Yesterday we came to celebrate death. Today we have come to celebrate life; life beyond death; life beyond the grave.
They left 42 years ago Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam
Empty tomb is the mystery of the Resurrection and the centre of our faith. Resurrection is possible only, i.e. new life, by emptying the old tomb.
Then comes the second component: The good news does not get to the heart until it gets to the feet. A series of foot races. Mary, Peter, John. Like the marines who went to
Therefore to rise with Christ means raise others to Christ. That's what Acts of the Apostles is all about. It is "Acts". If the first was an interior journey, the second is an exterior journey; if one was personal, the other was communal.
The Gospels do not explain the Resurrection. But the resurrection explains the gospels - J.S. Whale.
Our religion is not a way of looking at certain things, but it is a certain way of looking at everything - Robert Segel
War shatters thousands of lives in
Communal riots affect thousands in Orissa
Ferry sinks in
Why was I here and not there?
Robbers break‑in at the home next door
Neighbors out of work for weeks
Hunger plagues the local poor
House fire caused by gas-stove leaks
Why am I held in His care?
Deep depression dogs her still
Constant pain has made him lame
Daily drink consumes his will
She has sullied her good name
Why don't I collect my share?
Time will bring the rocky way
But for now my prayer will be
Thank you, Lord, for this holy day
Praise to you for sparing me
Praise to you for your resurrection and new life
Why, again I've slipped the snare!
(adapted from Fr. Roger Swenson)
If I, limping, steady you, our step is surer.
If I, weeping, comfort you, our loss decreases.
If I, failing, strengthen you, our weakness conquers.
If I, dying, rescue you, our life has meaning.
Why, have you called us to new life in you?
God of peace, your presence in the world often goes undetected, unnoticed. You pass through the locked doors that our fear and anxiety erects, and you call forth the life that exists on the other side just like you called forth your son, Jesus Christ from the sealed tomb. Penetrate the locked doors of our minds and hearts, remove our fears and anxieties, inspire us to rejoice at the sight of new life in your resurrection, and bring us into the peace of your Kingdom, where you...
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Gospel reading Mark 16:1-7
Michel DeVerteuil
General Textual Reflection
The gospels all tell us that Jesus rose from the dead. They give us, however, two different accounts of this central moment of his life. – In St Mark 9:19, St Luke (gospel and Acts of the Apostles), and St John, the apparitions of Jesus after his resurrection take place in Jerusalem. This was the place where he had recently been crucified and put to death.- In St Matthew and in this section of St Mark, Jesus is said to return to Galilee after his death. It is there that the later apparitions take place. Each of the two accounts has its own greatness and richness. In our meditation then, we should concentrate on the text before us; for the time being we ignore the other accounts, even though we may be more familiar with them.
St Mark tells his story from the perspective of the women who went to the tomb. We naturally follow them and interpret the story from their point of view. This also happens to be ours at certain moments in our lives. We can also read it from another point of view – from the perspective of the disciples who, in contrast to the women, remained indoors. They happened to be there at this time and they received the good news about the risen Jesus from the women who spoke from their experience.
Textual Comments
Verses 1 and 2. The women in the story are all three symbols of people who know how to go out and watch faithfully over someone who has died. The text tells us that they “brought spices with which to anoint him”; they did not, therefore, expect any resurrection from the dead. This is important for us as very often we too have no indication that we can expect a dead person to start a new life. We do
not expect them to give rise to a fresh beginning. The text gives us three expressions symbolizing new life: “very early in the morning”, “on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb”, “and the sun was rising.” All three remind us that the day of great darkness mentioned in St Mark’s gospel did not last “forever”. The events on this morning, very early the next day, brought a new dawn. It was truly a time of new light.
Verses 3 and 4. The stone in front of the tomb is symbolic. It symbolizes the many obstacles which we know can lie between us here and now and the working out of the new story of grace.
We think of examples:
– persons who hold us back because they do not want us to go forward with some kind of newness;
– objects which we know will stand in our way unless we take active steps to get rid of them and move to a new kind of relationship;
– God himself is often experienced as someone who distracts us from giving ourselves fully to others. We think for example of people we feel naturally attached to – a spouse, children, friends, fellow-workers, people who share in our political platform. We react to them as if our being close to God means that we should love them less.
Verse 5 and 6. The words of the young man in the white robe express the heart of the mystery of the empty tomb. With him, therefore, we enter into the dramatic contrast between the two attitudes of the women:
– a fear of things or objects that we know still stand in the way of our future progress;
– the reality of the risen Jesus; he is now totally free of what limits us to the here and now.
Verse 7. This text gives us the striking commission given to the women. It tells us to remember that we need to go back to the place where we started our great adventure. After the loss of some glorious person, we need to return to that place. When we go back to our first search, we will truly understand the significance of the seemingly dead Jesus who has risen again.
Prayer reflection
Lord, we thank you for faithful people:
– friends who stay with us when we let them down;
– members of our parish who persevere in the community in times of discord;
– those in our movement who are not discouraged by corruption and betrayal within it;
– people in the Middle East and in Northern Ireland who continue to work for peace.
While most of us looked on past hopes as dead and gone,
they, like the women at the tomb of Jesus,
continued to mourn for what they had lost.
So they were there very early in the morning,
when a new day had dawned and the sun had started rising again.
They were able to announce to us who had lost hope
the good news that it was the first day of a new beginning.
Lord, we remember a time when we were in some bondage:
– we were in the grip of some addiction;
– our family life was in deep crisis;
– unemployment had us totally discouraged.
Now, looking back, we remember how we worried
about something that turned out to be no problem at all:
– what our friends would say;
– how one particular child would react;
– whether our health would stand up to work.
We were the women on Easter morning asking themselves
Who would toll away the great stone from the entrance to the tomb,
when the moment of grace had already come
and the stone was quite irrelevant to their situation. Thank you, Lord.
“Walk the dark ways of faith and you will attain the vision of God.” …St Augustine
Lord, forgive us for continuing to focus on the past:
– we harp on wrongs done to us by parents or teachers;
– we regret mistakes we made, opportunities we missed;
– we want to prove we are better than others;
– we try to rebuild relationships that have ended;
– we resent getting old or sickly.
Send us someone like the young man in the white robe
who spoke to the women at the tomb of Jesus
to tell us that crucifixion is not the end,
we must not look for Jesus in a tomb, because he has risen, he is not there.
Your will is that we go back to Galilee to resume our lives
because he is going before us there
and it is there that we will see him, just as he told us.
“All nations have opportunities which they may grasp if only they can summon up the courage and the will.” …Sir Arthur Lewis, West Indian economist
Lord, there are nations today that are trapped
In an endless cycle of racial, ethnic or religious conflict
– the Middle East, Northern Ireland, the Basque Country, Sudan.
We thank you for the women of these nations who,
like Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Salome,
have seen with their own eyes that life cannot be contained in a tomb,
And have gone to tell their leaders that they must move forward to a new place
Where they will find life, just as you told them.
Lord, sometimes the good news of resurrection from the dead
Is so overpowering that all we can do is to run away,
Frightened out of our wits.
Even though we have a wonderful message to transmit,
for a long time we can say nothing to a soul.
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Thomas O’Loughlin
Genearal remarks
This vigil is the centre of the liturgical year. The fact that it is peripheral to many normally active in the liturgy indicates how little the renewal of theology and liturgy begun in the 1960s has sunk into our consciousness. The Missal describes it as ‘the mother of all vigils’ (n 20, p. 202) and sees the readings as its core: ‘it must always be borne in mind that the reading of the word of God is the fundamental element of the Easter Vigil’ (n 21). In practice, it is almost the exact reverse. The readings get squeezed (almost squeezed out) between the opening drama of the paschal fire, and the excitement of the baptism liturgy.
The assumption of the liturgy is that all nine readings are used: they are not offered as options from which to make a selection. An individual community can reduce the number ‘for special reasons’ (Lectionary, vol 1, p. 399) to five; and ‘more serious reasons’ are needed if only four are used (Missal, n 21). However, if the reason for dropping any reading is the time factor, then the question must be asked as to why bother with the vigil at all? If any of the readings are dropped, then the purpose of the whole sequence becomes invisible: the idea is that there is a long sequence of texts and that we ’listen … to the word of God, recalling how he saved his people throughout history, and in the fullness of time sent his Son to be our Redeemer’ (Missal). The notion of a long sequence of steps, ‘again and again you offered covenant to us,’ cannot be conveyed with just two or three readings as that number is simply not large enough to give a sense of God’s continual steadfast love.
Given that people have come out specially and on this night are more closely attuned to the liturgy than usual, it is worth taking the extra time (it takes 10-15 minutes max.) to read all nine passages. Doing this well, with a variety of readers, and styles of music for the psalms, can let the vigil’s message sink home better that any homily.
Unlike Christmas Midnight Mass, after almost fifty years this vigil has failed to capture the Christian imagination. Indeed, the introduction of the Saturday vigil Mass has often meant that this night has just become an ordinary vigil Mass with ‘bits’ tacked on. The liturgy tonight uses four great signs in succession (fire, word, water, and food) to convey the message that we have been remade as a people through the resurrection.Fire breaks out in darkness – so it useless to begin before nightfall – and becomes ‘our light our joy.’ The great candle is the beacon of the risen Christ.
‘Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God’ (Jn 3:5); we rise in Christ through being buried with him in baptism (Col 2:12) so water and baptisms are central to this night. This is the ideal time for the community to welcome new members and, in doing so, to remember that we are there because we are the baptised.
Lastly, there is the Lord’s banquet. We encounter the Lord in food and we thank the Father through a food ritual. Christ our Passover has been sacrificed and, therefore, we now celebrate the feast (cf 1 Cor 5:7f) and ‘the cup of blessing which we bless is … a participation in the blood of Christ, the bread we break is … a participation in the body of Christ’ — we are made into a new people through this sharing (1 Cor 10:16f).
Giving real ritual significance – the opposite of tokenism – to the various parts of this liturgy may be the key to establishing this as ‘the night’ with all its associations, as listed in the Exultet.
Gospel notes
In the original form of Mark, this passage (with v. 8 which has been omitted as jarring with the liturgy’s theme of surprise-joy while Mark has surprise-fear) was the gospel’s concluding scene and the sole reference to the risen Jesus. Its force is that a sealed tomb has been opened, a tomb that should contain someone waiting for the resurrection at the end is already empty.
Mark’s stark ending has troubled readers down the centuries — hence the addition of other endings such as the one commonly found in our editions (vv. 9-20) — but it is the dramatic riposte to the long passion narrative. All that intrigue and wickedness to inflict death, destroy Jesus, his message, and his movement has ended in failure: only hours later the tomb is empty, his promises are being fulfilled.
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Sean Goan
Gospel Commentary : John 20:1-9
This account of the first Easter Sunday morning is significant in that it highlights how each of us as believers must come to terms with the mystery of the resurrection. Mary reports to Peter and the beloved disciple that the tomb is empty. They in turn run to investigate and, while the disciple reaches the tomb first, he holds back in deference to Peter, the leader of the twelve. It is only when the beloved disciple enters the tomb that we are told an appropriate response to the event –’He saw and he believed.’ The beloved disciple is unnamed but in John’s gospel he is present and close to Jesus at all the key moments: the Last Supper, Calvary and now the tomb. In a sense he symbolises where all true believers should be, for each of us is called to be a beloved disciple who accompanies Jesus on his way: ‘Where I am there also my servant will be.’ Jn 12:26Reflection
Our readings today bring home to us with tremendous enthusiasm and fervour how our faith life is meaningless if not rooted in the resurrection of Jesus. The gospel is not merely a story in which we are offered the good example of a man who lived a life of love. It is much more, for it shows us that God has renewed our life totally from within through the Spirit of the Risen Christ who now lives in us. In the world of the New Testament many doubted the resurrection and poured scorn on the idea.
The same is true today and perhaps this is not an unreasonable response when confronted with the apparent finality of death. Yet the entire New Testament is a witness to the faith of those who affirmed the resurrection as much more than an historical fact. For them it was the ultimate transforming truth and it remains so for those who celebrate it today. This explains why, ‘We are an Easter people and alleluia is our song.’ (St Augustine)
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Donal Neary SJOur Celebration
If we have a look around the Church we notice colour, nature, ions, water and oil. We hear joyful music and uplifting prayer. This is our Easter – our celebration.
The next bit of Easter is to go and tell. Like he appeared in an ordinary garden.he appeared to unexpected ones, the women. Who would of thought he would do that? He would still do the same!
The divine Jesus also looks ordinary. They take a while to recognise it is the same Jesus, the one they knew and loved. We sometimes meet people who got a promotion (or something big happened to them) and deep down thy are still the same person. Jesus was new but then they realised that for now and forever he would still be the same, finding us and loving us in the ordinary, on our good days and bad days, in goodness and weakness.
On our bad days he can bring out the best out in us. Like his bad days brought out the best in him. When we can say little he sings Alleluia in us. He is doing us a world of good in us so that we can do the world a world of good.
His words of resurrection echo today in all that is in this church, its colour, sounds, and above all in the humanity here. We will always have the echo of Jesus, he is risen today: alleluia, alleluia
Allow the joy of Jesus to fill your heart
as your breath fills your body.
Risen Jesus, be joyful in me, in all.
as your breath fills your body.
Risen Jesus, be joyful in me, in all.
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(2) EASTER SUNDAY MORNING MASS
Gospel Reading: John 20:1-10
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We have three commentators available from whom you may wish to choose . Click on the name of the commentator required.
****************************************Michel DeVerteuil
Textual Comments
John’s account of the resurrection is in two stages:
– verses 1-2 are about Mary of Magdala’s experience;
– verses 3 to 10 tell us about the experience of the two disciples.
In verses 1 and 2 you might like to focus on the symbolism of it being “still dark” and yet a “first day” of a new time. The large stone symbolizes all the forces, human and other, that keep God’s grace in the bondage of the tomb.
Your experience will help you interpret how Mary responded. Did she run in confusion? Or in fear?
The story of Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved can be read from various points of view. You can take them together as experiencing the resurrection, focusing on the details, especially the cloths lying on the ground, useless now since Jesus was alive, but also on the fact that until they saw the empty tomb they did not believe the teaching of the scriptures.
St John makes a point of contrasting the two apostles. If you would like to meditate on this aspect of the story, see Peter as symbol of the Church leader, while “the other disciple” is the one who, while having no position of authority, is specially loved by Jesus and, perhaps as a result, is first in faith.
Prayer Reflection
Lord, we thank you for moment of grace.
We had been in a situation of death
– a relationship that meant a lot to us seemed dead
– an addiction held us in its grip
– our country was locked in civil strife.
Then the day came that would turn out to be the first of a new era.
We were mourning as usual,
Like Mary of Magdala making a routine visit to the tomb of Jesus,
But saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb.
Naturally, we looked for some simple explanation,
“they have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don’t know where they have put him,”
but it wasn’t anything like that,
it was what the scriptures teach us, that your work must always rise again.
“They can kill a bishop, but they cannot kill the Church which is the people.” ….Archbishop Romero, some days before he was martyred
Lord we thank you for people of faith.
They believe the teaching of the scriptures
That your work may lie in the tomb for some days
But it must rise again.
“When the underprivileged unite and struggle for justice, is that not a sign
of the presence and action of God in our time?” …Musumi Kanyaro, Committee of Women in Church and Society, Lutheran World Federation
Lord as we look around the world today
we see what Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved saw
as they entered his tomb.
Cloths are lying on the ground that we can recognize for what they are
– attitudes of passivity that look like fine linen
but in fact kept your chosen ones in the tomb.
Whereas you have once more fulfilled what you taught us in all the scriptures
and we had not really believed until this moment:
that you will always raise up your chosen ones
when the world imprisons them in a tomb.
Lord we pray today for those who were baptized last night:
today they have enthusiasm, for them you are alive and present;
but there will certainly come a time when they will experience you absent,
when prayer will be like Mary of Magdala going in the gloom of early morning
to visit the tomb of Jesus.
In fact, they will be like people who mourn for a spouse or a child
without even having the comfort of the dead body to look at.
This is the way they will have to pass
because until they have had experiences like this they will not really believe
the teaching of the scriptures that your grace cannot be overpowered by evil
and that your presence within us must always, like Jesus,
rise again from the tomb.
Lord, we like to feel that we have you within our grasp:
– that our prayers are always answered;
– that we are living in a way that is pleasing to you;
– that the times, gestures and words of our prayers are just right.
Teach us that we must be prepared to lose that security
and experience being abandoned, until we live in trust only
and see all those things that we considered important
like the cloths in the empty tomb of Jesus –
fine linen cloths, but they were keeping him in the tomb.
Now we see them on the ground and also the cloth that had been over his headnot with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself.
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Thomas O’Loughlin
Homily Notes
1. The resurrection is the source of Christian hope: our lives are not circumscribed by life as we know it now, but can open onto a new life in the presence of God. This is the mystery beyond words, yet somehow today it has to be the subject of our preaching.
However, there are two widely held misconceptions which prevent people hearing what the liturgy says about the resurrection today in its symbols, prayers, and readings. A useful task in the homily is to draw attention to these mistaken ideas.
The first is that it was some sort of resuscitation, a trick to prove that Jesus was right, an event which you either believe happened or did not happen back then. This misconception distracts from a hope in our resurrection in the future. The resurrection is not about resuscitation, but our future transformation.
