Homily for Easter 2022

 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 circling the globe and resounding throughout the universe for hours.  Australia heard them first. Then they flew over to inform Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Church in Mainland China.  After passing through Asia and the vast expanse of Eastern Europe they were proclaimed in Slovenian.  

 

"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 when they will inform Hawaii of the glorious news. 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, Vietnamese, and Mandarin.

 

 

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 effected through Jesus' act of self-surrender in perfect obedience to His Father. That message is why we rejoice and are 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, died because of our sins, and died to save us from those sins. The unblemished paschal sacrifice.

 

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.  And so we sing.

 

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 Jesus' tomb 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 there were lacunes in their understanding.  That was going to change soon 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, in the elements transubstantiated at the consecration, so that, unlike the apostles, we will understand, we will see, and 

we will believe. 

 

Last night throughout the world the paschal candle was blessed and lit. It was inscribed according to the solemn formulathat 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 one of the few words understandable in all of the world's languages. 

 

Alleluia!

Alleluia!

Alleluia!

__________________________________________

Have the 8 AM Mass in the chapel in the photos below, the chapel in St. Mary's Hall the Jesuit residence at BC.  Went over this afternoon with cameras.  Because there is no Mass on Holy Saturday until the vigil I was able to have the whole place to myself.  

+ Fr. Jack SJ, MD