Picture taken today

 by John Yackus

at 36,000 feet just

north of Anandyr,

Far Eastern Siberia,

Easter Sunday morning

March 27, 2016

EASTER

DAWNING ON US

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Easter: Dawning on Us.”

East - obviously - the direction of the sun rising.

East - where we first see the dawn - the morning light.

East? When was the last time we took the time to attend the liturgy of the rising sun? At the beach? Out our bathroom window? When?

Easter? What has dawned on us about the meaning of this faith belief?

CENTERPIECE

Easter:  the central feast of Christianity.

As St. Paul put it in First Corinthians 15:  if Christ did rise from the dead, our preaching is useless. What are we doing here in church this morning? Let’s head for the doors. If Christ did not rise from the dead, we’re liars. We’re committing perjury. We’re saying something - that is, that there is life after death - and it didn’t happen for Christ. If Christ did not rise from the dead, we’re still stuck in our sins. “And what is more serious, all who have died in Christ, have perished.”

In other words, if Christ did not rise from the dead, we won’t either.

It’s like one of my favorite sayings - from Groucho Marx, “If our parents didn’t have any kids, chances are, we won’t either.”

The human world anthem will be Peggy Lee’s song: “Is that all there is … and if that is all there is, my friend, then let’s keep dancing.”

Easter. It’s the central belief in Christianity.

LOTS OF ROCKS

I read somewhere that one of the key moments in human development was when pre-historic migrants moving across the hills somewhere stopped to bury their dead. Before that the body would be tossed off a path and folks kept moving on. Moving on. But for some person who died, the person was buried  under some rocks and a marker marked the spot - so that it could be spotted when that family group came along that path in the future.

I am reading right now an interesting book,  A History of Religion in 5 ½  Objects - by S. Brent Plate.   One of the 5 ½ objects is stones.

He gives example after example of the significance of stones when it comes to spirituality. The little girl goes camping with her family for the first time and has a great time. She picks up a stone that last day and brings it home with her and keeps it on her bureau as a reminder of a great time. Then she keeps it in her significant life stuff box as a memory. Millions and millions of people have done that before and after. Gift shops at the shore and T-Shirt stores with crab magnets  in Annapolis have made their living on that human quirk and quest. We want solid reminders of where we’ve been. Memories. Stones - the solid - lasts.

Israel has its mountains and its Wailing Wall of hundreds of huge stones - with the dome of the rock of Islam just above it. Islam has its square stone quadrant in Mecca.

I have a piece of the Berlin Wall on a shelf in my room.

Christianity has its stone marble altars - but it also had its stone that locked in the dead body of Christ - in his borrowed tomb and in today’s gospel we hear the words that the stone has been rolled away and Christ is not there.

Our graves are everywhere. Christ’s grave is nowhere.

Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again and again and again - but he’s not locked in some stone tomb.

The stone has been rolled away.

Christ is in the bread and the wine. Christ is in his followers. Christ is in his words. Christ is with Our Father and all those who have gone before us in Christ. Christ is everywhere. Christ is all time: the alpha and the omega.

Take and eat,  this is my body. Take and drink, this is my blood. Listen and hear my words. Close your eyes and  feel my Spirit.

The Spirit of God is in the wind and in the fire. The risen Christ is everywhere.

Easter us, O Lord. Dawn upon us. Let your light shine upon us and we shall be saved.

ST. ALPHONSUS

The priests in this parish are members of a religious order called the Redemptorists. We’re around 6,000 members - all around the world. We’re getting older here in our Baltimore Province. We are much younger and growing in India and Vietnam, Poland and Brazil, Paraguay and Africa. 

Our founder, St. Alphonsus de Liguori, 1696-1787, wrote over 100 books - but he didn’t write a book on the Resurrection.

He wrote big time about the Suffering Jesus Christ being the meaning of our faith - our hope - and our charity.

The other day I was talking to Father Mickey Martinez - from Paraguay - a member of our Community here in Annapolis. He  does much of the Latino, the Spanish, ministry here in St. Mary’s. He mentioned that Good Friday has much more meaning for Latinos than Easter Sunday. He added, “Just look around….” Then he added, “They have a lot more struggle in their lives.”

That hit me.

St. Alphonsus wrote over and over again about the cross and the struggles and the sufferings of Jesus Christ. He has a whole book on the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ. He wrote a small booklet, The Stations of the Cross, which is still used almost everywhere - especially during Lent.

Up till 1950 in the Catholic Church,  Good Friday was the big moment in Lent. Easter Sunday was celebrated. People dressed up. Flowers were central - but in theology it was still the Suffering Christ of Good Friday.

In 1950 out came a book by a Redemptorist F.X. Durwell. It was entitled, “Resurrection”. The horror of World War II was over.

The Catholic Church made a leap in its theology and the meaning of Easter around that time.  The Easter Vigil became prominent . The RCIA became prominent - when thousands and thousands of people on Holy Saturday evening became Catholic.

CONCLUSION

Becoming Catholic ….

The title of my homily is, “Easter Dawning on Us.”

Becoming Catholic….

We’re all still becoming Catholic. We’ll renew our baptismal vows today - in a moment.

What has dawned on us - so far - about what it means to be a Catholic?

If we are still having babies and raising them, Christ, Christmas, still means a lot to us.

If we are having struggles, sickness, family problems, Christ on the Cross, means a lot to us.

If - if - if  - what __________ fill in the blank what it takes to be  going through, for Easter, for the Risen Christ to mean a lot more to us.

Is the meaning of Easter - dawning on us - in a new way?

Has that stone been rolled back and the dead Christ risen in a new way in our life?

Hopefully our answer is, “Oh yeah. Oh yeah!”