The second, and far more widespread notion, is that resurrection is just a fancy terms for a belief in an afterlife of some sort or other — the number of practising Christians who think that re-incarnation can be squared with Christian faith is an indication of this confusion’s prevalence. Our faith is not about some kind of postmortem survival, but in God’s gift of the fullness of life.
2. So, the first point is to avoid ‘explaining ‘ the mystery as if it were a series of ‘facts’ that can just be acknowledged as having happened so-and-so many years ago. In earlier times each item in the resurrection accounts was studied like the clues in a detective story with the aim of building an apologetic that would explain the ‘how’ of the resurrection and the ‘what’ of the risen body of Jesus. But the kerygma of the resurrection lies not in the details of ‘the first Easter,’ but in the reality that those who join their lives with the Christ shall share a fuller, glorious, transformed life as the gift of the Father. We can inherit the Father’s gift of glory as the final fulfilment of human life. It is worth pointing out that the disciple today must not be distracted by the ‘how’ and ‘what’ questions of ‘the first Easter’ from remembering that Christian faith strains onward to the future: the cost of discipleship now and tomorrow is worth it for the path of righteousness does not end with a grave. Many wonder whether or not they ‘can believe’ in the empty tomb, but this misses the point. Belief in the resurrection is seen when someone, even in the face of death, still follows the path of love with the confidence that the Father will ‘not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let his Holy One see corruption’ (Acts 2:27 [Ps 16:10]).
3. Second, belief in the resurrection is not some christianised version of a belief in the immortality of the soul. A belief in immortality is a human sense that a bit, some sort of spiritual residue, can survive without a body. The belief in the resurrection is that we are each creatures willed by God, in whose histories God is interested as the loving Father, and into whose history he has sent his Son sharing our humanity, and therefore whose whole existence ‘spirit, soul, and body’ can be transformed to become part of his Son’s glorious body. Easter is not a celebration of a ‘survival factor’ in humanity, but of the Father’s love so that nothing good shall perish, but be given even fuller life.
4. To believe in the message of Easter is not a matter of tombs long ago in Palestine, but having the conviction that it is worthwhile to seek to bring light in darkness, to oppose lies with truth, to work for justice in the face of human corruption, and to say that death does not have the last word.
5. When we profess our faith in the resurrection of Jesus we are not setting out something with the intention that our understandings should grasp it and comprehend it. Jesus has been transformed to a new kind of existence by the Father beyond our understanding and we can only express it in symbols such as that of the empty tomb — tombs, after all, are designed to hold their remains indefinitely. By contrast, the proclamation Jesus is Risen’ is an invitation to share in a new way of seeing God and the universe, and it is only from within this new vision (faith) that it makes sense. Hence, the ancient theological dictum, based in Isaiah 7:9, ‘unless you believe, you will not understand.’ The message of Acts and the gospel is that we are invited to live, to live in a new way, to live in Christ — and that in living in this way we discover in the midst of suffering and death that the Father will raise us as he raised the Christ.
6. If we join with those who accept the invitation to new life in Christ, which is what we say we are doing in accepting baptism commits us to a way of living. The early followers were referred to as being on ‘The Way’ (see Acts 9:2; 18:26; 19:9 and 23; 22:4,14 and 22) and our oldest extant teaching manual (The Didache) begins by contrasting ‘The Way of Life’ (to be followed by disciples) with’The Way of Death.’
7. The thought of resurrection may fill us with joy, but the life-demands that accepting it makes on us can be great: we must do as we would be done to (cf Didache 1:2; Mt 7:12; Lk 6:31), we must practice the forgiveness we desire from the Father (cf the ‘Our Father’), and we must act with gentleness. Only in constant effort to live life in this way can we glimpse the truth of the empty tomb.
8. To live this life demands patience, a waiting for the good things to be revealed — the practice of the virtue of hope: we must always be of good courage … for we walk by faith, not by sight (cf 2 Cor 5:6f). Today is our day for rejoicing in the risen Christ, for thanking the Father for his love, and for reminding ourselves of that to which we have committed ourselves: The Way. Death has contended with Life, yet despite tombs and symbols of death all around us, we proceed to commit ourselves to life, confident that as the Father transformed the existence of Jesus, so he will transform the whole creation.
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Sean Goan
Gospel Commentary : John 20:1-9
This account of the first Easter Sunday morning is significant in that it highlights how each of us as believers must come to terms with the mystery of the resurrection. Mary reports to Peter and the beloved disciple that the tomb is empty. They in turn run to investigate and, while the disciple reaches the tomb first, he holds back in deference to Peter, the leader of the twelve. It is only when the beloved disciple enters the tomb that we are told an appropriate response to the event –’He saw and he believed.’ The beloved disciple is unnamed but in John’s gospel he is present and close to Jesus at all the key moments: the Last Supper, Calvary and now the tomb. In a sense he symbolises where all true believers should be, for each of us is called to be a beloved disciple who accompanies Jesus on his way: ‘Where I am there also my servant will be.’ Jn 12:26
Reflection
Our readings today bring home to us with tremendous enthusiasm and fervour how our faith life is meaningless if not rooted in the resurrection of Jesus. The gospel is not merely a story in which we are offered the good example of a man who lived a life of love. It is much more, for it shows us that God has renewed our life totally from within through the Spirit of the Risen Christ who now lives in us. In the world of the New Testament many doubted the resurrection and poured scorn on the idea. The same is true today and perhaps this is not an unreasonable response when confronted with the apparent finality of death. Yet the entire New Testament is a witness to the faith of those who affirmed the resurrection as much more than an historical fact. For them it was the ultimate transforming truth and it remains so for those who celebrate it today. This explains why, ‘We are an Easter people and alleluia is our song.’ (St Augustine)
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From Fr. Jude Botelho:
The first reading from the Acts, is part of an early sermon of St. Peter on the feast of Pentecost, his very first after the resurrection. He tells us how he is a witness of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Without the resurrection Jesus’ life and ours would be a total failure, with the resurrection every moment of His ministry has new meaning and every moment of our own can take on new significance. Peter in this sermon reminds his listeners that Jesus is Lord of all and that his message is a message of hope and peace. He emphasizes that every believer is called to be a witness of the Lord’s life, death and resurrection. We are called to be witnesses of the resurrection, but the glory of the resurrection is realized in us only when we have accepted the many crosses that come our way leading us to new life.
Unfinished Till Broken
A story is told of an Eastern village that, through the centuries, was known for its exquisite pottery. Especially striking were its urns; high as tables, wide as chairs, they were admired around the globe for their strong form and delicate beauty. Legend has it that when each urn was apparently finished, there was one final step. The artist broke it – and then put it back together with gold filigree. An ordinary urn was then transformed into a priceless work of art. What seemed finished wasn't, until it was broken.
Steve Goodier
The Gospel begins with Mary Magdalene coming to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. She knows the stone has to be rolled away, and she also knows that she cannot do it by herself. Maybe she believes that the Lord will provide and he will take care of it all - and he does! “She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.” Maybe Mary’s attitude should be a great encouragement for us all. We can’t remove the boulder that blocks us and prevents us from bursting forth into new life. But the Lord is there and He will do it for us! She saw but she did not believe. The Apostles would not accept the conclusion, so obvious to us, that Jesus must have risen from the dead. Peter and John did not believe but ran to the tomb to check out for themselves and remained baffled in their unbelief. Finally they both went into the tomb, they began to understand the scriptures, they saw and they believed. The Gospel tells us that Mary stood outside the tomb, weeping and looking into the tomb to see, not the risen Jesus but where they had laid his body. She was looking for Jesus in the wrong place, looking for the risen among the dead! She sees Jesus but still does not recognize him. This narrative of the resurrection reminds us that left on our own we look for the Lord in the wrong places, among the dead rather than among the living. But the good news is that the Lord does not give up on us. He will reveal himself to us and call us by name so that like Mary we can say: “I have seen the Lord!” and once we have seen him and experienced the power of the resurrection nothing will ever be the same again.
Witness to the Resurrection
In the darkest days of Stalinist Russia a special League of the Godless was established to stamp out the last vestiges of religion from peoples’ lives. One Easter morning the Commissar of this League addressed a huge rally in Moscow’s Red Square. He ranted along his usual lines that religion was the instrument of the bourgeoisie and the opium of the proletariat. At the end of his harangue he generously offered the mike to anyone who wished to debate with him. Nobody wanted a one-way ticket to Siberia until one old man made his way forward. He surveyed his huge audience, cleared his throat and began to sing: “The Lord has risen.” It was the traditional Orthodox Easter greeting. Moved by the old man’s courage, voices from the square swelled up in reply: “He has truly risen.” Religion in Russia was not dead as long as belief in the resurrection of Christ was not dead in people.
Sylvester O’Flynn in ‘The Good News of Mark’s Gospel’
Empty Tomb
Easter celebrations lead us to an empty tomb! The coffin of President Abraham Lincoln has been opened twice since his death. The first time it was opened in 1887, twenty years after his death. Why was it opened? Because of the rumour that the coffin did not contain Lincoln’s body. It was opened and the body in it was proven to be Lincoln’s. Fourteen years later, the same rumours circulated again. Again the coffin was opened and again the body was proved to be Abraham Lincoln’s. Similar rumours circulated about the body of Jesus after his death. The only difference was that Jesus’ body was not in the tomb. Now the rumours concerned about what happened to Jesus’ body. Today’s gospel does not present us with the risen Christ. Instead it presents us with the empty tomb! The angel asks: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” Unfortunately, we humans are still looking for the living among the dead.
John Pichappilly in ‘The Table of the Word’
Lord of Life Dr. Jayant Patel, an Indo-American was dubbed ‘doctor of death’ because he faced charges of manslaughter in over 800 cases in the USA and Australia. Dr. Patel allegedly lied about his medical qualifications and performed operations causing innumerable deaths. Similarly, Dr. Amit Kumar performed illegal kidney operations on about 500 poor unsuspecting victims and sold their kidneys to rich recipients from the West. History abounds with such ‘doctors of death’ besides leaders like Hitler and the so-called ‘butcher of the Balkans’ Slobodan Milosevic. Besides these killers, we too consciously or unconsciously – promote death rather than life. Conversely, Easter exhorts everyone to celebrate the Lord of Life and defy death.
Francis Gonsalves in ‘Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds’
Do Not Be Amazed
The Fourth Wise Man is a movie made for television and based on Henry Van Dyke’s 1895 classic. It begins like a Christmas story but ends as an Easter story. Martin Sheen stars as the fourth wise man, Artaban, who was late for the journey the three wise men made it to Bethlehem because he stopped along the way to help someone in trouble. For the next 33 years, he tries to find the promised Messiah, only to miss him at every turn because he is constantly getting sidetracked to help people. In his last efforts to find Jesus, Artaban arrives late one more time at the crucifixion. Jesus has just died on the cross. At that moment the earthquake occurs and Artaban is struck by a falling tile. As he lies there dying he is broken-hearted because his quest to find the Messiah was never realized. Suddenly, the Risen Lord appears to him. Jesus tells him that for the past 33 years he had, in fact, been found by the fourth wise man in the person of all the people this wise man had helped. Whatever Artaban had done to the least of the Lord’s people, that he had done to Jesus himself. This Easter story is retold in another form in today’s gospel. Instead of three wise men seeking the Lord, with the fourth wise man coming along late, we have three women coming to the tomb, seeking the Lord who has been crucified.
Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’
All That God Does He Does Well
Rabbi Moshe took a trip to a strange land. He took a donkey, a rooster, and a lamp. Since he was a Jew, he was refused hospitality in the village inns, so he decided to sleep in the woods. He lit his lamp to study the holy books before going to sleep, but a fierce wind came up, knocking over the lamp and breaking it. The rabbi decided to turn in, saying, “All that God does, he does well.” During the night some wild animals came along and drove away the rooster and thieves stole the donkey. Moshe woke up, saw the loss, but still proclaimed easily, “All that God does, he does well.” The rabbi then went back to the village where he was refused lodging, only to learn that enemy soldiers had invaded it during the night and killed all the inhabitants. He also learned that these soldiers had traveled through the same part of the woods where he lay asleep. Had his lamp not been broken he would have been discovered. Had not the rooster been chased, it would have crowed, giving him away. Had not the donkey been stolen, it would have brayed. So once more Rabbi Moshe declared, “All that God does, He does well!”
Anonymous
Light in the Darkness
People themselves can be the most effective of all sermon illustrations. All of us can point to people who are and have been lights in the surrounding darkness. One such person was Dr. Brackett. He practiced in a small town in America. He was known as the poor man’s friend because of the hours he spent sitting by the bedsides of the less privileged members of the community and the fact that he never took a fee from them. He lived in two rooms over a shop in the middle of town. At the ground entrance was a brass plate which read: DOC. BRACKETT – OFFICE UPSTAIRS. At one time in his life he was to have married but the day of the wedding he was called to a poor Mexican family to assist with a difficult childbirth. He stayed with the mother until her child was delivered safe and well. He returned to find that his fiancée had called off the wedding and would have nothing more to do with him. The remainder of his life was one of selfless dedication to the sick, the poor, the old, and the lonely. When he died his funeral was the biggest ever seen. Then the townspeople came together to discuss ways and means of perpetuating his memory in town. Various proposals and suggestions were made but as often happens in situations like this nothing was done by anyone except the Mexican couple whose child he delivered on what should have been his wedding day. On the way home from the meeting they removed the sign from his door and the following day it reappeared over his grave surrounded by flowers. It read: DOC. BRACKETT – OFFICE UPSTAIRS.
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From Sermons.com
You probably do not remember the name Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin. During his day he was as powerful a man as there was on earth. A Russian Communist leader he took part in the Bolshevik Revolution 1917, was editor of the Soviet newspaper Pravda (which by the way means truth), and was a full member of the Politburo. His works on economics and political science are still read today. There is a story told about a journey he took from Moscow to Kiev in 1930 to address a huge assembly on the subject of atheism. Addressing the crowd he aimed his heavy artillery at Christianity hurling insult, argument, and proof against it.
An hour later he was finished. He looked out at what seemed to be the smoldering ashes of men's faith. "Are there any questions?" Bukharin demanded. Deafening silence filled the auditorium but then one man approached the platform and mounted the lectern standing near the communist leader. He surveyed the crowd first to the left then to the right. Finally he shouted the ancient greeting known well in the Russian Orthodox Church: "CHRIST IS RISEN!" En masse the crowd arose as one man and the response came crashing like the sound of thunder: "HE IS RISEN INDEED!"
I say to you this morning: CHRIST IS RISEN! (congregational response should be: HE IS RISEN INDEED!). I am convinced! I have faith that Christ was dead and he was buried. That I believe. But, this too I accept as true: He rose from the dead and will come again in glory.
This is Easter. And to stand here on this day in this pulpit and proclaim this word. . . I cannot begin to tell you how this defines all that I am.
But, you will say to me, how do you know that the resurrection is real? How do you know that it is really valid?...
Christ is Alive!
He has Risen Indeed!
He has Risen from the Dead, Hallelujah!
"I know that my Redeemer lives."
If I were to change the end of that last statement by only two letters, a "th" for a "s" so it would be "I know that my Redeemer liveth," you have immediately thought of a song, perhaps the most famous Easter song of all time.
What is it? . . . . Handel's "Messiah."
We may know nothing about George Frederic Handel, but we know the "Messiah" (1741).
Oh, we may know that next door to where Handel lived and composed for 36 years almost three centuries ago, a more recent musician called home. George Frederic Handel lived at No.25 Brook Street, Mayfair, London (from 1723 to 1749). His neighbor to the left, at No.23 Brook Street? Jimi Hendrix.
Oh, we may be aware that most of the pieces Handel composed expressly for Christian worship no choir ever sings and no congregation ever hears. But we know the "Messiah."
In the Victorian era, "Messiahs" performed at Hyde Park, London's Crystal Palace at its three yearly Handel Festivals had 3000 performers and tens of thousands in the audience. As the English music historian (Charles Burney) wrote even earlier of Handel's majestic "Messiah:" "It has fed the hungry, clothed the naked, fostered the orphan, and enriched succeeding managers off the oratorios, more than any single production in this or any other country." Some say it is the best known choral work in Western music.
But as well as we think we know Handel's defining Easter sound, "The Messiah," do we really?...
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Always a Duet: A Reflection for Holy Week
From A Winter Night
The night is calm in our rooms,
where the echoes of all footsteps rest
like sunken leaves in a pond,
but the night outside is wild.
A darker storm stands over the world.
It puts its mouth to our soul
and blows to get a tone. We are afraid
the storm will blow us empty.
This expert of a poem by Tomas Transtromer brings to mind the challenges of Holy Week and the reflections of our Lenten journey. We look out into the world and we are tested, we are pushed, we are brought to reflect on our own isolation, our own limitations and our own temptations. But the message of Easter is to fear not! We do not have to fear that the storm will blow us empty because we are not alone. When the storm tries to get a tone from the soul of a Christian, it should be a song of resilient hope, comfort, joy, and love because it is always a duet with Christ.
Staff, www.Sermons.com, A Winter Night, from The Deleted World: Poems by Tomas Transtromer, version by Robin Robertson. Tomas Transtromer passed away on March 26, 2015.
