IT  FINALLY  DAWNED  ON  ME

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “It Finally Dawned  on  Me.”

It dawned on me yesterday: Easter is like Christmas. It’s a moment of light.

At Christmas Jesus comes out of the womb into the light of the world - and slowly becomes the light of the world.  At Easter Jesus comes out of the tomb as the light of the world. The darkness of death did not put out the Light of the world.

NOTICE THE GOSPEL FOR THIS MORNING

Notice the gospel for this morning from John.  It begins, “On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and she saw the stone removed from the tomb.

Remember the 3 word sentence from Holy Thursday evening.  Judas leaves the Eucharist - the Last Supper. He  goes to get his money - the 30 pieces of silver - for betraying Jesus. Then he wants to bring to the garden those who want to have Jesus arrested and  killed.  The 3 words: “It was night.”

We all fall asleep.  We are all in the dark at times.

Not everyone wakes up at  the same time.  Not everyone wakes up the same way. We’re on vacation - at the beach. Some people get up early - like 5:46 AM - to head for the beach so they can stand at the water’s edge and see the sun rise.  Some get up at 10:30 AM.

Bacon - bacon - bacon - the scent of bacon sneaks and slides into their nostrils around 10:29 A.M.

For others - the scent of God sneaks into and slides into our brain at 5:15 A.M. God dawns on us early on some mornings.

It’s Easter Sunday Morning.

GOD IS A TRINITY

Not everyone knows this, but God is a Trinity,  the  Trinity.

God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit - are 3 Persons, 1 God.

Not everyone knows this…. Not every religion teaches this.  Not every Christian community proclaims this the same way - as we Catholics do.

God is a Trinity - three persons.

It’s an amazing awareness - to know this. It’s a gift of faith. It’s a teaching that some people pass onto other people - without knowing that’s what they are doing.  Did your mom or dad bring you into a church - take your hand and put it in the Holy Water - and then make the sign of the cross on you and say, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit? Amen.

God knows persons.  God knows people.  God knows that faith - light - dawns on people at different times.  It all depends where we are and who we are.

God knows about people. God created us and gave us freedom. God knows fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, free spirits and not so free spirits.

And God made us so free - as free as God is - well to a degree - meaning that God doesn’t crush us if we don’t get this - or don’t accept this -  or grow with this -  that is - till this finally  dawns on us.

Hey, love and acceptance, awareness and connecting with each other - would be nothing, would be horrible, would not have its joy and it’s “pinchability” - if the other had to love us.

Think of a moment in our life when we felt and found out that another  likes us - another loves us. They  want  to find time to be with us. Pinch me. I’m recognized. I’m loved. I’m wanted to be with another. Woo… Woo…. Wow…. Wow.

So God is other and we are other and God wants us and sometimes this dawns on us - that God knows us and wants to be in a relationship with us.

Do we?

Hopefully, it dawns on us - that life is about mutual love - love that is freely given - one to the other - not out of obligation - but out of choice.

This is why I don’t like the term: “Sunday obligation” or “Holy Day of Obligation”.  I prefer, “Holy Day of Opportunity” or “Sunday opportunity.”

This means we want to be on the dance floor with God. We’re not dragged from our chair - but we get up. We  take God’s hand saying,  “Yeah - wow” to God. God wants this dance - this moment with me.”

Life: Father and Son dancing - and the Spirit of love between them dancing and hopefully, we want to join in this dance.

Amazing - amazing grace - amazing that God the creator of this whole spinning - moving universe - is on the dance floor and wants to dance with me - and all the people on this planet.

God is on the dance floor - dancing.

When does that dawn on us - that God is not alone - God is there on the dance floor - spinning, and spinning,  dancing and dancing, and is calling me and all the people before and now, onto the dance floor called existence.

And so many people are just sitting there saying, “I don’t dance!”

And the Lord of the dance - keeps dancing and laughing - and switching hands with billions of people - hoping all of us will enter into the dance.

God is Three - God is with billions - God is alive.

Oh, people might say they believe in God. People might  know with words that God is a Trinity. People might even make the sign of the cross - especially when in trouble,  asking help or praising God “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

But God is more than words - talk, talk, talk.

God is a relationship. God is forever calling us into this relationship in and with God.

CHRISTIANITY

Christianity teaches that people were not getting this.

So God - in the fullness of time - went different.

God became one of us - so we can become one with God - actually enter into the Trinity.

Has this dawned on us yet?

Jesus became one of us.

What happened next - is what many who have tried Marriage dot.com - have discovered.

Sometimes the one we meet - is not the one we want.

People meet Jesus - but sometimes it’s a no go.

The gospel of John begins, “In the beginning was the Word; the Word was in God’s presence, and the Word was God.”

Then the Gospel  of  John says, “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”  [That’s Christmas.]

Then the Gospel of John tells us that Jesus did life as an us. That’s the life of Jesus - as part of the Trinity.

Then the Gospel of John tells us that people rejected him - but to those who accepted him - he gave them the power to become children of God.

The others killed him.

The gospel of John and the other gospels tell us that Jesus rose from the dead. [That’s Easter]

And for the past 2000 years Jesus has dawned on people - and they  became his followers.

CLOSING MESSAGE

Last night all kinds of people all around the world came into the dance, the community, called God, called Christian.

They just spent months and months - perhaps years and years - preparing for  that moment.

Christ dawns on people at different times as we heard in today’s gospel.

I love the line in the gospel for today that the beloved is the faster in the run to the tomb - and he’s the first to believe - but he lets Peter go in first. Most think this is John - he saw and believed.

I like to add: the power of the pen.

When you write your life - write down the moments - when Christ - the Risen Lord - dawned on you. Amen.