ABOUT LAST NIGHT
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this Easter is, “About Last Night.”
I wasn’t sure just what to preach on this morning. What do you need?
What does your spirit crave this Easter?
Of course the main focus of Easter is Christ – the Risen Christ.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT
Last night we had the Easter Vigil Mass at St. John Neumann – our other church in this enormous parish. The Mass took two hours. I was watching my watch. It was a good religious experience - and I have to watch out for the time keeping side of me.
It started in the dark.
Our Pastor, Father Jack Kingsbury, blessed a new fire in the back of the Church.
Then Deacon Tony Norcio brought over the new Easter Candle.
The pastor cut a cross in the wax of the Easter Candle. Then he traced on the wax the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet while saying,
“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. Amen.”
Then Father Jack pressed five grains of incense into the Easter Candle in the form of a cross saying,
“By his holy
and glorious wounds
may Christ our Lord
guard us
and keep us. Amen.”
Then he lit the Easter Candle from the new fire saying, “May the Light of Christ, rising in glory dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.”
The church is still in darkness when Deacon Tony Norcio begins a procession down the main aisle of the church. Holding the lit Easter Candle high in the air he sings three times, “Christ our light.” And the crowded church in the benches sings each time in response, “Thanks be to God.”
Halfway down the aisle the altar servers take a light from the Easter Candle and begin lighting candles that people are holding. Slowly the whole church becomes filled with people holding a light.
It had to be especially impressive for the 30 people here in this parish who came into the Church last night. And this was happening all over the Catholic Church around the world last night.
The bottom line is this: Christ is our light. Christ gives meaning to our lives. Christ gives sense and significance to our lives. Christ is the one we are following – down the aisles – traffic – the everyday situations of our lives – especially when we feel we’re in the dark.
FOLLOWING SOMEONE WHO HAS A VERY UNFAMILIAR NAME
Has this ever happened to you? You’re watching the evening news or reading an article about a disturbance or disagreement going on somewhere in Iraq – and the reporter says the fight was caused by the followers of some leader with a very unfamiliar name to you – and maybe even hard to pronounce. And the article says that the leader has thousands of followers.
Then you get the thought: would there be people in the world who would think me strange if I said, “I am a follower of Jesus Christ.”
Then when I say that, someone says, “I really don’t know who this Jesus Christ is? Who is he?”
You’re surprised.
Then you begin to answer the question: “Two thousand years ago there was this carpenter from a small village in Northern Israel, a Jew. When he was around thirty years of age, he began preaching and teaching and healing. Some people began following him. Some got angry at him for upsetting the status quo. And he was killed – crucified on a cross. And his followers believe he returned from the dead. He is alive."
Then you pause and then add, "I too believe. I too follow him."
Then you add, "There is a lot more to the story - much more. And right now, Christians, those who follow Christ, are the largest religious group in the world. Of the 6 billion plus people in the world, well over a billion are Catholics – and another half billion plus follow him as Protestants or Greek or Russian Orthodox, or in other branches of Christianity.”
Would the other person think we’re strange? Or would they say, “That’s interesting.” Or let's talk about this again some day." (Cf. Acts 17:32)
RENEWAL OF OUR BAPTISM VOWS
Last night at St. John Neumann, five of the 30 people were baptized. Most were already baptized – so all 30 received the Sacrament of Confirmation – as they became Catholics.
At this Mass this morning – and all the Masses on Easter Sunday, Catholics renew their baptismal vows – and there is the sprinkling with the Holy Water to remind us of the Baptismal waters – something we do every time we come into church - when we put our hand in the Holy Water font and make the sign of the cross.
We just went through a Lent in preparation for this renewal of our Christian faith and our following of Jesus.
Those who came into our Church last night went through the RCIA – the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults program. It started last September. That’s a lot of Wednesday evenings.
Last night, as priest I had a great seat up front facing the congregation. I could watch the whole scene. I was not preaching or in charge. I was just a potted plant – so I watched faces. I like to watch faces.
Deacon Leroy Moore and his wife Kathy – have been running our RCIA program for years – and Father Jack Harrison has joined them these past 3 years – along with several other people who serve. Their faces were filled with joy – along with those coming into the Church – their families, sponsors and friends as well. There was a daughter who came into the Church a few years ago and she was the sponsor for her dad doing the same last night. I studied her face as she stood there behind her dad with her hand on his shoulder.
I’m sure every new Catholic has a unique and wonderful story to tell.
I’m sure you read in the paper about a month ago how many Catholics drop out and try other religions.
I think, this, as well as recruitment, and renewal, should be topics at our annual Town Hall Meeting – as well as the groups we belong to in this parish, etc.