The Easter Choice
When faced with new realities, you have at least three options for how to respond (and it is nearly certain that you will opt for one of these three possibilities). First, you can stay bewildered. You can let this event knock you flat on your back and then stay there. Second, you can engage in world-class denial. You can look at the facts and ignore them. Or third, you can, slowly perhaps, assimilate this new information. You may get knocked as flat on your back as the next person by this new realization, but eventually you pick yourself up. You embrace this new truth and then go through the long, sometimes painful, process of re-assessing life in the light of this new evidence.
This is the Easter choice. When faced with the incredible proclamation that Jesus rose again from the dead, you can be agnostic and cynical by saying that you don't know what to make of this but then neither are you going to try. Who cares anyway? Or you can deny it. The whole thing is fiction, fantasy, a pious wish but something that never really happened. Or you can move past the shock toward acceptance. But let me caution you: if you are going to accept the truth of the bodily resurrection, you need to let it change you totally.
That's the Easter choice. The problem for most of us is that we are not surprised enough by Easter to realize we face a choice. Easter is a part of the background scenery of our lives. We've never been afraid of Easter, never been bewildered by it. Believing that Jesus rose again from the dead becomes a little like believing the earth is round and that it orbits the sun. Once upon a time people didn't know that. They thought the earth was flat and that the sun orbited the earth. It caused quite a stir when this view had to be revised. But that was a long time ago and now we accept that picture of our solar system without much thought. Sure the world is round and we orbit the sun, but what does that have to do with anything? It doesn't change what I have to do at work tomorrow, does it?
Is that what Easter becomes for us? We believe it happened but then, we've always believed that. Even Easter has somehow become part of the "routines" of this world. So why would it have much of an effect on what we do tomorrow? Easter is no longer shocking for us -- it surely does not make us re-evaluate everything else we think we know. And anyway, we're not sure we want to have everything in our lives changed.
Of course, if we can believe in the resurrection at all, it is a gift of faith granted to us by the prior gift of grace. But if we have received that grace and accept the truth that gets proclaimed from every Christian pulpit in the world each Easter Sunday morning, then we have to know that this truth changes everything. This is not some fact we can ponder just once every twelve months. This changes everything.... and on EVERY day.
Scott Hoezee, Comments and Observatio
Sooner Than You Think
My mother died three years ago. I had the honor of speaking at her graveside service where we buried her next to my father. While I was standing there, I had a surreal personal experience. Perhaps it happened partly because I was a bit under the weather, perhaps it was seeing so many old friends after three decades, perhaps it was because we were burying my mother and my father side by side. It was as if there was a "wrinkle in time" and the 29 years since my father died had suddenly been swallowed up. They just disappeared for a moment. I was in my early 20s when Dad died; I'm in my early 50s now. Most of the family friends who came to the graveside service had been at my father's funeral 29 years earlier. Most of them were in their early 50s then; most are in their late 70s or early 80s now. It seemed as if the three decades in between had just disappeared. All this passed through my mind in a flash while I was speaking. I could reach out and touch my mother's coffin. I was standing three feet from where we buried my father. It was as if we buried my father last week, we were burying my mother this week, and next week someone would bury me. I had a tremendous sense of my own mortality, of the quickly passing years. It seemed as if the Lord whispered in my ear, "Ray, take a good look. This is where you will be someday." And that day will probably come sooner than I think.
Ray Pritchard, Christ and the Problem of Death
What You Love Will Not Be Spared
In recent weeks, I have been reading a powerful book of poetry by Louise Glück, entitled Averno. The title Averno takes its name from a crater lake in southern Italy that during the time of ancient Rome was thought to be the entrance to the underworld. In one of Glück's most haunting poems in this collection, called October, she contemplates the season of autumn and the gradual, day-by-day dimming of light that goes along with that time of the year. Her poem is about cold winds and changing leaves, but is also, of course, about us, for we cannot escape the eventual fading of the light. In stark terms, she writes, "You will not be spared, nor will what you love be spared." When I first read those words, I had a physical reaction to them. A sharp pain squeezed my forehead, and I began to weep. I wept because these words are undeniably true, and I wept because I hate their truth. Sure, there are times when I grapple with the fact of my own mortality, but I don't ever want to be told that the people who I love will not be spared. Don't tell me that they won't survive this life--not one of them. I imagine that the sight of the empty tomb hit the three visiting women like that...what you love will not be spared.
Easter begins with fear. At least that's the way Mark tells it. It's not that Easter begins with wild panic--no, not that. Easter begins with the kind of fear that feels a lot like heart-break. It begins with the twist in your stomach that comes when the phone rings and you hear the voice of your sister. "Are you sitting down?" she asks--that kind of fear.
Early in the morning, three women approach the tomb bearing precious herbs and oils to wash the body of their Lord. They have come to comb out Jesus' hair, to sponge away the dried blood, to massage precious myrrh into his skin. They hope to engage in the ritual act (the act of care) that is traditionally done before sealing a body in the tomb. They have come to anoint the crucified one. Yet, even as they discuss how they will gain access to the cave (after all, it is closed by a massive boulder), they find that the stone has been rolled away. The tomb is empty--vacant, except for some young guy who is definitely not Jesus; and suddenly, they are afraid. They fear that their last chance to pour a little compassion on the broken body of Jesus has escaped. They fear that they are witnessing the final insult of this whole horrible affair. First, Jesus' life is stolen, and now, even his body has been taken. And, perhaps, they also fear... no, they simply must fear that death has won. Death, the ever-ravenous monster, has finally, and utterly, swallowed up their beloved friend.
Scott Black Johnston, Deadly Things
Ongoing Easter
Ongoing Easter gets us finally home at last, for life is not an endless circle but life is moving to an end point. The crowning achievement of the risen Lord is to bring us finally home together with the whole family of God in that transition from time into eternity. It is a great privilege to witness that transition in the lives of people and I think of one this Easter day. Her name was Augusta. She lived 100 years, raised in the prairies of South Dakota, faced every manner of hardship and heartache, but was buoyant and lived on the resurrection side of the cross, raised a family. In the last hour of her life standing with her daughters around her in the hospital room, I heard her bless her daughters. Being a mother to the very end and with a twinkle in her eye, looked at the faces of her daughters around her and pointed to them each one and said, "Too much lipstick," and then closed her eyes in peaceful death.
That is the goal toward which the ongoing Easter draws us and transforms our dark, gloomy mornings into a shining doxology. We say with all the faithful of all of the ages, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By His great mercy, we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, unfailing and undefiled, kept in heaven for you. Though you must go through various trials, all this is so that your faith may redound to the praise, glory and honor of Jesus Christ. Without having seen Him, we love Him, and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. The outcome of your faith is the salvation of your souls.
F. Dean Lueking, Ongoing Easter
Recently, Billy Graham responded to someone who shouted out "God is dead! God is dead!" Dr. Graham with tenderness replied, "That's strange because I just talked to Him in prayer a few minutes ago." Yes, the day you believe in the resurrection is the day you change the universe, and most importantly, you can reflect that transforming truth.
Eric S. Ritz, www.Sermons.com
The Legend of the Touchstone
o you remember the Legend of the Touchstone? It's a great story to recall on Easter Sunday morning. According to that ancient legend, if you could find the touchstone on the coast of the Black Sea and hold it in your hand, everything you touched would turn to gold. You could recognize the touchstone by its warmth. The other stones would feel cold, but when you picked up the touchstone, it would turn warm in your hand.
Once a man sold everything he had and went to the coast of the Black Sea in search of the touchstone. He began immediately to walk along the shoreline picking up one stone after another in his diligent and intentional search for the touchstone. He was consumed with this dream. He wanted desperately to find this miraculous stone. However, after several days had passed, he suddenly realized that he was picking up the same stones again and again. So he devised a plan... pick up a stone; if it's cold, throw it into the sea. This he did for weeks and weeks.
Then one morning he went out to continue his search for the touchstone. He picked up a stone; it was cold... he threw it into the sea. He picked up another stone - cold! He threw it into the sea. He picked up another stone... it turned warm in his hand, and before he realized what he was doing... he threw it into the sea!
That's a good parable for Easter, isn't it? Because that can so easily happen to us. We can come upon a miraculous moment like Easter... we can feel it turn warm in our hands... but then (so dulled by the routine) before we realize what we are doing... we throw it away. Absentmindedly, mechanically, nonchalantly... we toss it aside and miss the miracle of Easter.
James W. Moore, Lenten Series on Mark, www.Sermons.com
Humor: The Gospel Has Been Proclaimed
A first year student in a Catholic seminary was told by the dean that he should plan to preach the sermon in chapel the following day. He had never preached a sermon before, he was nervous and afraid, and he stayed up all night, but in the morning, he didn't have a sermon. He stood in the pulpit, looked out at his classmates and said "Do you know what I am going to say?" All of them shook their heads "no" and he said "Neither do I. The service has ended. Go in peace."
The dean was not happy. "I'll give you another chance tomorrow, and you had better have a sermon." Again he stayed up all night; and again he couldn't come up with a sermon. Next morning, he stood in the pulpit and asked "Do you know what I am going to say?" The students all nodded their heads "yes." "Then there is no reason to tell you" he said. "The service has ended. Go in peace."
Now the dean was angry. "I'll give you one more chance; if you don't have a sermon tomorrow, you will be asked to leave the seminary." Again, no sermon came. He stood in the pulpit the next day and asked "Do you know what I am going to say?" Half of the students nodded "yes" and the other half shook their heads "no." The student preacher then announced "Those who know, tell those who don't know. The service has ended. Go in peace."
The seminary dean walked over to the student, put his arm over the student's shoulders, and said "Those who know, tell those who don't know. Today, the gospel has been proclaimed!"
Steven Molin, Four Truths and a Lie.
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Fr. Tony Kadavil:
Anecdote 1: Incredible, not impossible: Those who visit Seattle , Washington Korea Russia Turkey
Anecdote 2: El Dorado de Soto El Dorado El Dorado El Dorado
Anecdote 3: The phoenix bird: The late Catholic Archbishop of Hartford Phoenicia
Significance of Easter: Easter is the greatest and the most important feast in the Church. "Easter" literally means "the feast of fresh flowers." We celebrate it with pride and jubilation for three reasons.
1. The resurrection of Christ is the basis of our Christian faith. It is the greatest of the miracles--it proves that Jesus is God. That is why St. Paul Paris
2. Easter is the guarantee of our own resurrection. Jesus assured Martha at the tomb of Lazarus: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me will live even though he dies” (Jn 11/25-26). Christ will raise us up on the last day, but it is also true, in a sense, that we have already risen with Christ. By virtue of the Holy Spirit, Christian life is already a participation in the death and Resurrection of Christ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1002, #1003).
3. Easter is a feast which gives us hope and encouragement in this world of pain, sorrows and tears. It reminds us that life is worth living. It is our belief in the real presence of the risen Jesus that gives meaning to our personal, as well as to our common, prayers. Our trust in the all-pervading presence of the risen Lord gives us strength to fight against temptations, and freedom from unnecessary worries and fears. The prayer of St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland reads: “Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ within me, never to part.”
Exegesis
The resurrection of Jesus had certain special features. First, Jesus prophesied it as a sign of his divinity. “Tear down this temple and in three days I will build it again” (Jn. 2: 19). Second, the founder of no other religion has an empty tomb as Jesus has. We see the fulfillment of Christ's promise in the empty cross and in the empty tomb. The angel said to the women at Jesus’ tomb: “Why are you looking among the dead for one who is alive? He is not here: he has been raised” (Luke 24: 5-6). The third special feature is the initial disbelief of Jesus’ own disciples in his resurrection in spite of his repeated apparitions. This serves as a strong proof of his resurrection. It explains why the apostles started preaching the resurrected Christ only after receiving the anointing of the Holy Spirit on the day of the Pentecost.
Messages
1. We are to be a resurrection people: Easter, the feast of the resurrection, gives us the joyful message that we are a ‘resurrection people.' This means that we are not supposed to lie buried in the tomb of our sins, evil habits and dangerous addictions. It gives us the good news that no tomb can hold us down anymore - neither the tomb of despair, discouragement, doubt nor death. Instead, we are expected to live a joyful and peaceful life, constantly experiencing the real presence of the resurrected Lord in all the events of our lives. “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad” (Psalm 118:24).
2. Source of lasting peace and celestial joy: The living presence of the resurrected Lord gives us lasting peace and celestial joy amid the boredom, suffering, pain and tensions of our day-to-day life. “Peace be with you” was his salutation to his disciples on all post-resurrection appearances.
3. Be transparent Christians: We are called to be transparent Christians, showing others through our lives of love, mercy and compassion and through our spirit of self-sacrificing service that the risen Jesus is living in our hearts and is an integral part of our lives.
4. Inspiration for self-control and selfless service: The awareness of the all-pervading presence of the risen Lord in and around us, and the strong conviction of our own resurrection, help us control our thoughts, desires, words and behaviour. This salutary thought inspires us to honour our bodies, keeping them holy, pure and free from evil habits and addictions. Our conviction about the presence of the risen Lord in our neighbours, and in all those with whom we come into contact, should encourage us to respect them, and to render them loving, humble and selfless service.
5. Easter gives us the assurance that Good Friday is not the end: Easter reminds us that every Good Friday in our lives will have an Easter Sunday, and that Jesus will let us share the power of his resurrection. Each time we display our love of others, we share in the resurrection. Each time we face a betrayal of trust, we share in the resurrection of Jesus. Each time we fail in our attempts to ward off temptations – but keep on trying to overcome them – we share in the resurrection. Each time we continue to hope – even when our hope seems unanswered – we share in the power of Jesus’ resurrection. In short, the message of Easter is that nothing can destroy us – pain, sin, rejection, death – because Christ has conquered all these, and we too can conquer them if we put our faith in Him.
6. Be bearers of the good news of resurrection power. Resurrection is good news, but at the same time, it’s sometimes painful because it involves death. Before the power of the resurrection can take hold in our own lives, we’re called to die to sin, to die to self. We may even have to die to our own dreams, so that God can do what He wants to do with our lives. Resurrection is about seeing our world in a new way. Early that Easter morning, Mary did not find what she was looking for, the dead body of Jesus. But she found something better than she could have imagined: the risen Jesus. Sometimes, the things we think we want most are not granted to us. What we get instead is an experience of God’s new ways of working in the world. That’s the power of the resurrection. When those moments come, we must spread the news--just as Mary did: We have seen the Lord!
Humour of the Week
1 . See what happens: One lady wrote in to a question and answer forum. "Dear Sirs, Our preacher said on Easter, that Jesus just swooned on the cross and that the disciples nursed Him back to health. What do you think? Sincerely, Bewildered.
Dear Bewildered, Beat your preacher with a cat-of-nine-tails, nail him to a cross; hang him in the sun for 6 hours; run a spear through his side...put him in an airless tomb for 36 hours and see what happens." Sincerely, Charles.
2 . Rented for a week end: Joseph of Arimathea was a very wealthy Pharisee, a member of the council, and a secret follower of Jesus. It was Joseph who went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body after the crucifixion. And it was Joseph who supplied the tomb for Jesus’ burial. I wonder if someone pulled him aside and said, "Joseph that was such beautiful, costly, hand-hewn tomb. Why on earth did you give it to someone to be buried in?" "Why not?" Joseph might have answered. “He only needed it for the weekend."
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1: Egyptian Pyramids
They are world-famous as one of the “seven Wonders” of the ancient world. But they are actually gigantic tombs containing the mummified bodies of Egyptian Pharaohs. Westminster Abby is famous, and thousands visit it, because the dead bodies of famous writers, philosophers and politicians are entombed there. But there is a Shrine of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, and pilgrims from all over the world visit a tomb there which is empty with a note at its entrance which says, “He is not here.” It is famous because Jesus Christ, who was once buried there, rose from the dead, leaving an empty tomb, as he had told his disciples he would. Thus, he worked the most important miracle in his life, defying the laws of nature and proving that he is God. We rejoice at this great and unique event by celebrating Easter. (Fr. J P)
2: He is risen indeed:
You probably do not remember the name Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin. Many years ago he was one of the most powerful men on earth. A Russian Communist leader, he took part in the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. He was the editor of the Soviet newspaper Pravda, and was a full member of the Politburo. His works on economics and political science are still read today. There is a story told about a journey he took from Moscow to Kiev in 1930 to address a huge assembly of Communists. The subject was atheism. Addressing the crowd, he attacked Christianity, hurling insults and arguments against it. When he had finished, he looked out at the audience. "Are there any questions?" he demanded. Deafening silence filled the auditorium, but then one man approached the platform and mounted the lectern. After surveying the crowd, he shouted the ancient greeting of the Russian Orthodox Church: "CHRIST IS RISEN!" The crowd stood up and shouted in a thundering voice: "HE IS RISEN INDEED!" Amazed and dejected, Bukharin left the stage in silence. Perhaps he had learned the lesson that faith in Christ’s resurrection was deeply rooted in his Russian Orthodox communist followers!
