the wall."
He asked the second if he wanted to go to heaven. The man said, yes, and the
priest told him to stand against the wall. He asked the third, "And you, do you
want to go to heaven?"
The man said, "no." The priest said, "What? When you die, you don't want to go
to heaven?" The man said, "Well, yes, when I die. But I thought you were
getting a group to go right now!" (second smile)
Well, brothers and sisters, as we celebrate Easter 2009, I want you to know
that I am getting a group to go to heaven - right now. And I want you to be
part of that group. (third smile) Eternal life begins now.
Today we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus - from the grave. Jesus tells us
that the restoration of our physical bodies is not simply a distant dream. No,
Jesus said, "I am the Resurrection and the Life." Then he adds, "No one comes
to the Father except through me."
By a personal relationship with Jesus through prayer and sacraments, we already
participate in the Resurrection. St. Paul speaks about that relationship when
he tells us, "If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above."
St. Paul says that we have already been raised with Christ. Unfortunately, even
on Easter day, many people can feel like they are still in the tomb. They feel
discouraged. Especially this past year, with so many economic problems, it
sometimes seems like our society is unraveling. When you add family problems
and personal failings, it is easy to feel discouraged.
If you feel burdened today, I ask you to think about these words of Pope John
Paul the Great: "We are not the sum of our failures. We are the sum of the
Father's love for us - and our real capacity is to become the image of his Son
Jesus." What a difference it would make if we defined ourselves by God's love -
not by our failures!
No matter where you are right now, God has a plan for you. Someone who embodied
that sense of purpose was the great German pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was
one of hundreds of ministers and priests that the Nazis imprisoned. While in
that horrible prison, Bonhoeffer wrote, "As I see it, I am here for some
purpose and I only hope I may fulfill it. In light of the great purpose, all
our privations and disappointments are trivial." He was only 39 years old - and
he could have imagined many more years of ministry, but he knew that God had a
deeper purpose for him. Facing a horrible death at the hands of the Nazis, he
embraced the cross. As he had consistently taught, only through the cross do we
come to the resurrection.
Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. By prayer and the
sacraments, he wants us to have his life now. Do not let your failings define
who you are. God has a plan, a purpose for you. It may involve some privations
and disappointments, but whatever the cost, it will be worth it. Jesus Christ
is risen from the dead. Where he is, he wants you to be. Eternal life begins
now. "I am the Resurrection and the Life." No one comes to the Father except
through Jesus.
**********
*From Amazing Grace for Survivors (50 Stories of Faith, Hope &
Perseverance) by Jeff Cavins, Matthew Pinto, Patti Armstrong & Luke
Armstrong
Intercessions for Easter Sunday (from Priests for Life)
Spanish Version
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http://www.agreeley.com/homilies.html
Easter
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Background:
Scriptural Reflection
The evangelists put their books together by compiling material from the various
written and oral traditions which were available to them. (Perhaps many of the
oral traditions had already been written down). No attempt was made to
harmonize the various traditions of resurrection stories. Perhaps the Gospel
writers thought that each story was to precious to waste. Different people had
different memories of their encounters with the risen. In time these memories
were shaped by various theological perspectives so they became even more
difficult to harmonize. However, one theme runs through them all -surprise.
Everyone who encountered the risen lord was astonished, as well they might have
been. Even though we have heard these stories many times during the Easter
seasons, we should try to experience once again the surprise of the first
followers of Jesus. One might also note that if the stories had been written
down today and we heard them for the first time, we would be shocked by the
roles women played. Feminists must have written these stories, we would say.
Story:
Once upon a time a young man came home from a prisoner of war camp who had been
reported killed in action. His family and his buddies and even his girl friend
had mourned him as dead and then more or less got over their grief. His sudden
reappearance was disconcerting to say the least. They had all loved him, but
they had in effect written him out of their lives. His girl friend was engaged
to marry someone else. Moreover, he didn't seem like the boy who had gone off
to war. He was thin and haggard and haunted. However, he was now mature,
self-possessed, and, astonishingly, happy. He hadn't smiled much as a kid and
rarely joked. Now he was witty and ebullient all the time. A quiet kid had
become an outgoing adult man. He didn't fit in the patterns of relationships he
had left behind. Quite the contrary, his happiness and maturity were
unsettling. He congratulated his former girl friend on her coming marriage and
shook hands cordially with the fiancée. There's something wrong with him,
everyone said. His family went to the priest. There sure is, he priest said, he
has risen from the dead and now acts like a saint.
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http://www.saintvincentarchabbey.org/homilies/index.lasso
Easter
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http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html
Meeting Christ in the Liturgy
Easter
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The Resurrection of the Lord, B
Acts 10, 34. 37-43; Psalm 118;
Col 3, 1-4; John 20, 1-9
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Resurrexit sicut dixit! Alleluia! He is risen as he said! Alleluia!
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 Christians this
was the day on which the rising of the "Sun" ever 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 we desire to live forever in light and love we must share now in the new
dawn of the Lord's Resurrection. We do so when we 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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Father Bonar will not be posting homilies for Cycle B to allow himself time for
other projects. His collection of homilies (including homilies for Cycle B) is
available at www.clydebonar.com.
Easter |
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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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