Before I came here to Annapolis five years ago, I was stationed in Lima, Ohio at St. Gerard’s Parish. We were average when it came to the number of people coming into the Church at the Easter Vigil – usually about 15 people. But every year there were about 50 people who became Catholics at St. Charles Parish on the other side of town. I wanted to know the reason. And I got the answer. It was this older nun – probably younger than I am now. She would start Monday morning after Easter gathering names for the next RCIA class – that would start in September. And she would quietly contact lots of people who showed interest.
I would think we need to advertise the RCIA program a lot more.
I would also think we need to put into play a program for fallen away Catholics. There are several good programs that are going on in Catholic parishes around the United States and world – right now. Folks meet for a series of weeks - have a chance to ventilate their questions, concerns, hurts, what have you - and are challenged to look at their story.
Okay, if more people starting coming to Mass, it would cause more space problems in our parking lots and our two church buildings – here and at St. John Neumann. And it would mean more work for us priests. Why not?
NOW WHAT CAN THIS CARPENTER OF NAZARETH DO FOR US?
Each of us has to answer this question for ourselves. We have to look at the furniture in our inner room. That’s one of Jesus’ images and questions. Who’s sitting in the chairs of our mind and heart? Who’s doing all the talking? Who’s running the show? Who’s present? Who’s absent? Whom should we be talking and listening to? Who’s taking up our energy and excitement? What are our dreams and what are our nightmares? Is Jesus Christ there? Do we meet the Father and the Spirit there?
There are Churchy answers and there are personal answers to the Jesus question. In the public forum and in the pulpit we give the Church answers – theology answers – very important answers – well worked out answers from some 1900 years of theology and thought – but in one to one moments with ourselves and with others we can give our personal witness.
The 3 people in today’s gospel – would each tell you a different story. In the gospels, we get glimpses of who Jesus was to these people: Mary of Magdala, Peter, and the Disciple whom Jesus loved. Most think this is John – but we’re not absolutely sure.
What is your story? Who is Jesus to you? Why are you here today?
Your story - your relationship to Jesus - your meeting God stories - are as unique to you as the question to a couple: "Where did you meet? When did you fall in love? Tell us your relationship story?"
I am a born Catholic. We went to Mass all the time. We said the rosary in the house – and I used to wish it wasn’t so long. Then my mother started doing the "add on’s" – ugh. I still hate "add on’s" and it’s the nature of religion to have "add on’s". We’d finally finish the rosary and my mom would add on 5 Hail Mary’s for the wound in his right hand. 5 Hair Mary’s for the wound in his left hand, etc., etc., etc. One time as adults my brother and I were home and mom and dad said, “Do you want to say the rosary?” We were trapped. So we said, “Yes!” We discovered my mom and dad had come up with another whole series of new "add on’s". When we finally finished my brother said, “Mom are you going to put vestments on now and say Mass for us?”
We went to Catholic school. I was an altar boy. And priests would ask us in grammar school from time to time. How many here would like to be a priest? And it got me thinking. So I went to the seminary and all that. But it wasn’t till I was 20 years of age – having finished two years of college – and I was in our novitiate year – a whole year in the middle of our 4 years of college. It was New Year’s Eve – and we had to go to bed around 9 and I thought that was crazy, so I stayed up till midnight – to bring in the New Year – but I was all alone – so I went to the chapel in our religious house and at midnight I said, “Happy New Year” to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. I had this overwhelming experience of the real presence of Jesus on New Year's Eve, 1960 – a meeting with a carpenter from a small town in Nazareth – some 2000 years ago.
My religious understanding changed at that moment. Looking back, my life changed at that moment. Jesus switched from being a word and an idea and a teaching and a picture and a statue – to a person – a real life person whom I have been connecting with ever since – in my inner room, in the bread, in people, in thousands and thousands of everyday situations I’ve been in ever since. Imagine telling that to someone who has no clue who Jesus Christ is?
Years later, I remember telling my New Year’s Eve experience to my sister Peggy and she laughed. She’s a nun. Surprise! She told me that she had the same experience on a New Year’s Eve – when she was making her novitiate – but instead of going to chapel she went to the bathroom – got a glass of water in a paper cup and at midnight saluted herself in the mirror saying, “Happy New Year!”
We both laughed because our dad was the type who went to bed at 9 PM on New Year’s Eve – but my mom and my brother and sister and their spouses and family always celebrated New Year’s Eve.
CONCLUSION
I better conclude this – less this too take 2 hours – and there might be some watch watchers here.
In today’s gospel, if that stone would not have been rolled back, we would not be here this morning. We would not believe that Jesus is present in the bread and wine of the Mass. Imagine telling that to someone who never heard that before? St. Paul gets even more dramatic. He says, “If Christ did not rise from the dead, we would still be in our sins.” We priests here at St. Mary’s have just spent the last three weeks hearing thousands and thousands and thousands of confessions – here as well as in many other parishes in Anne Arundel County. St. Paul says, “If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, we’re idiots for believing in him. But we’re here.
About last night. At some point, the stone was removed from the tomb. Jesus was not in the grave. We believe: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