3: The phoenix bird:
The late Catholic Archbishop of Hartford, John Whealon, who had undergone cancer surgery resulting in a permanent colostomy, wrote these very personal words in one of his last Easter messages: "I am now a member of an association of people who have been wounded by cancer. That association has as its symbol the phoenix, a bird of Egyptian mythology. When the bird felt its death was near, every 500 to 1,461 years, it would fly off to Phoenicia, build a nest of aromatic wood and set itself on fire. When the bird was consumed by the flames, a new phoenix sprang forth from the ashes. Thus, the phoenix symbolizes immortality, resurrection, and life after death. It was one of the earliest symbols of the risen Christ. In the same way, any person who has survived a struggle with cancer is considered phoenix-like, having risen from the ashes of disease and been given a new lease on life. Suddenly life becomes more precious to that person. Each hour is lived more fully. Each friend seems much more real. The sky seems more blue, the sunshine more beautiful, and the colors more vivid. Even dull and ordinary things are causes for gratitude to God.” Archbishop John Whealon could have lived in a gloomy tomb of self-pity, hopeless defeat, and chronic sadness, but his faith in the resurrected Lord opened his eyes to new visions of life.
4. "TA-DA!"
A Sunday school teacher had just finished telling her third graders about how Jesus was crucified and placed in a tomb with a great stone sealing the opening. Then, wanting to share the excitement of the resurrection, she asked: "And what do you think were Jesus’ first words when He came bursting out of that tomb alive?" A hand shot up into the air from the rear of the classroom. Attached to it was the arm of a little girl. Leaping out of her chair she shouted out excitedly "I know, I know!" "Good" said the teacher, "Tell us, what were Jesus first words?" And extending her arms high into the air she said: "TA-DA!"
5. Mother-in-law in Jerusalem:
George went on a vacation to the Middle East with most of his family including his mother-in-law. During their vacation and while they were visiting Jerusalem, George's mother-in-law died. With the death certificate in hand, George went to the American Consulate to make arrangements to send the body back to the States for proper burial.
The Consul, after hearing of the death of the mother-in-law, told George that the sending of a body back to the States for burial is very, very expensive. It could cost as much as $5,000. The Consul continued, “In most cases the person responsible for the remains normally decides to bury the body here. This would only cost $150.” George thought for some time and answered, "I don't care how much it will cost to send the body back; that's what I want to do."
The Consul, after hearing this, said, "You must have loved your mother-in-law very much, considering the difference in price." "No, it's not that!" said George. "You see, I know of a case many years ago of a person, by name Jesus, who was buried here in Jerusalem. On the third day he arose from the dead. I just can't take that chance."
6. See what happens.
One lady wrote in to a question and answer forum. "Dear Sirs, Our preacher said on Easter, that Jesus just swooned on the cross and that the disciples nursed Him back to health. What do you think? Sincerely, Bewildered.
Dear Bewildered, Beat your preacher with a cat-of-nine-tails, nail him to a cross; hang him in the sun for 6 hours; run a spear through his side...put him in an airless tomb for 36 hours and see what happens." Sincerely, Charles.
3) Rented for a week end: Joseph of Arimathea was a very wealthy Pharisee, a member of the council, and a secret follower of Jesus. It was Joseph who went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body after the crucifixion. And it was Joseph who supplied the tomb for Jesus’ burial. I wonder if someone pulled him aside and said, "Joseph that was such beautiful, costly, hand-hewn tomb. Why on earth did you give it to someone to be buried in?" "Why not?" Joseph may have answered. He only needed it for the weekend."
7. Resurrection in election:
Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was once asked if he believed in the resurrection. “Of course I do,” said Huckabee. “Dead people vote in every election we have in Arkansas. Resurrection is very real to us.”
26- Additional anecdotes:
1) "The
Godfather of Fitness.” You may recall years ago when fitness legend Jack LaLanne
celebrated his seventieth birthday by towing 70 boats containing 70 people for
a mile across Long Beach Harbor. Amazing! But wait. He did it by holding the
rope in his teeth. Why? Well, he was handcuffed and wearing leg shackles!
Unbelievable! LaLanne was still going strong in his nineties. But friends, this
"The Godfather of Fitness” died on Jan 24, 2011, proving
that this world is not our final destination. It is but a prelude to a grander
production. This world is a preparatory school. Without the Resurrection, it is
simply impossible to explain a world in which people suffer and die. But the
Resurrection is real. Christ rose from the dead. Christ is still alive and He
is available in our world today
2)
Bright light in the “black holes” of
life: Have you ever
heard of a "black hole"? If you have ever watched movies or TV
programs about travelling in outer space, like the TV series Star Trek, you
will know what a black hole is. Roughly speaking, it
is a spot in the vastness of space which astronomers believe is like a giant
vacuum or whirlpool sucking everything around it into the hole. Using Newton’s
laws, scientists first theorized black holes in the 1790s but it wasn't until
1994 that the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a
massive supersized black hole – fortunately a long way from our own galaxy.
There is also a black hole in our galaxy, the Milky Way.
What if scientists said that it was not beyond the realms of possibility that
one day our sun and everything around it would be sucked into this "black
hole," and everything would be gone? "Black holes" are symbols
of hopelessness, and the message of Easter tells us that there is something
beyond those "black holes". Maybe this "black hole"
includes grief for a loved one, anxiety over a work situation or what is
happening in our family. Maybe it is a "black hole" of depression and
stress, and we feel there is nothing we can do to change what is happening.
Maybe it’s the "black hole" of sickness and pain. Maybe it’s the
"black hole" of guilt and failure. Whether those "black
holes" are right here and now or show up at some time in the future,
Easter tells us there is hope, there is a living Saviour and Friend who will
help us when we feel as if we have been sucked into the deepest darkness.
Easter tells us that there is nothing to fear. We have a risen Saviour who
promises never to leave us, to love us always, always to brighten our darkest
paths, and to guide us from death to eternal life in Heaven. Even when we are
in the middle of something deep and dark, our risen Saviour will always be
there with us. “I am the Living One! I was dead, but now I am alive forever
and ever. I have authority over death and the world of the dead"
(Revelation 1:8). http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/universe/black-holes-article/
# 3: “He is not here.” Egyptian pyramids are
world-famous as one of the “seven Wonders” of the ancient world. But they are
actually gigantic tombs containing the mummified bodies of Egyptian Pharaohs.
Westminster Abby is famous, and thousands visit it because the dead bodies of
famous writers, philosophers and politicians are entombed there. But there is a
Shrine of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, and pilgrims from all over the world
visit a tomb there which is empty with a note at its entrance which says, “He is not here.” It is famous because
Jesus Christ Who was once buried there rose from the dead, leaving an empty
tomb, as He had told his disciples he would. Thus, He worked the most important
miracle in His life, defying the laws of nature and proving that He is God. We
rejoice at this great and unique event by celebrating Easter. (Fr. J P)
4) “We believe you.” There is a beautiful story told recently about a woman named
Rosemary who works in the Alzheimer’s Unit of a nursing home. Rosemary and a
colleague named Arlene brought the residents of the home together one Good
Friday afternoon to view Franco Zeffirelli’s acclaimed production, Jesus
of Nazareth. They wondered whether these elderly Alzheimer’s
patients would even know what was going on, but they thought it might be worth
the effort. When they finally succeeded in getting everyone into position, they
started the video. Rosemary was pleasantly surprised at the quiet attention
being paid to the screen. At last came the scene where Mary Magdalene comes
upon the empty tomb and sees Jesus’ body not there. An unknown man, in reality
the risen Christ, asks Mary why she is looking for the living among the dead.
Mary runs as fast as she can back to the disciples and tells Peter and the rest
with breathless excitement, “He’s alive! I saw Him, I tell you! He’s alive.”
The doubt in their eyes causes Mary to pull back. “You don’t believe me . . .
You don’t believe me!” From somewhere in the crowd of Alzheimer’s patients came
the clear, resolute voice of Esther, one of the patients. “WE BELIEVE YOU,” she
said, “WE BELIEVE YOU!” [Rosemary Kadrmas in Jeff Cavins, et.al, Amazing
Grace for the Catholic Heart (West Chester, PA: Ascension Press, LLC,
2003), pp. 211-212.]
5) The killers asked her if
there was anyone [in the classroom] who had faith in Christ. A day after the terrible
tragedy at Columbine High, CNN journalist Larry King did a live interview with
a teenage girl named Mickie Cain, a student who had witnessed the massacre.
Mickie was having a difficult time maintaining her composure and was able to
blurt out only a few words before lapsing into uncontrollable sobs. Larry King
was patient and gave her plenty of time to regain her composure. Mickie
recounted the chilling story: “Let me tell you about my friend Cassie,” she said.
“[Cassie] was amazing . . . She completely stood up for God when the killers
asked her if there was anyone [in the classroom] who had faith in Christ. She
spoke up [and said she did] and they shot her for it.” [Franklin Graham, The
Name (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2002), pp. 14-15]. Such a
testimony as Cassie made that day makes our witness look pretty pathetic,
doesn’t it? The critical question is, would you make such a sacrifice for
something that you knew was patently untrue? Of course not. And neither would
those early disciples of Christ. They had met Christ, Risen from the grave, and
they would not testify otherwise, even while being tortured. The witnesses are
so credible, the change in their lives so dramatic, that their testimony cannot
be disregarded.
6) Cape of Good Hope: You
may remember a geography lesson from elementary school in which you learned
that the southernmost point of Africa is a point which for centuries has
experienced tremendous storms. For many years no one knew what lay beyond
that cape, for no ship attempting to round that point had ever returned to tell
the tale. Among the ancients it was known as the "Cape of Storms,"
and for good reason. But then a Portuguese explorer in the sixteenth century,
Vasco De Gama, successfully sailed East around that
very point and found beyond the wild raging storms, a great calm sea, and
beyond that, the shores of India. The name of that cape was changed from the
Cape of Storms to the Cape of Good Hope. Until Jesus Christ rose from the dead,
death had been the "cape of storms" on which all hopes of life beyond
had been wrecked. No one knew what lay beyond that point until, on Easter
morning, Jesus arose. The ancient visions of Isaiah became the
victory of Jesus over our last great enemy. Like those sixteenth century
explorers, we can see beyond human death to the hope of Heaven and eternal life
with the Father. More than that, we dare to believe that we shall experience in
our own human lives exactly what the Son of God experienced in His, for the
Risen Christ says to us, "Because I live, you shall live also." This
is the heart of our Faith.
7)
“I choose death....by
old age."
Long ago, there was an exceedingly clever court jester at the court of the
Caliph of Baghdad. For years he'd never failed to amuse the court whenever they
called him. But one day, in a split second of carelessness, he offended the
caliph who ordered him put to death. "However," said the caliph,
"in consideration of your many years of fine and faithful service, I'll
let you choose how you wish to die." "Oh
mighty Caliph," replied the jester. "I thank you for your great
kindness. I choose death....by old age." Wouldn't we all! But that just
delays the big question: Then what? What comes after you finally die at the age
of 110 on the tennis court? Only Jesus has the answer. He says, "I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever
believes in Me, even though he die, will live with Me
forever." (Msgr. D. Clarke)
8) He always
whistled: Have you heard the
story of the man whose hobby was growing roses? When he worked in his rose
garden, he always whistled. It seemed to everyone that he was whistling much
louder than was needed for his own enjoyment. One day a neighbor asked him why
it was that he always whistled so loudly. The man then took the neighbor into
his home to meet his wife. The woman was not only an invalid but was completely
blind as well. The man, you see, was whistling, not for his benefit, but rather
for the benefit of his wife. He wanted his blind wife to know that he was
nearby, and that she was not alone. That story is a wonderful illustration of
the significance of Easter Day. The affirmation, "Christ is risen!"
reminds us that God is near, and the experiencing of His presence strengthens us
in our weakness. (Living the Easter Faith,
Donald William Dotterer).
9) And so
the Iron Lady wept. In 1984,
when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of Britain, a terrorist's bomb
exploded in the conference room where many of the government meetings were
held. Margaret Thatcher survived this blast, but some of her cabinet members
were killed. The following Sunday, Margaret Thatcher went to church as she
always did. But that particular Sunday seemed different. As Margaret Thatcher
sang the hymns, listened to the message, saw the candles upon the altar and the
sunshine streaming through the stained-glass windows, she began to weep. She
wept because everything around her had been changed by the loss of her friends.
The familiar had now become strange. The goodness and beauty of the world
around her seemed almost too much to bear. She knew she would not only miss her
friends, but also the wonderful times they had had together. And so the Iron
Lady wept. If we can relate to Maggie Thatcher's grief, maybe we can relate to
the grief of Jesus' disciples and friends on that first Easter morning.
10) “I want to see your Resurrection!”
Father Basil Pennington, a Catholic monk, tells of an encounter he once had
with a teacher of Zen. Pennington was at a retreat. As part of the retreat,
each person met privately with this Zen teacher. Pennington says that at his
meeting the Zen teacher sat there before him smiling from ear to ear and
rocking gleefully back and forth. Finally, the teacher said: “I like
Christianity. But I would not like Christianity without the Resurrection. I
want to see your Resurrection!” Pennington notes that, “With his directness,
the teacher was saying what everyone else implicitly says to Christians: You
are a Christian. You are risen with Christ. Show me (what this means for you in
your life) and I will believe.” (http://www.stjohnslaverne.org/SermonReadingArchive/OmernickEasterSundaySermon20
06.rtf.) Marilyn Omernick.] That is how people know if the Resurrection is
true or not. Does it affect how we live?
11)
“Do you mean like Elvis?”
A father was explaining to his five-year-old son how Jesus died and then, on
the third day, rose from the dead. “That’s what we believe,” the father said.
“That’s how we know Jesus is the Son of God, because He came back from the dead
just as He said He would.” “Do you mean like Elvis?” the boy replied. Well, no.
Not exactly like Elvis. This is a new world. People nowadays believe just about
everything, except that which is most true. We have to work a little bit harder
in this new world to help people
12) From the
empty tomb: It was a hot summer afternoon. The famous
Hollywood film director Cecil B. DeMille was drifting in a canoe on a lake in
Maine, reading a book. He looked away from the book momentarily, down to the
lake. There a bunch of water beetles were at play. Suddenly one of the beetles
began to crawl up the side of the canoe. When it got halfway up, it attached
the talons of its legs to the wooden side of the canoe and died. DeMille
watched for a minute; then he turned back to his book. About three hours later,
DeMille looked down at the dead beetle again. What he saw amazed him. The
beetle had dried up, and its back was starting to crack open. As he watched,
something began to emerge from the opening: first a moist head, then wings. It
was a beautiful dragonfly. DeMille sat there in awe. Then the dragonfly began
to move its wings. It hovered gracefully over the water where the other beetles
were at play. But they didn’t recognize the dragonfly. They didn’t realize that
it was the same beetle they had played with three hours earlier. DeMille took
his finger and nudged the dried-out shell of the beetle. It was like an empty
tomb (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies)
13) Easter: surprising or
amazing? There is an old story about Noah Webster,
who wrote the famous dictionary that bears his name. As you can imagine, he was
a stickler for the precise use of language. He was also something of a
womanizer. One day he was in the pantry kissing the maid when Mrs. Webster
walked in on them. Mrs. Webster said, "Why, Noah, I'm surprised."
Noah said, "No, my dear. We're surprised. You're amazed." (Mark
Trotter, "Do You Amaze Anybody?", May 22, 1988). I think the story is
apocryphal. I'm sure Mr. Webster was a stickler for the right word, but when
you look in his own Webster's Dictionary
he says surprise is a synonym for amaze. Amaze is the stronger word. Easter is
both surprising and amazing. Here is God's ultimate act of love and power. It
is an act of love that has gone to its limit in Jesus' gift of Himself on the
cross. It is an act of power that burst the tomb, and announced to the world
that Love is stronger than hate, Good prevails over evil, and Life is
triumphant over death.
14)“Suppose
he isn't in there!" Two famous Broadway producers were
pallbearers at the funeral of the great escape artist, Harry Houdini. As they
lifted the beautiful and heavy casket to their shoulders, one of them turned
and whispered to the other, "Suppose he isn't in there!" He was, of
course. Only one man in human history has conquered the grave, and it is He
Whom we call Lord. "Christ has been raised from the dead," writes St.
Paul, "the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep" (I
Corinthians 15:20). What deliriously good news that is! No wonder our Church is
full on Easter Sunday! That is news that turns the world upside down. Jesus
Christ is risen!
15) Resurrection Bay: In the movie The Hunt for Red October,
the opening scene was filmed in Resurrection Bay, Alaska. This dramatic setting
received its name in 1792 when the Russian trader and explorer Alexandr Baranov
was forced to find refuge there during a vicious storm on Easter Sunday.
Resurrection Bay has the distinction of remaining ice-free even in the dead of
winter. Even in squalls and storms, it provides safe harbor. As Christians, we
anchor our souls in Resurrection Bay. The world may be caught in a thousand
tempests, and storms may arise from all directions. But the empty tomb assures
us of tranquility and a passageway to Heaven that will never ice over. Jesus
died and rose again to give us peace with God and the peace of
God -- life both eternal and abundant. We anchor our souls in the haven of
rest. (Turning Point)
16) Many infallible proofs:
Albert L. Roper was a prominent Virginia attorney, a graduate of the University
of Virginia and its law school, who eventually became mayor of the city of
Norfolk. He once began a thorough legal investigation into the evidence for the
Resurrection of Christ, asking himself the question: "Can any intelligent
person accept the Resurrection story?" After examining the evidence at
length, he came away asking a different question: "Can any intelligent
person deny the weight of this evidence?" Even those who traveled for
three years with Jesus experienced disbelief over His Resurrection, but Jesus
showed Himself alive by many infallible proofs. We don't base our Faith on
legends, myths, or fairy tales. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is
well-documented, and many critics have been silenced (and even converted) when
they've carefully investigated the evidence [Albert L. Roper, Did Jesus
Rise From the Dead (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1965), foreword.] We have a
Risen Savior! He offers Himself to us today with many infallible proofs. (Turning Point- 3/29/13)
17) Joke Saturday: According to an ancient Russian Orthodox
tradition, the day before Easter was devoted to telling jokes. Priests would
join the people in telling their best jokes to one another (presumably “clean”
jokes!!) The reason was to reflect the joke God pulled on the devil in the
Resurrection. Satan thought he won on Friday, but God had the last laugh on
Easter Sunday.
