Easter

Acts 10: 34 a, 37-43

Ps 118: 1-2, 16-17, 22-23

Col 3:1-4

Jn 20:1-9

Haec dies quam fecit Dominus;

exsultemus et laetemur in ea "

“This is the day the Lord has made; 

let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  

These joyful words from Psalm 118 have been echoing through the universe and circling the globe for several hours.  Australia heard them first.  Then they flew over to inform Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Church in Mainland China. After passing through Asia and across the vast expanse of Russia they were proclaimed in Slovenia.  

"To je dan, ki ga je Gospod naredil, veselimo se ga in se radujmo"

They will not finish their flight across the U.S. for a few more hours.  By the end of the day the news of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead will have been proclaimed in every known tongue:  Chichiwa, Tagalog, and Portuguese, French, English, and Polish, Hindi, Swahili, and Mandarin

這是上主所安排的一天，我們應該為此鼓舞喜歡

(zhè shì  shàng zhǔ suǒ  ān pái de yī tiān 。

wǒmen yīng gāi wéi cǐ gǔ wǔ xǐhuān)

The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles summarized Jesus’ life. It began with His baptism and concluded with His death on the cross.  We heard the commission to the apostles to preach the message of salvation. It is the same commission we are given: to tell the world the message of salvation through Jesus act of self-surrender. That message is the reason we are to rejoice and be glad.  Jesus is the one set apart. Those who believe in him have forgiveness of sins through His name.   And so we are compelled to say:

“This is the day the Lord has made; 

let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  

As St. Paul so memorably wrote in the Letter to the Romans:  “God showed his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”  

While we were yet sinners . . . Christ died for us.  

Jesus, fully Divine and fully human, Son of God and Son of Mary, Jesus who was like us in all things but sin, died for our sins.  He died because of our sins. He died to save us from those sins. 

We are sinners.  But, we are sinners who are passionately loved by God.  We were and are redeemed by Jesus’ passion and death.  That redemption was made manifest in His resurrection from the dead. What more can we say besides?

Este é o dia que o Senhor fez; 

alegremos e exultemos neste dia.

During the proclamation of John’s Gospel we heard of the disciple’s astonishment, confusion, sorrow, and fear when they discovered that the tomb in which Jesus had been placed three days earlier was empty. 

The last verse is instructive:  “Remember, as yet they did not understand the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.”  

". . . as yet they did not understand. . . ."  

Despite the years spent with Him the disciples still did not fully grasp who Jesus was.  That was going to change with the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  But, for the moment the apostles and other disciples were perplexed.

The apostle’s confusion mirrors ours.  Despite the evidence of Jesus’ presence and action in our lives, we don’t always understand.  Unlike the apostles and other disciples, who lived the events recounted here in real time, we have scripture and the tradition of the Church to instruct us, guide us, and help us understand.  Still, we don’t always get it.  We sometimes fail to understand the gift Jesus is to us.  We sometimes fail to appreciate the gift he gave us. Thus, it is today, as it is every day, that we are called to pray, to meditate on scripture, and to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, truly and substantially present in the bread and wine, so that, unlike the apostles, we will understand, we will see, and we will believe. 

Last night, we gathered in front of this church to bless the new fire from which we lit this exquisite paschal candle.  The formula pronounced while inscribing the candle explains everything. 

“Christ yesterday and today 

the beginning and the end. 

Alpha and Omega; 

all time belongs to him, 

and all the ages; 

to him be glory and power, 

through every age for ever.” 

'Haec dies quam fecit Dominus;

exsultemus et laetemur in ea.'

This is the day the Lord has made, 

let us rejoice and be glad.

And we respond with perhaps the only word which all of the languages of the world understand and hold in common. 

Alleluia

Alleluia

Alleluia. 

________________

The homily is for tomorrow morning.  Because of the length of tonight's Mass at the Abbey the homily is going to very short.  

The holy oils for the coming year

The Carthusian motto applies here:  The Cross stands firm while the world turns

Holy Water ready for blessing

Christ, the Dawn 

Blessed Easter

+Fr. Jack, SJ, MD