18)
He is no longer in the
grave: In 1887, twenty-two
years after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, his coffin was dug
up and opened because there were constant rumors that his body was not in the
grave. So they dug it up and the body was there. The rumors continued so 14
years later they had to dig it up again. Both times witnesses were present who
testified that Lincoln was still in the grave. Three days after the death of
Jesus Christ, similar rumors began to spread throughout the land of Israel.
Only this time there were no witnesses who could say that they had seen His body.
In fact, to the contrary, many witnesses claimed to have seen him out of His
grave and even talked with Him after the Resurrection. As great a man as
Lincoln was, there were witnesses to prove he was still in the grave. If one of
our Presidents or another leader in our government were to cry out today to
Lincoln for help, there would be no response. If a scientist were to cry out to
Einstein for help today there would only be empty silence. If someone were to
call out to Mohammed or Buddha or Gandhi today there would be no help. But if
you and I call out to Jesus Christ there is instant power available to us...
power to change lives ...why? Because He lives! (Rev. David Henderson).
19) The
parable of the butterfly: As a butterfly soared overhead, one caterpillar
said to the other, "You'll never get me up in one of those things!"
Yet for every caterpillar the time comes when the urge to eat and grow subsides
and he instinctively begins to form a chrysalis around himself. The chrysalis
hardens and you'd think for all the world that the caterpillar was dead. But
one spring morning the life inside the chrysalis will begin to writhe, the top
will crack open, and a beautifully-formed butterfly will emerge. For hours it
will stand stretching and drying its wings, moving them slowly up and down, up
and down. And then, before you know it, the butterfly will glide aloft,
effortlessly riding the currents of the air, alighting on flower after gorgeous
flower, as if to show off its vivid colors to the bright blossoms. Somehow, the
miracle of the butterfly never loses its fascination for us. Perhaps that is
because the butterfly is a living parable of the promise of Resurrection. On
Easter morning, the disciples saw Jesus' grave-clothes lying on the cold slab
-- empty, but still lying in the wrapped folds that had gone round and round
the corpse. Only the corpse was gone, leaving the grave-clothes much like an
empty chrysalis deserted by a butterfly, which has left to soar free. "He
is risen as He said," an angel told the incredulous disciples.
20) “Which
one would you ask which way to go?'" Dr. Seamands tells
of a Muslim who became a Christian in Africa. "Some of his friends asked
him, 'Why have you become a Christian?' He answered, 'Well, it's like this.
Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road forked in two
directions, and you didn't know which way to go, and there at the fork in the
road were two men, one dead and one alive--which one would you ask which way to
go?'"
21) A real Easter
egg: A small chick begins the long journey to
birth. The not-yet-a-bird weighs little
more than air; its beak and claws are barely pin pricks. The bird-to-be is in its own little world:
protected by the rigid shell, warmed by the mother hen’s body, nourished by the
nutrients within the egg’s membrane. But then the chick begins the work of
life. Over several days the chick keeps
picking and picking until it can break out from its narrow world — and into an
incomparably wider one. But for this to happen, the egg has to go to
pieces. New life demands shattering the
old. That is the real Easter egg. Not a
complete egg dyed and painted with so many designs and colors. Not an egg that has been hardboiled,
impossible to shatter. Not an egg made
of chocolate. The real Easter egg is shattered and destroyed. The real Easter egg exists in broken
pieces. The real Easter egg is cracked
and opened, revealing the new life that has emerged. For centuries, the world
has marked the Resurrection of the Lord with eggs. But the Easter meaning of the egg is found in
the struggle of the chick to free itself from its confines so as to begin life
in a much bigger world beyond it. We
struggle to break out of a world that we perceive is going to pieces; we pick
away at an existence that leaves us dissatisfied and unfulfilled. The promise of the Easter Christ is that we
can break out of our self-contained little worlds and begin to live in a world
where peace and justice reign, a world illuminated by hope and warmed by love,
a world that extends beyond time and place into the forever of God’s dwelling
place. [From a meditation by Brother
David Steindl-Rast, O.S.B.].
22) “Yes,
There Is Hope” (Rev. Bill Self):
In the early part of World War II, a Navy submarine was stuck on the
bottom of the harbor in New York City. It seemed that all was lost. There was
no electricity and the oxygen was quickly running out. In one last attempt to
rescue the sailors from the steel coffin, the U.S. Navy sent a ship equipped
with Navy divers to the spot on the surface, directly above the wounded
submarine. A Navy diver went over the side of the ship to the dangerous depths
in one last rescue attempt. The trapped sailors heard the metal boots of the
diver land on the exterior surface, and they moved to where they thought the
rescuer would be. In the darkness they tapped in Morse code, "Is there any
hope?" The diver on the outside, recognizing the message, signaled by
tapping on the exterior of the sub, "Yes, there is hope." This is the
picture of our dilemma as we worship on this glad Easter Day. Humankind is
trapped in a dreadful situation. All around we are running low on hope, and we
look for a word from beyond offering it to us. This world in which we live is
plagued with war and famine, mounting debt and continual destruction. The more
we try to rescue ourselves the more we seem to fall behind. We wonder.
22) “Is
there hope?” On December 17, 1927, a Navy Submarine, USS S-4, off
Provincetown, MA, was accidentally rammed by a US Coast Guard cutter as the sub
was surfacing, following a “series submerged runs over a measured mile course
to facilitate calibration of her of speed- and distance measuring equipments.” The
cutter had tried unsuccessfully to avoid the collision, but tore two holes in
the side of the sub, “one four feet long and two feet high in the ruptured
ballast tank and the other 2-and-a-half feet long by a foot high in the battery
compartment pressure hull.” The sub sank, bow first and settled on her keel in
102 feet on mud. There were heavy seas, gale winds and freezing temperatures.
Portsmouth Navy yard called in naval and civilian personnel to begin
salvage on the sub. They readied the USS Bushnell, a tender, which arrive the
next morning, joining other rescue ships, some of them local fishing boats. Captain
Ernest J. King took command. (Robert Loys Sminkey, Commander USN Retired)
http://www.subvetpaul.com/USS-S-4.htm
With him was Signalman Joe Dawson who had just completed a temporary
assignment on the S-4 (and was replaced there by his best friend, Walter
Tolson). Dawson had come from the USS
Camden where he had been preparing for his Christmas leave.
In 1997, at 90, as the last
survivor of the USS-S-4, Dawson related the story of the rescue attempt:
The first diver to go down, Commander Ellsberg, returned, reporting
the hole and “no sign of life.” The next
morning “divers Edie and Carr heard tappings
in the forward torpedo room. They found out there were six men living. Their
message to Edi and Carr was, ‘Is there hope? Please hurry, please!’”
“The divers were then ordered to connect oxygen hoses to the S-4.
Three or four time the sea tore the hoses from the S-4, endangering the lives
of the divers. They decided to wait until the weather subsided. The men could
only live 72 hours without the oxygen we were trying to get to them The last
message sent y the submariners was hard to decipher. It said, ‘We understand’…
and that was the last we heard from them.” (ibid., Dawson letter)
This is the picture of our dilemma as we worship on this glad Easter
Day. Humankind is trapped in a dreadful situation. All around we are running
low on hope, and we look for a word from beyond offering it to us. This world
in which we live is plagued with war and famine, mounting debt and continual
destruction. The more we try to rescue ourselves the more we seem to fall
behind. We wonder. (Rev. Bill Self)
With the Apostles, we are locked securely in our upper room,
trembling in fear of the forces of evil – secularism, materialism, atheism,
selfishness -- which assail us and our world.
With the submariners we ask, “Is there hope? Please hurry, please.
And we are answered. Here He
stands, in our midst though the room is still locked. He says, “Peace be with
you!” showing us His wounded hands and side, and letting us rejoice that it is
truly He, Alive! Then He says to us again, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, so I send
you.” Then we understand that He is our hope, now
and forever. Alleluia! HE IS RISEN!
23) Unfinished
Till Broken
A story is told of an Eastern village that, through the centuries,
was known for its exquisite pottery. Especially striking were its urns; high as
tables, wide as chairs, they were admired around the globe for their strong
form and delicate beauty. Legend has it that when each urn was apparently
finished, there was one final step. The artist broke it – and then put it back
together with gold filigree. An ordinary urn was then transformed into a
priceless work of art. What seemed finished wasn't, until it was broken. In the
same way, Jesus allowed his body to be broken for us and thus attained the
glory of his resurrections. Steve Goodier (Fr. Botelho).
24) Empty
Tomb: Easter celebrations lead us to an empty tomb! The
coffin of President Abraham Lincoln has been opened twice since his death. The
first time it was opened in 1887, twenty years after his death. Why was it opened?
Because of the rumour that the coffin did not contain Lincoln’s body. It was
opened and the body in it was proven to be Lincoln’s. Fourteen years later, the
same rumors circulated again. Again the coffin was opened and again the body
was proved to be Abraham Lincoln’s. Similar rumors circulated about the body of
Jesus after his death. The only difference was that Jesus’ body was not in the
tomb. Now the rumors concerned about what happened to Jesus’ body. Today’s
gospel does not present us with the risen Christ. Instead it presents us with
the empty tomb! The angel asks: “Why are you looking for the living among the
dead?” Unfortunately, we humans are still looking for the living among the
dead.
(John Pichappilly in The Table of the Word; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
26)
Do Not Be Amazed: The
Fourth Wise Man is
a movie made for television and based on Henry Van Dyke’s 1895 classic. It
begins like a Christmas story but ends as an Easter story. Martin Sheen stars
as the fourth wise man, Artaban, who was late for the journey the three wise
men made it to Bethlehem because he stopped along the way to help someone in
trouble. For the next 33 years, he tries to find the promised Messiah, only to
miss him at every turn because he is constantly getting sidetracked to help
people. In his last efforts to find Jesus, Artaban arrives late one more time
at the crucifixion. Jesus has just died on the cross. At that moment the
earthquake occurs and Artaban is struck by a falling tile. As he lies there
dying he is broken-hearted because his quest to find the Messiah was never realized.
Suddenly, the Risen Lord appears to him. Jesus tells him that for the past 33
years he had, in fact, been found by the fourth wise man in the person of all
the people this wise man had helped. Whatever Artaban had done to the least of
the Lord’s people, that he had done to Jesus himself. This Easter story is
retold in another form in today’s Gospel. Instead of three wise men seeking the
Lord, with the fourth wise man coming along late, we have three women coming to
the tomb, seeking the Lord who has been crucified. (Albert Cylwicki in His
Word Resounds; quoted by Fr. Botelho)
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Easter did not happen just once in the past. It happens every day. Easter is not merely a harbinger of ultimate resurrection when life triumphs completely over death. It happens every day. Each of its experiences death and rebirth often. Today is the festival when all those “little” resurrections are brought together and integrated with the overarching resurrections, once and future, which are at the core of our faith..
Story:
Once upon a time there was a terrible fight in a certain family. The father and the mother had slipped into the habit of low level nastiness with one another and were drifting apart. The children (teenagers) were routinely snarling at one another and at their parents. Sometimes they joined in the mean-spirited exchanges between the parents. No one left the house, there was no divorce nor even the talk of divorce -–but there were lots of thoughts about it.
What was once a happy and loving family, as families go, had turned into a battleground in which four armies were fighting, and not taking any prisoners.
Then, the girl teen was in an auto accident in which her car was totally by a drunken driver. The other three rushed to the hospital and found her in bed, covered with bandages, but able to smile weakly. I had one of those near death experiences, she informed them (what self-respecting teen in an auto accident doesn’t have one of them) and God told me we’re a bunch of geeks and we should stop fighting with each other. Now. So they all hugged one another and cried and promised they’d start over again. Now the family had new life and it was Easter. (Andrew Greeley)
From Sermons.com
You probably do not remember the name Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin. During his day he was as powerful a man as there was on earth. A Russian Communist leader he took part in the Bolshevik Revolution 1917, was editor of the Soviet newspaper Pravda (which by the way means truth), and was a full member of the Politburo. His works on economics and political science are still read today. There is a story told about a journey he took from Moscow to Kiev in 1930 to address a huge assembly on the subject of atheism. Addressing the crowd he aimed his heavy artillery at Christianity hurling insult, argument, and proof against it.
An hour later he was finished. He looked out at what seemed to be the smoldering ashes of men's faith. "Are there any questions?" Bukharin demanded. Deafening silence filled the auditorium but then one man approached the platform and mounted the lectern standing near the communist leader. He surveyed the crowd first to the left then to the right. Finally he shouted the ancient greeting known well in the Russian Orthodox Church: "CHRIST IS RISEN!" En masse the crowd arose as one man and the response came crashing like the sound of thunder:
"HE IS RISEN INDEED!"
I say to you this morning: CHRIST IS RISEN! (congregational response should be: HE IS RISEN INDEED!). I am convinced! I have faith that Christ was dead and he was buried. That I believe. But, this too I accept as true: He rose from the dead and will come again in glory.
This is Easter. And to stand here on this day in this pulpit and proclaim this word. . . I cannot begin to tell you how this defines all that I am.
But, you will say to me, how do you know that the resurrection is real? How do you know that it is really valid?
1. Because someone told me about the Resurrection
2. Because the Resurrection as stood the test of time
3. Because I have experienced the Resurrection
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The resurrection of Jesus is God's final word spoken in the face of sin, suffering, evil and death. Thanks Be to God.
Easter egg hunts have been in the news all week, both because of the controversy in the White House over the invitations that went out warning that the one on the White House lawn might need to be cancelled, as well as the refusal of some school districts to refer to "Easter eggs," only "Spring eggs."
Come on. Easter egg hunts? They are part of our most beloved childhood memories, even though they have very little to do with the real Easter. Or do they?
Coloring eggs; that sweet smell of vinegar; getting those same six colors all over fingers, clothes, and countertops year after year. Then getting up early enough to compete against brothers and sisters to find the most baskets of eggs and goodies.
As parents we have different memories of the same event. Easter egg hunts mean bleaching out those Easter egg-colored clothes and counter tops; getting up even earlier than the kids; making lots of egg salad sandwiches (with strange colors staining the bread); and finding Easter grass still lurking in corners of the house on the Fourth of July.
But while some of the traditions behind Easter egg hunts have remained the same, there has been one big change that has transformed large community-wide egg hunts, Sunday school class quests, and our own living room look-fors.
Let's get real: we might still color and decorate real eggs. But how many of those actual hard-boiled eggs get taken out of the fridge and hidden in nooks and crannies anymore? Real eggs have been replaced with plastic eggs. The realities of lurking bacteria and potential lawsuits have banished actual eggs from almost every "egg hunt." Instead, plastic eggs filled with store-bought candies have, for the sake of sanity and sanitation, replaced the hand-colored hard-boiled real egg.
In other words rather than searching for an egg, a symbol of new life, we have a petroleum based plastic shell filled with candies made of artificial colors and sweetness. Not a very life-affirming symbol. Not a very Easter-y symbol...
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Earlier this week, an old couple received a phone call from their son who lives far away. The son said he was sorry, but he wouldn't be able to come for a visit over the holidays after all. "The grandkids say hello." They assured him that they understood, but when they hung up the phone they didn't dare look at each other.
Earlier this week, a woman was called into her supervisor's office to hear that times are hard for the company and they had to let her go. "So sorry." She cleaned out her desk, packed away her hopes for getting ahead, and wondered what she would tell her kids.
Earlier this week, someone received terrible news from a physician. Someone else heard the words, "I don't love you any more." Earlier this week, someone's hope was crucified. And the darkness is overwhelming.
No one is ever ready to encounter Easter until he or she has spent time in the dark place where hope cannot be seen. Easter is the last thing we are expecting. And that is why it terrifies us. This day is not about bunnies, springtime and girls in cute new dresses. It's about more hope than we can handle.
Craig Barnes, Savior at Large
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In the early part of World War II, a Navy submarine was stuck on the bottom of the harbor in New York City. It seemed that all was lost. There was no electricity and the oxygen was quickly running out. In one last attempt to rescue the sailors from the steel coffin, the U.S. Navy sent a ship equipped with Navy divers to the spot on the surface, directly above the wounded submarine. A Navy diver went over the side of the ship to the dangerous depths in one last rescue attempt. The trapped sailors heard the metal boots of the diver land on the exterior surface, and they moved to where they thought the rescuer would be. In the darkness they tapped in Morse code, "Is there any hope?" The diver on the outside, recognizing the message, signaled by tapping on the exterior of the sub, "Yes, there is hope."
This is the picture of our dilemma as we worship this glad Easter Day. Humankind is trapped in a dreadful situation. All around we are running low on hope, and we look for a word from beyond offering it to us. This world in which we live is plagued with war and famine, mounting debt and continual destruction. The more we try to rescue ourselves the more we seem to fall behind. We wonder: Is there any hope?
Bill Self, Is There Any Hope?
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Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it was still dark. But the darkness was soon overcome with light. Maybe that's the message you need to hear this day. Perhaps for whatever reason you are in darkness right now. Family concerns. Problems at work. Anxiety about your health and your future. The loss of someone you love. Easter promises us more than the stars in our darkness. Easter promises us that in the midst of our deepest darkness the Son rises to overwhelm the darkness forever.
Victor Hugo once put it like this, "For half a century I have been writing my thoughts in prose and verse and history and philosophy . . . But I feel I have not said the thousandth part of what is in me. When I go down to the grave I can say, I have finished my day's work,' but I cannot say, I have finished my life.' My day's work will begin again the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare. It closes on the twilight; it opens on the dawn." Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it was still dark "but the darkness did not remain. The dawn broke. God's Son had risen.
King Duncan
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When faced with new realities, you have at least three options for how to respond (and it is nearly certain that you will opt for one of these three possibilities). First, you can stay bewildered. You can let this event knock you flat on your back and then stay there. Second, you can engage in world-class denial. You can look at the facts and ignore them. Or third, you can, slowly perhaps, assimilate this new information. You may get knocked as flat on your back as the next person by this new realization, but eventually you pick yourself up. You embrace this new truth and then go through the long, sometimes painful, process of re-assessing life in the light of this new evidence.
This is the Easter choice. When faced with the incredible proclamation that Jesus rose again from the dead, you can be agnostic and cynical by saying that you don't know what to make of this but then neither are you going to try. Who cares anyway? Or you can deny it. The whole thing is fiction, fantasy, a pious wish but something that never really happened. Or you can move past the shock toward acceptance. But let me caution you: if you are going to accept the truth of the bodily resurrection, you need to let it change you totally.
That's the Easter choice. The problem for most of us is that we are not surprised enough by Easter to realize we face a choice. Easter is a part of the background scenery of our lives. We've never been afraid of Easter, never been bewildered by it. Believing that Jesus rose again from the dead becomes a little like believing the earth is round and that it orbits the sun. Once upon a time people didn't know that. They thought the earth was flat and that the sun orbited the earth. It caused quite a stir when this view had to be revised. But that was a long time ago and now we accept that picture of our solar system without much thought. Sure the world is round and we orbit the sun, but what does that have to do with anything? It doesn't change what I have to do at work tomorrow, does it?
Is that what Easter becomes for us? We believe it happened but then, we've always believed that. Even Easter has somehow become part of the "routines" of this world. So why would it have much of an effect on what we do tomorrow? Easter is no longer shocking for us--it surely does not make us re-evaluate everything else we think we know. And anyway, we're not sure we want to have everything in our lives changed.
Of course, if we can believe in the resurrection at all, it is a gift of faith granted to us by the prior gift of grace. But if we have received that grace and accept the truth that gets proclaimed from every Christian pulpit in the world each Easter Sunday morning, then we have to know that this truth changes everything. This is not some fact we can ponder just once every twelve months. This changes everything.... and on EVERY day.
Scott Hoezee, Comments and Observations
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I can still recall a geography lesson from elementary school in which we learned that the southernmost point of Africa is a point which for centuries has experienced tremendous storms. For many years no one even knew what lay beyond that cape, for no ship attempting to round that point had ever returned to tell the tale. Among the ancients it was known as the "Cape of Storms," and for good reason. But then a Portuguese explorer in the sixteenth century, Vasco De Gama, successfully sailed around that very point and found beyond the wild raging storms, a great calm sea, and beyond that, the shores of India. The name of that cape was changed from the Cape of Storms to the Cape of
Good Hope.
Until Jesus Christ rose from the dead, death had been the cape of storms on which all hopes of life beyond had been wrecked. No one knew what lay beyond that point until, on Easter morning, those ancient visions of Isaiah became the victory of Jesus over our last great enemy. Suddenly, like those ancient explorers, we can see beyond the storm to the hope of heaven and eternal life with the Father. More than that, we dare to believe that we shall experience in our own human lives exactly what the Son of God experienced in his, for the risen Christ says to us, "Because I live, you shall live also." This is the heart of the Easter faith.
Robert Beringer, Easter People, CSS Publishing Company
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Ongoing Easter gets us finally home at last, for life is not an endless circle but life is moving to an end point. The crowning achievement of the risen Lord is to bring us finally home together with the whole family of God in that transition from time into eternity. It is a great privilege to witness that transition in the lives of people and I think of one this Easter day. Her name was Augusta. She lived 100 years, raised in the prairies of South Dakota, faced every manner of hardship and heartache, but was buoyant and lived on the resurrection side of the cross, raised a family. In the last hour of her life standing with her daughters around her in the hospital room, I heard her bless her daughters. Being a mother to the very end and with a twinkle in her eye, looked at the faces of her daughters around her and pointed to them each one and said, "Too much lipstick," and then closed her eyes in peaceful death.
That is the goal toward which the ongoing Easter draws us and transforms our dark, gloomy mornings into a shining doxology. We say with all the faithful of all of the ages, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By His great mercy, we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, unfailing and undefiled, kept in heaven for you. Though you must go through various trials, all this is so that your faith may redound to the praise, glory and honor of Jesus Christ. Without having seen Him, we love Him, and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. The outcome of your faith is the salvation of your souls.
F. Dean Lueking, Ongoing Easter
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Eric S. Ritz
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Do you remember the Legend of the Touchstone? It's a great story to recall on Easter Sunday morning. According to that ancient legend, if you could find the touchstone on the coast of the Black Sea and hold it in your hand, everything you touched would turn to gold. You could recognize the touchstone by its warmth. The other stones would feel cold, but when you picked up the touchstone, it would turn warm in your hand.
Once a man sold everything he had and went to the coast of the Black Sea in search of the touchstone. He began immediately to walk along the shoreline picking up one stone after another in his diligent and intentional search for the touchstone. He was consumed with this dream. He wanted desperately to find this miraculous stone. However, after several days had passed, he suddenly realized that he was picking up the same stones again and again. So he devised a plan... pick up a stone; if it's cold, throw it into the sea. This he did for weeks and weeks.
Then one morning he went out to continue his search for the touchstone. He picked up a stone; it was cold... he threw it into the sea. He picked up another stone - cold! He threw it into the sea. He picked up another stone... it turned warm in his hand, and before he realized what he was doing...
Lord, we like to feel that we have you within our grasp:– that our prayers are always answered;
– that we are living in a way that is pleasing to you;
– that the times, gestures and words of our prayers are just right.
Teach us that we must be prepared to lose that security
and experience being abandoned, until we live in trust only
and see all those things that we considered important
like the cloths in the empty tomb of Jesus –
fine linen cloths, but they were keeping him in the tomb.
Now we see them on the ground and also the cloth that had been over his headnot with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself.
From Fr. Jude Botelho:
The first reading from the Acts, is part of an early sermon of St. Peter on the feast of Pentecost, his very first after the resurrection. He tells us how he is a witness of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Without the resurrection Jesus’ life and ours would be a total failure, with the resurrection every moment of His ministry has new meaning and every moment of our own can take on new significance. Peter in this sermon reminds his listeners that Jesus is Lord of all and that his message is a message of hope and peace. He emphasizes that every believer is called to be a witness of the Lord’s life, death and resurrection. We are called to be witnesses of the resurrection, but the glory of the resurrection is realized in us only when we have accepted the many crosses that come our way leading us to new life.
The first reading from the Acts, is part of an early sermon of St. Peter on the feast of Pentecost, his very first after the resurrection. He tells us how he is a witness of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Without the resurrection Jesus’ life and ours would be a total failure, with the resurrection every moment of His ministry has new meaning and every moment of our own can take on new significance. Peter in this sermon reminds his listeners that Jesus is Lord of all and that his message is a message of hope and peace. He emphasizes that every believer is called to be a witness of the Lord’s life, death and resurrection. We are called to be witnesses of the resurrection, but the glory of the resurrection is realized in us only when we have accepted the many crosses that come our way leading us to new life.
Unfinished Till Broken
A story is told of an Eastern village that, through the centuries, was known for its exquisite pottery. Especially striking were its urns; high as tables, wide as chairs, they were admired around the globe for their strong form and delicate beauty. Legend has it that when each urn was apparently finished, there was one final step. The artist broke it – and then put it back together with gold filigree. An ordinary urn was then transformed into a priceless work of art. What seemed finished wasn't, until it was broken.
The Gospel begins with Mary Magdalene coming to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. She knows the stone has to be rolled away, and she also knows that she cannot do it by herself. Maybe she believes that the Lord will provide and he will take care of it all - and he does! “She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.” Maybe Mary’s attitude should be a great encouragement for us all. We can’t remove the boulder that blocks us and prevents us from bursting forth into new life. But the Lord is there and He will do it for us! She saw but she did not believe. The Apostles would not accept the conclusion, so obvious to us, that Jesus must have risen from the dead. Peter and John did not believe but ran to the tomb to check out for themselves and remained baffled in their unbelief. Finally they both went into the tomb, they began to understand the scriptures, they saw and they believed. The Gospel tells us that Mary stood outside the tomb, weeping and looking into the tomb to see, not the risen Jesus but where they had laid his body. She was looking for Jesus in the wrong place, looking for the risen among the dead! She sees Jesus but still does not recognize him. This narrative of the resurrection reminds us that left on our own we look for the Lord in the wrong places, among the dead rather than among the living. But the good news is that the Lord does not give up on us. He will reveal himself to us and call us by name so that like Mary we can say: “I have seen the Lord!” and once we have seen him and experienced the power of the resurrection nothing will ever be the same again.
Witness to the Resurrection
Witness to the Resurrection
In the darkest days of Stalinist Russia a special League of the Godless was established to stamp out the last vestiges of religion from peoples’ lives. One Easter morning the Commissar of this League addressed a huge rally in Moscow’s Red Square. He ranted along his usual lines that religion was the instrument of the bourgeoisie and the opium of the proletariat. At the end of his harangue he generously offered the mike to anyone who wished to debate with him. Nobody wanted a one-way ticket to Siberia until one old man made his way forward. He surveyed his huge audience, cleared his throat and began to sing: “The Lord has risen.” It was the traditional Orthodox Easter greeting. Moved by the old man’s courage, voices from the square swelled up in reply: “He has truly risen.” Religion in Russia was not dead as long as belief in the resurrection of Christ was not dead in people.
Sylvester O’Flynn in ‘The Good News of Mark’s Gospel’
Sylvester O’Flynn in ‘The Good News of Mark’s Gospel’
Empty Tomb
Easter celebrations lead us to an empty tomb! The coffin of President Abraham Lincoln has been opened twice since his death. The first time it was opened in 1887, twenty years after his death. Why was it opened? Because of the rumour that the coffin did not contain Lincoln’s body. It was opened and the body in it was proven to be Lincoln’s. Fourteen years later, the same rumours circulated again. Again the coffin was opened and again the body was proved to be Abraham Lincoln’s. Similar rumours circulated about the body of Jesus after his death. The only difference was that Jesus’ body was not in the tomb. Now the rumours concerned about what happened to Jesus’ body. Today’s gospel does not present us with the risen Christ. Instead it presents us with the empty tomb! The angel asks: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” Unfortunately, we humans are still looking for the living among the dead.
John Pichappilly in ‘The Table of the Word’
Lord of Life Dr. Jayant Patel, an Indo-American was dubbed ‘doctor of death’ because he faced charges of manslaughter in over 800 cases in the USA and Australia. Dr. Patel allegedly lied about his medical qualifications and performed operations causing innumerable deaths. Similarly, Dr. Amit Kumar performed illegal kidney operations on about 500 poor unsuspecting victims and sold their kidneys to rich recipients from the West. History abounds with such ‘doctors of death’ besides leaders like Hitler and the so-called ‘butcher of the Balkans’ Slobodan Milosevic. Besides these killers, we too consciously or unconsciously – promote death rather than life. Conversely, Easter exhorts everyone to celebrate the Lord of Life and defy death.
Francis Gonsalves in ‘Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds’
Do Not Be Amazed
Do Not Be Amazed
The Fourth Wise Man is a movie made for television and based on Henry Van Dyke’s 1895 classic. It begins like a Christmas story but ends as an Easter story. Martin Sheen stars as the fourth wise man, Artaban, who was late for the journey the three wise men made it to Bethlehem because he stopped along the way to help someone in trouble. For the next 33 years, he tries to find the promised Messiah, only to miss him at every turn because he is constantly getting sidetracked to help people. In his last efforts to find Jesus, Artaban arrives late one more time at the crucifixion. Jesus has just died on the cross. At that moment the earthquake occurs and Artaban is struck by a falling tile. As he lies there dying he is broken-hearted because his quest to find the Messiah was never realized. Suddenly, the Risen Lord appears to him. Jesus tells him that for the past 33 years he had, in fact, been found by the fourth wise man in the person of all the people this wise man had helped. Whatever Artaban had done to the least of the Lord’s people, that he had done to Jesus himself. This Easter story is retold in another form in today’s gospel. Instead of three wise men seeking the Lord, with the fourth wise man coming along late, we have three women coming to the tomb, seeking the Lord who has been crucified.
Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’
All That God Does He Does Well
Rabbi Moshe took a trip to a strange land. He took a donkey, a rooster, and a lamp. Since he was a Jew, he was refused hospitality in the village inns, so he decided to sleep in the woods. He lit his lamp to study the holy books before going to sleep, but a fierce wind came up, knocking over the lamp and breaking it. The rabbi decided to turn in, saying, “All that God does, he does well.” During the night some wild animals came along and drove away the rooster and thieves stole the donkey. Moshe woke up, saw the loss, but still proclaimed easily, “All that God does, he does well.” The rabbi then went back to the village where he was refused lodging, only to learn that enemy soldiers had invaded it during the night and killed all the inhabitants. He also learned that these soldiers had traveled through the same part of the woods where he lay asleep. Had his lamp not been broken he would have been discovered. Had not the rooster been chased, it would have crowed, giving him away. Had not the donkey been stolen, it would have brayed. So once more Rabbi Moshe declared, “All that God does, He does well!”
Anonymous
Light in the Darkness
People themselves can be the most effective of all sermon illustrations. All of us can point to people who are and have been lights in the surrounding darkness. One such person was Dr. Brackett. He practiced in a small town in America. He was known as the poor man’s friend because of the hours he spent sitting by the bedsides of the less privileged members of the community and the fact that he never took a fee from them. He lived in two rooms over a shop in the middle of town. At the ground entrance was a brass plate which read: DOC. BRACKETT – OFFICE UPSTAIRS. At one time in his life he was to have married but the day of the wedding he was called to a poor Mexican family to assist with a difficult childbirth. He stayed with the mother until her child was delivered safe and well. He returned to find that his fiancée had called off the wedding and would have nothing more to do with him. The remainder of his life was one of selfless dedication to the sick, the poor, the old, and the lonely. When he died his funeral was the biggest ever seen. Then the townspeople came together to discuss ways and means of perpetuating his memory in town. Various proposals and suggestions were made but as often happens in situations like this nothing was done by anyone except the Mexican couple whose child he delivered on what should have been his wedding day. On the way home from the meeting they removed the sign from his door and the following day it reappeared over his grave surrounded by flowers. It read: DOC. BRACKETT – OFFICE UPSTAIRS.
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From Sermons.com
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From Sermons.com
You probably do not remember the name Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin. During his day he was as powerful a man as there was on earth. A Russian Communist leader he took part in the Bolshevik Revolution 1917, was editor of the Soviet newspaper Pravda (which by the way means truth), and was a full member of the Politburo. His works on economics and political science are still read today. There is a story told about a journey he took from Moscow to Kiev in 1930 to address a huge assembly on the subject of atheism. Addressing the crowd he aimed his heavy artillery at Christianity hurling insult, argument, and proof against it.
An hour later he was finished. He looked out at what seemed to be the smoldering ashes of men's faith. "Are there any questions?" Bukharin demanded. Deafening silence filled the auditorium but then one man approached the platform and mounted the lectern standing near the communist leader. He surveyed the crowd first to the left then to the right. Finally he shouted the ancient greeting known well in the Russian Orthodox Church: "CHRIST IS RISEN!" En masse the crowd arose as one man and the response came crashing like the sound of thunder: "HE IS RISEN INDEED!"
I say to you this morning: CHRIST IS RISEN! (congregational response should be: HE IS RISEN INDEED!). I am convinced! I have faith that Christ was dead and he was buried. That I believe. But, this too I accept as true: He rose from the dead and will come again in glory.
This is Easter. And to stand here on this day in this pulpit and proclaim this word. . . I cannot begin to tell you how this defines all that I am.
But, you will say to me, how do you know that the resurrection is real? How do you know that it is really valid?...
An hour later he was finished. He looked out at what seemed to be the smoldering ashes of men's faith. "Are there any questions?" Bukharin demanded. Deafening silence filled the auditorium but then one man approached the platform and mounted the lectern standing near the communist leader. He surveyed the crowd first to the left then to the right. Finally he shouted the ancient greeting known well in the Russian Orthodox Church: "CHRIST IS RISEN!" En masse the crowd arose as one man and the response came crashing like the sound of thunder: "HE IS RISEN INDEED!"
I say to you this morning: CHRIST IS RISEN! (congregational response should be: HE IS RISEN INDEED!). I am convinced! I have faith that Christ was dead and he was buried. That I believe. But, this too I accept as true: He rose from the dead and will come again in glory.
This is Easter. And to stand here on this day in this pulpit and proclaim this word. . . I cannot begin to tell you how this defines all that I am.
But, you will say to me, how do you know that the resurrection is real? How do you know that it is really valid?...
Christ is Alive!
He has Risen Indeed!
He has Risen from the Dead, Hallelujah!
"I know that my Redeemer lives."
He has Risen Indeed!
He has Risen from the Dead, Hallelujah!
"I know that my Redeemer lives."
If I were to change the end of that last statement by only two letters, a "th" for a "s" so it would be "I know that my Redeemer liveth," you have immediately thought of a song, perhaps the most famous Easter song of all time.
What is it? . . . . Handel's "Messiah."
We may know nothing about George Frederic Handel, but we know the "Messiah" (1741).
We may know nothing about George Frederic Handel, but we know the "Messiah" (1741).
Oh, we may know that next door to where Handel lived and composed for 36 years almost three centuries ago, a more recent musician called home. George Frederic Handel lived at No.25 Brook Street, Mayfair, London (from 1723 to 1749). His neighbor to the left, at No.23 Brook Street? Jimi Hendrix.
Oh, we may be aware that most of the pieces Handel composed expressly for Christian worship no choir ever sings and no congregation ever hears. But we know the "Messiah."
In the Victorian era, "Messiahs" performed at Hyde Park, London's Crystal Palace at its three yearly Handel Festivals had 3000 performers and tens of thousands in the audience. As the English music historian (Charles Burney) wrote even earlier of Handel's majestic "Messiah:" "It has fed the hungry, clothed the naked, fostered the orphan, and enriched succeeding managers off the oratorios, more than any single production in this or any other country." Some say it is the best known choral work in Western music.
But as well as we think we know Handel's defining Easter sound, "The Messiah," do we really?...
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Always a Duet: A Reflection for Holy Week
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Always a Duet: A Reflection for Holy Week
From A Winter Night
The night is calm in our rooms,
where the echoes of all footsteps rest
like sunken leaves in a pond,
but the night outside is wild.
where the echoes of all footsteps rest
like sunken leaves in a pond,
but the night outside is wild.
A darker storm stands over the world.
It puts its mouth to our soul
and blows to get a tone. We are afraid
the storm will blow us empty.
It puts its mouth to our soul
and blows to get a tone. We are afraid
the storm will blow us empty.
This expert of a poem by Tomas Transtromer brings to mind the challenges of Holy Week and the reflections of our Lenten journey. We look out into the world and we are tested, we are pushed, we are brought to reflect on our own isolation, our own limitations and our own temptations. But the message of Easter is to fear not! We do not have to fear that the storm will blow us empty because we are not alone. When the storm tries to get a tone from the soul of a Christian, it should be a song of resilient hope, comfort, joy, and love because it is always a duet with Christ.
Staff, www.Sermons.com, A Winter Night, from The Deleted World: Poems by Tomas Transtromer, version by Robin Robertson. Tomas Transtromer passed away on March 26, 2015.
The Easter Choice
When faced with new realities, you have at least three options for how to respond (and it is nearly certain that you will opt for one of these three possibilities). First, you can stay bewildered. You can let this event knock you flat on your back and then stay there. Second, you can engage in world-class denial. You can look at the facts and ignore them. Or third, you can, slowly perhaps, assimilate this new information. You may get knocked as flat on your back as the next person by this new realization, but eventually you pick yourself up. You embrace this new truth and then go through the long, sometimes painful, process of re-assessing life in the light of this new evidence.
This is the Easter choice. When faced with the incredible proclamation that Jesus rose again from the dead, you can be agnostic and cynical by saying that you don't know what to make of this but then neither are you going to try. Who cares anyway? Or you can deny it. The whole thing is fiction, fantasy, a pious wish but something that never really happened. Or you can move past the shock toward acceptance. But let me caution you: if you are going to accept the truth of the bodily resurrection, you need to let it change you totally.
That's the Easter choice. The problem for most of us is that we are not surprised enough by Easter to realize we face a choice. Easter is a part of the background scenery of our lives. We've never been afraid of Easter, never been bewildered by it. Believing that Jesus rose again from the dead becomes a little like believing the earth is round and that it orbits the sun. Once upon a time people didn't know that. They thought the earth was flat and that the sun orbited the earth. It caused quite a stir when this view had to be revised. But that was a long time ago and now we accept that picture of our solar system without much thought. Sure the world is round and we orbit the sun, but what does that have to do with anything? It doesn't change what I have to do at work tomorrow, does it?
Is that what Easter becomes for us? We believe it happened but then, we've always believed that. Even Easter has somehow become part of the "routines" of this world. So why would it have much of an effect on what we do tomorrow? Easter is no longer shocking for us -- it surely does not make us re-evaluate everything else we think we know. And anyway, we're not sure we want to have everything in our lives changed.
Of course, if we can believe in the resurrection at all, it is a gift of faith granted to us by the prior gift of grace. But if we have received that grace and accept the truth that gets proclaimed from every Christian pulpit in the world each Easter Sunday morning, then we have to know that this truth changes everything. This is not some fact we can ponder just once every twelve months. This changes everything.... and on EVERY day.
Scott Hoezee, Comments and Observatio
Sooner Than You Think
My mother died three years ago. I had the honor of speaking at her graveside service where we buried her next to my father. While I was standing there, I had a surreal personal experience. Perhaps it happened partly because I was a bit under the weather, perhaps it was seeing so many old friends after three decades, perhaps it was because we were burying my mother and my father side by side. It was as if there was a "wrinkle in time" and the 29 years since my father died had suddenly been swallowed up. They just disappeared for a moment. I was in my early 20s when Dad died; I'm in my early 50s now. Most of the family friends who came to the graveside service had been at my father's funeral 29 years earlier. Most of them were in their early 50s then; most are in their late 70s or early 80s now. It seemed as if the three decades in between had just disappeared. All this passed through my mind in a flash while I was speaking. I could reach out and touch my mother's coffin. I was standing three feet from where we buried my father. It was as if we buried my father last week, we were burying my mother this week, and next week someone would bury me. I had a tremendous sense of my own mortality, of the quickly passing years. It seemed as if the Lord whispered in my ear, "Ray, take a good look. This is where you will be someday." And that day will probably come sooner than I think.
Ray Pritchard, Christ and the Problem of Death
Ray Pritchard, Christ and the Problem of Death
What You Love Will Not Be Spared
In recent weeks, I have been reading a powerful book of poetry by Louise Glück, entitled Averno. The title Averno takes its name from a crater lake in southern Italy that during the time of ancient Rome was thought to be the entrance to the underworld. In one of Glück's most haunting poems in this collection, called October, she contemplates the season of autumn and the gradual, day-by-day dimming of light that goes along with that time of the year. Her poem is about cold winds and changing leaves, but is also, of course, about us, for we cannot escape the eventual fading of the light. In stark terms, she writes, "You will not be spared, nor will what you love be spared." When I first read those words, I had a physical reaction to them. A sharp pain squeezed my forehead, and I began to weep. I wept because these words are undeniably true, and I wept because I hate their truth. Sure, there are times when I grapple with the fact of my own mortality, but I don't ever want to be told that the people who I love will not be spared. Don't tell me that they won't survive this life--not one of them. I imagine that the sight of the empty tomb hit the three visiting women like that...what you love will not be spared.
Easter begins with fear. At least that's the way Mark tells it. It's not that Easter begins with wild panic--no, not that. Easter begins with the kind of fear that feels a lot like heart-break. It begins with the twist in your stomach that comes when the phone rings and you hear the voice of your sister. "Are you sitting down?" she asks--that kind of fear.
Early in the morning, three women approach the tomb bearing precious herbs and oils to wash the body of their Lord. They have come to comb out Jesus' hair, to sponge away the dried blood, to massage precious myrrh into his skin. They hope to engage in the ritual act (the act of care) that is traditionally done before sealing a body in the tomb. They have come to anoint the crucified one. Yet, even as they discuss how they will gain access to the cave (after all, it is closed by a massive boulder), they find that the stone has been rolled away. The tomb is empty--vacant, except for some young guy who is definitely not Jesus; and suddenly, they are afraid. They fear that their last chance to pour a little compassion on the broken body of Jesus has escaped. They fear that they are witnessing the final insult of this whole horrible affair. First, Jesus' life is stolen, and now, even his body has been taken. And, perhaps, they also fear... no, they simply must fear that death has won. Death, the ever-ravenous monster, has finally, and utterly, swallowed up their beloved friend.
Early in the morning, three women approach the tomb bearing precious herbs and oils to wash the body of their Lord. They have come to comb out Jesus' hair, to sponge away the dried blood, to massage precious myrrh into his skin. They hope to engage in the ritual act (the act of care) that is traditionally done before sealing a body in the tomb. They have come to anoint the crucified one. Yet, even as they discuss how they will gain access to the cave (after all, it is closed by a massive boulder), they find that the stone has been rolled away. The tomb is empty--vacant, except for some young guy who is definitely not Jesus; and suddenly, they are afraid. They fear that their last chance to pour a little compassion on the broken body of Jesus has escaped. They fear that they are witnessing the final insult of this whole horrible affair. First, Jesus' life is stolen, and now, even his body has been taken. And, perhaps, they also fear... no, they simply must fear that death has won. Death, the ever-ravenous monster, has finally, and utterly, swallowed up their beloved friend.
Scott Black Johnston, Deadly Things
Ongoing Easter
Ongoing Easter gets us finally home at last, for life is not an endless circle but life is moving to an end point. The crowning achievement of the risen Lord is to bring us finally home together with the whole family of God in that transition from time into eternity. It is a great privilege to witness that transition in the lives of people and I think of one this Easter day. Her name was Augusta. She lived 100 years, raised in the prairies of South Dakota, faced every manner of hardship and heartache, but was buoyant and lived on the resurrection side of the cross, raised a family. In the last hour of her life standing with her daughters around her in the hospital room, I heard her bless her daughters. Being a mother to the very end and with a twinkle in her eye, looked at the faces of her daughters around her and pointed to them each one and said, "Too much lipstick," and then closed her eyes in peaceful death.
That is the goal toward which the ongoing Easter draws us and transforms our dark, gloomy mornings into a shining doxology. We say with all the faithful of all of the ages, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By His great mercy, we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, unfailing and undefiled, kept in heaven for you. Though you must go through various trials, all this is so that your faith may redound to the praise, glory and honor of Jesus Christ. Without having seen Him, we love Him, and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. The outcome of your faith is the salvation of your souls.
F. Dean Lueking, Ongoing Easter
Recently, Billy Graham responded to someone who shouted out "God is dead! God is dead!" Dr. Graham with tenderness replied, "That's strange because I just talked to Him in prayer a few minutes ago." Yes, the day you believe in the resurrection is the day you change the universe, and most importantly, you can reflect that transforming truth.
Eric S. Ritz, www.Sermons.com
The Legend of the Touchstone
o you remember the Legend of the Touchstone? It's a great story to recall on Easter Sunday morning. According to that ancient legend, if you could find the touchstone on the coast of the Black Sea and hold it in your hand, everything you touched would turn to gold. You could recognize the touchstone by its warmth. The other stones would feel cold, but when you picked up the touchstone, it would turn warm in your hand.
The Legend of the Touchstone
o you remember the Legend of the Touchstone? It's a great story to recall on Easter Sunday morning. According to that ancient legend, if you could find the touchstone on the coast of the Black Sea and hold it in your hand, everything you touched would turn to gold. You could recognize the touchstone by its warmth. The other stones would feel cold, but when you picked up the touchstone, it would turn warm in your hand.
Once a man sold everything he had and went to the coast of the Black Sea in search of the touchstone. He began immediately to walk along the shoreline picking up one stone after another in his diligent and intentional search for the touchstone. He was consumed with this dream. He wanted desperately to find this miraculous stone. However, after several days had passed, he suddenly realized that he was picking up the same stones again and again. So he devised a plan... pick up a stone; if it's cold, throw it into the sea. This he did for weeks and weeks.
Then one morning he went out to continue his search for the touchstone. He picked up a stone; it was cold... he threw it into the sea. He picked up another stone - cold! He threw it into the sea. He picked up another stone... it turned warm in his hand, and before he realized what he was doing... he threw it into the sea!
That's a good parable for Easter, isn't it? Because that can so easily happen to us. We can come upon a miraculous moment like Easter... we can feel it turn warm in our hands... but then (so dulled by the routine) before we realize what we are doing... we throw it away. Absentmindedly, mechanically, nonchalantly... we toss it aside and miss the miracle of Easter.
James W. Moore, Lenten Series on Mark, www.Sermons.com
Humor: The Gospel Has Been Proclaimed
Then one morning he went out to continue his search for the touchstone. He picked up a stone; it was cold... he threw it into the sea. He picked up another stone - cold! He threw it into the sea. He picked up another stone... it turned warm in his hand, and before he realized what he was doing... he threw it into the sea!
That's a good parable for Easter, isn't it? Because that can so easily happen to us. We can come upon a miraculous moment like Easter... we can feel it turn warm in our hands... but then (so dulled by the routine) before we realize what we are doing... we throw it away. Absentmindedly, mechanically, nonchalantly... we toss it aside and miss the miracle of Easter.
James W. Moore, Lenten Series on Mark, www.Sermons.com
Humor: The Gospel Has Been Proclaimed
A first year student in a Catholic seminary was told by the dean that he should plan to preach the sermon in chapel the following day. He had never preached a sermon before, he was nervous and afraid, and he stayed up all night, but in the morning, he didn't have a sermon. He stood in the pulpit, looked out at his classmates and said "Do you know what I am going to say?" All of them shook their heads "no" and he said "Neither do I. The service has ended. Go in peace."
The dean was not happy. "I'll give you another chance tomorrow, and you had better have a sermon." Again he stayed up all night; and again he couldn't come up with a sermon. Next morning, he stood in the pulpit and asked "Do you know what I am going to say?" The students all nodded their heads "yes." "Then there is no reason to tell you" he said. "The service has ended. Go in peace."
Now the dean was angry. "I'll give you one more chance; if you don't have a sermon tomorrow, you will be asked to leave the seminary." Again, no sermon came. He stood in the pulpit the next day and asked "Do you know what I am going to say?" Half of the students nodded "yes" and the other half shook their heads "no." The student preacher then announced "Those who know, tell those who don't know. The service has ended. Go in peace."
The seminary dean walked over to the student, put his arm over the student's shoulders, and said "Those who know, tell those who don't know. Today, the gospel has been proclaimed!"
The dean was not happy. "I'll give you another chance tomorrow, and you had better have a sermon." Again he stayed up all night; and again he couldn't come up with a sermon. Next morning, he stood in the pulpit and asked "Do you know what I am going to say?" The students all nodded their heads "yes." "Then there is no reason to tell you" he said. "The service has ended. Go in peace."
Now the dean was angry. "I'll give you one more chance; if you don't have a sermon tomorrow, you will be asked to leave the seminary." Again, no sermon came. He stood in the pulpit the next day and asked "Do you know what I am going to say?" Half of the students nodded "yes" and the other half shook their heads "no." The student preacher then announced "Those who know, tell those who don't know. The service has ended. Go in peace."
The seminary dean walked over to the student, put his arm over the student's shoulders, and said "Those who know, tell those who don't know. Today, the gospel has been proclaimed!"
Steven Molin, Four Truths and a Lie.
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Fr. Tony Kadavil:
Anecdote 2:El Dorado de Soto El Dorado El Dorado El Dorado
1: Egyptian Pyramids
You probably do not remember the name Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin. Many years ago he was one of the most powerful men on earth. A Russian Communist leader, he took part in the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. He was the editor of the Soviet newspaper Pravda, and was a full member of the Politburo. His works on economics and political science are still read today. There is a story told about a journey he took from Moscow to Kiev in 1930 to address a huge assembly of Communists. The subject was atheism. Addressing the crowd, he attacked Christianity, hurling insults and arguments against it. When he had finished, he looked out at the audience. "Are there any questions?" he demanded. Deafening silence filled the auditorium, but then one man approached the platform and mounted the lectern. After surveying the crowd, he shouted the ancient greeting of the Russian Orthodox Church: "CHRIST IS RISEN!" The crowd stood up and shouted in a thundering voice: "HE IS RISEN INDEED!" Amazed and dejected, Bukharin left the stage in silence. Perhaps he had learned the lesson that faith in Christ’s resurrection was deeply rooted in his Russian Orthodox communist followers!
But, you will say to me, how do you know that the resurrection is real? How do you know that it is really valid?
Earlier this week, a woman was called into her supervisor's office to hear that times are hard for the company and they had to let her go. "So sorry." She cleaned out her desk, packed away her hopes for getting ahead, and wondered what she would tell her kids.
Earlier this week, someone received terrible news from a physician. Someone else heard the words, "I don't love you any more." Earlier this week, someone's hope was crucified. And the darkness is overwhelming.
No one is ever ready to encounter Easter until he or she has spent time in the dark place where hope cannot be seen. Easter is the last thing we are expecting. And that is why it terrifies us. This day is not about bunnies, springtime and girls in cute new dresses. It's about more hope than we can handle.
Craig Barnes, Savior at Large
This is the picture of our dilemma as we worship this glad Easter Day. Humankind is trapped in a dreadful situation. All around we are running low on hope, and we look for a word from beyond offering it to us. This world in which we live is plagued with war and famine, mounting debt and continual destruction. The more we try to rescue ourselves the more we seem to fall behind. We wonder: Is there any hope?
Once a man sold everything he had and went to the coast of the Black Sea in search of the touchstone. He began immediately to walk along the shoreline picking up one stone after another in his diligent and intentional search for the touchstone. He was consumed with this dream. He wanted desperately to find this miraculous stone. However, after several days had passed, he suddenly realized that he was picking up the same stones again and again. So he devised a plan... pick up a stone; if it's cold, throw it into the sea. This he did for weeks and weeks.
Then one morning he went out to continue his search for the touchstone. He picked up a stone; it was cold... he threw it into the sea. He picked up another stone - cold! He threw it into the sea. He picked up another stone... it turned warm in his hand, and before he realized what he was doing...
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Fr. Tony Kadavil:
Anecdote 1: Incredible, not impossible: Those who visit Seattle , Washington Korea Russia Turkey
Anecdote 2:
Anecdote 3: The phoenix bird: The late Catholic Archbishop of Hartford Phoenicia
Significance of Easter: Easter is the greatest and the most important feast in the Church. "Easter" literally means "the feast of fresh flowers." We celebrate it with pride and jubilation for three reasons.
1. The resurrection of Christ is the basis of our Christian faith. It is the greatest of the miracles--it proves that Jesus is God. That is whySt. Paul Paris
Significance of Easter: Easter is the greatest and the most important feast in the Church. "Easter" literally means "the feast of fresh flowers." We celebrate it with pride and jubilation for three reasons.
1. The resurrection of Christ is the basis of our Christian faith. It is the greatest of the miracles--it proves that Jesus is God. That is why
2. Easter is the guarantee of our own resurrection. Jesus assured Martha at the tomb of Lazarus: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me will live even though he dies” (Jn 11/25-26). Christ will raise us up on the last day, but it is also true, in a sense, that we have already risen with Christ. By virtue of the Holy Spirit, Christian life is already a participation in the death and Resurrection of Christ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1002, #1003).
3. Easter is a feast which gives us hope and encouragement in this world of pain, sorrows and tears. It reminds us that life is worth living. It is our belief in the real presence of the risen Jesus that gives meaning to our personal, as well as to our common, prayers. Our trust in the all-pervading presence of the risen Lord gives us strength to fight against temptations, and freedom from unnecessary worries and fears. The prayer of St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland reads: “Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ within me, never to part.”
Exegesis
The resurrection of Jesus had certain special features. First, Jesus prophesied it as a sign of his divinity. “Tear down this temple and in three days I will build it again” (Jn. 2: 19). Second, the founder of no other religion has an empty tomb as Jesus has. We see the fulfillment of Christ's promise in the empty cross and in the empty tomb. The angel said to the women at Jesus’ tomb: “Why are you looking among the dead for one who is alive? He is not here: he has been raised” (Luke 24: 5-6). The third special feature is the initial disbelief of Jesus’ own disciples in his resurrection in spite of his repeated apparitions. This serves as a strong proof of his resurrection. It explains why the apostles started preaching the resurrected Christ only after receiving the anointing of the Holy Spirit on the day of the Pentecost.
The resurrection of Jesus had certain special features. First, Jesus prophesied it as a sign of his divinity. “Tear down this temple and in three days I will build it again” (Jn. 2: 19). Second, the founder of no other religion has an empty tomb as Jesus has. We see the fulfillment of Christ's promise in the empty cross and in the empty tomb. The angel said to the women at Jesus’ tomb: “Why are you looking among the dead for one who is alive? He is not here: he has been raised” (Luke 24: 5-6). The third special feature is the initial disbelief of Jesus’ own disciples in his resurrection in spite of his repeated apparitions. This serves as a strong proof of his resurrection. It explains why the apostles started preaching the resurrected Christ only after receiving the anointing of the Holy Spirit on the day of the Pentecost.
Messages
1. We are to be a resurrection people: Easter, the feast of the resurrection, gives us the joyful message that we are a ‘resurrection people.' This means that we are not supposed to lie buried in the tomb of our sins, evil habits and dangerous addictions. It gives us the good news that no tomb can hold us down anymore - neither the tomb of despair, discouragement, doubt nor death. Instead, we are expected to live a joyful and peaceful life, constantly experiencing the real presence of the resurrected Lord in all the events of our lives. “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad” (Psalm 118:24).
2. Source of lasting peace and celestial joy: The living presence of the resurrected Lord gives us lasting peace and celestial joy amid the boredom, suffering, pain and tensions of our day-to-day life. “Peace be with you” was his salutation to his disciples on all post-resurrection appearances.
1. We are to be a resurrection people: Easter, the feast of the resurrection, gives us the joyful message that we are a ‘resurrection people.' This means that we are not supposed to lie buried in the tomb of our sins, evil habits and dangerous addictions. It gives us the good news that no tomb can hold us down anymore - neither the tomb of despair, discouragement, doubt nor death. Instead, we are expected to live a joyful and peaceful life, constantly experiencing the real presence of the resurrected Lord in all the events of our lives. “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad” (Psalm 118:24).
2. Source of lasting peace and celestial joy: The living presence of the resurrected Lord gives us lasting peace and celestial joy amid the boredom, suffering, pain and tensions of our day-to-day life. “Peace be with you” was his salutation to his disciples on all post-resurrection appearances.
3. Be transparent Christians: We are called to be transparent Christians, showing others through our lives of love, mercy and compassion and through our spirit of self-sacrificing service that the risen Jesus is living in our hearts and is an integral part of our lives.
4. Inspiration for self-control and selfless service: The awareness of the all-pervading presence of the risen Lord in and around us, and the strong conviction of our own resurrection, help us control our thoughts, desires, words and behaviour. This salutary thought inspires us to honour our bodies, keeping them holy, pure and free from evil habits and addictions. Our conviction about the presence of the risen Lord in our neighbours, and in all those with whom we come into contact, should encourage us to respect them, and to render them loving, humble and selfless service.
4. Inspiration for self-control and selfless service: The awareness of the all-pervading presence of the risen Lord in and around us, and the strong conviction of our own resurrection, help us control our thoughts, desires, words and behaviour. This salutary thought inspires us to honour our bodies, keeping them holy, pure and free from evil habits and addictions. Our conviction about the presence of the risen Lord in our neighbours, and in all those with whom we come into contact, should encourage us to respect them, and to render them loving, humble and selfless service.
5. Easter gives us the assurance that Good Friday is not the end: Easter reminds us that every Good Friday in our lives will have an Easter Sunday, and that Jesus will let us share the power of his resurrection. Each time we display our love of others, we share in the resurrection. Each time we face a betrayal of trust, we share in the resurrection of Jesus. Each time we fail in our attempts to ward off temptations – but keep on trying to overcome them – we share in the resurrection. Each time we continue to hope – even when our hope seems unanswered – we share in the power of Jesus’ resurrection. In short, the message of Easter is that nothing can destroy us – pain, sin, rejection, death – because Christ has conquered all these, and we too can conquer them if we put our faith in Him.
6. Be bearers of the good news of resurrection power. Resurrection is good news, but at the same time, it’s sometimes painful because it involves death. Before the power of the resurrection can take hold in our own lives, we’re called to die to sin, to die to self. We may even have to die to our own dreams, so that God can do what He wants to do with our lives. Resurrection is about seeing our world in a new way. Early that Easter morning, Mary did not find what she was looking for, the dead body of Jesus. But she found something better than she could have imagined: the risen Jesus. Sometimes, the things we think we want most are not granted to us. What we get instead is an experience of God’s new ways of working in the world. That’s the power of the resurrection. When those moments come, we must spread the news--just as Mary did: We have seen the Lord!
Humour of the Week
Humour of the Week
1 . See what happens: One lady wrote in to a question and answer forum. "Dear Sirs, Our preacher said on Easter, that Jesus just swooned on the cross and that the disciples nursed Him back to health. What do you think? Sincerely, Bewildered.
Dear Bewildered, Beat your preacher with a cat-of-nine-tails, nail him to a cross; hang him in the sun for 6 hours; run a spear through his side...put him in an airless tomb for 36 hours and see what happens." Sincerely, Charles.
2 . Rented for a week end: Joseph of Arimathea was a very wealthy Pharisee, a member of the council, and a secret follower of Jesus. It was Joseph who went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body after the crucifixion. And it was Joseph who supplied the tomb for Jesus’ burial. I wonder if someone pulled him aside and said, "Joseph that was such beautiful, costly, hand-hewn tomb. Why on earth did you give it to someone to be buried in?" "Why not?" Joseph might have answered. “He only needed it for the weekend."
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They are world-famous as one of the “seven Wonders” of the ancient world. But they are actually gigantic tombs containing the mummified bodies of Egyptian Pharaohs. Westminster Abby is famous, and thousands visit it, because the dead bodies of famous writers, philosophers and politicians are entombed there. But there is a Shrine of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, and pilgrims from all over the world visit a tomb there which is empty with a note at its entrance which says, “He is not here.” It is famous because Jesus Christ, who was once buried there, rose from the dead, leaving an empty tomb, as he had told his disciples he would. Thus, he worked the most important miracle in his life, defying the laws of nature and proving that he is God. We rejoice at this great and unique event by celebrating Easter. (Fr. J P)
2: He is risen indeed:
3: The phoenix bird:
The late Catholic Archbishop of Hartford, John Whealon, who had undergone cancer surgery resulting in a permanent colostomy, wrote these very personal words in one of his last Easter messages: "I am now a member of an association of people who have been wounded by cancer. That association has as its symbol the phoenix, a bird of Egyptian mythology. When the bird felt its death was near, every 500 to 1,461 years, it would fly off to Phoenicia, build a nest of aromatic wood and set itself on fire. When the bird was consumed by the flames, a new phoenix sprang forth from the ashes. Thus, the phoenix symbolizes immortality, resurrection, and life after death. It was one of the earliest symbols of the risen Christ. In the same way, any person who has survived a struggle with cancer is considered phoenix-like, having risen from the ashes of disease and been given a new lease on life. Suddenly life becomes more precious to that person. Each hour is lived more fully. Each friend seems much more real. The sky seems more blue, the sunshine more beautiful, and the colors more vivid. Even dull and ordinary things are causes for gratitude to God.” Archbishop John Whealon could have lived in a gloomy tomb of self-pity, hopeless defeat, and chronic sadness, but his faith in the resurrected Lord opened his eyes to new visions of life.
4. "TA-DA!"
A Sunday school teacher had just finished telling her third graders about how Jesus was crucified and placed in a tomb with a great stone sealing the opening. Then, wanting to share the excitement of the resurrection, she asked: "And what do you think were Jesus’ first words when He came bursting out of that tomb alive?" A hand shot up into the air from the rear of the classroom. Attached to it was the arm of a little girl. Leaping out of her chair she shouted out excitedly "I know, I know!" "Good" said the teacher, "Tell us, what were Jesus first words?" And extending her arms high into the air she said: "TA-DA!"
5. Mother-in-law in Jerusalem:
George went on a vacation to the Middle East with most of his family including his mother-in-law. During their vacation and while they were visiting Jerusalem, George's mother-in-law died. With the death certificate in hand, George went to the American Consulate to make arrangements to send the body back to the States for proper burial.
The Consul, after hearing of the death of the mother-in-law, told George that the sending of a body back to the States for burial is very, very expensive. It could cost as much as $5,000. The Consul continued, “In most cases the person responsible for the remains normally decides to bury the body here. This would only cost $150.” George thought for some time and answered, "I don't care how much it will cost to send the body back; that's what I want to do."
The Consul, after hearing this, said, "You must have loved your mother-in-law very much, considering the difference in price." "No, it's not that!" said George. "You see, I know of a case many years ago of a person, by name Jesus, who was buried here in Jerusalem. On the third day he arose from the dead. I just can't take that chance."
6. See what happens.
One lady wrote in to a question and answer forum. "Dear Sirs, Our preacher said on Easter, that Jesus just swooned on the cross and that the disciples nursed Him back to health. What do you think? Sincerely, Bewildered.
Dear Bewildered, Beat your preacher with a cat-of-nine-tails, nail him to a cross; hang him in the sun for 6 hours; run a spear through his side...put him in an airless tomb for 36 hours and see what happens." Sincerely, Charles.
3) Rented for a week end: Joseph of Arimathea was a very wealthy Pharisee, a member of the council, and a secret follower of Jesus. It was Joseph who went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body after the crucifixion. And it was Joseph who supplied the tomb for Jesus’ burial. I wonder if someone pulled him aside and said, "Joseph that was such beautiful, costly, hand-hewn tomb. Why on earth did you give it to someone to be buried in?" "Why not?" Joseph may have answered. He only needed it for the weekend."
7. Resurrection in election:
Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was once asked if he believed in the resurrection. “Of course I do,” said Huckabee. “Dead people vote in every election we have in Arkansas. Resurrection is very real to us.”
26- Additional anecdotes:
# 3: “He is not here.” Egyptian pyramids are
world-famous as one of the “seven Wonders” of the ancient world. But they are
actually gigantic tombs containing the mummified bodies of Egyptian Pharaohs.
Westminster Abby is famous, and thousands visit it because the dead bodies of
famous writers, philosophers and politicians are entombed there. But there is a
Shrine of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, and pilgrims from all over the world
visit a tomb there which is empty with a note at its entrance which says, “He is not here.” It is famous because
Jesus Christ Who was once buried there rose from the dead, leaving an empty
tomb, as He had told his disciples he would. Thus, He worked the most important
miracle in His life, defying the laws of nature and proving that He is God. We
rejoice at this great and unique event by celebrating Easter. (Fr. J P)
23) Unfinished
Till Broken
26) Do Not Be Amazed: The Fourth Wise Man is a movie made for television and based on Henry Van Dyke’s 1895 classic. It begins like a Christmas story but ends as an Easter story. Martin Sheen stars as the fourth wise man, Artaban, who was late for the journey the three wise men made it to Bethlehem because he stopped along the way to help someone in trouble. For the next 33 years, he tries to find the promised Messiah, only to miss him at every turn because he is constantly getting sidetracked to help people. In his last efforts to find Jesus, Artaban arrives late one more time at the crucifixion. Jesus has just died on the cross. At that moment the earthquake occurs and Artaban is struck by a falling tile. As he lies there dying he is broken-hearted because his quest to find the Messiah was never realized. Suddenly, the Risen Lord appears to him. Jesus tells him that for the past 33 years he had, in fact, been found by the fourth wise man in the person of all the people this wise man had helped. Whatever Artaban had done to the least of the Lord’s people, that he had done to Jesus himself. This Easter story is retold in another form in today’s Gospel. Instead of three wise men seeking the Lord, with the fourth wise man coming along late, we have three women coming to the tomb, seeking the Lord who has been crucified. (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds; quoted by Fr. Botelho)
26- Additional anecdotes:
1) "The
Godfather of Fitness.” You may recall years ago when fitness legend Jack LaLanne
celebrated his seventieth birthday by towing 70 boats containing 70 people for
a mile across Long Beach Harbor. Amazing! But wait. He did it by holding the
rope in his teeth. Why? Well, he was handcuffed and wearing leg shackles!
Unbelievable! LaLanne was still going strong in his nineties. But friends, this
"The Godfather of Fitness” died on Jan 24, 2011, proving
that this world is not our final destination. It is but a prelude to a grander
production. This world is a preparatory school. Without the Resurrection, it is
simply impossible to explain a world in which people suffer and die. But the
Resurrection is real. Christ rose from the dead. Christ is still alive and He
is available in our world today
2)
Bright light in the “black holes” of
life: Have you ever
heard of a "black hole"? If you have ever watched movies or TV
programs about travelling in outer space, like the TV series Star Trek, you
will know what a black hole is. Roughly speaking, it
is a spot in the vastness of space which astronomers believe is like a giant
vacuum or whirlpool sucking everything around it into the hole. Using Newton’s
laws, scientists first theorized black holes in the 1790s but it wasn't until
1994 that the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a
massive supersized black hole – fortunately a long way from our own galaxy.
There is also a black hole in our galaxy, the Milky Way.
What if scientists said that it was not beyond the realms of possibility that
one day our sun and everything around it would be sucked into this "black
hole," and everything would be gone? "Black holes" are symbols
of hopelessness, and the message of Easter tells us that there is something
beyond those "black holes". Maybe this "black hole"
includes grief for a loved one, anxiety over a work situation or what is
happening in our family. Maybe it is a "black hole" of depression and
stress, and we feel there is nothing we can do to change what is happening.
Maybe it’s the "black hole" of sickness and pain. Maybe it’s the
"black hole" of guilt and failure. Whether those "black
holes" are right here and now or show up at some time in the future,
Easter tells us there is hope, there is a living Saviour and Friend who will
help us when we feel as if we have been sucked into the deepest darkness.
Easter tells us that there is nothing to fear. We have a risen Saviour who
promises never to leave us, to love us always, always to brighten our darkest
paths, and to guide us from death to eternal life in Heaven. Even when we are
in the middle of something deep and dark, our risen Saviour will always be
there with us. “I am the Living One! I was dead, but now I am alive forever
and ever. I have authority over death and the world of the dead"
(Revelation 1:8). http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/universe/black-holes-article/
4) “We believe you.” There is a beautiful story told recently about a woman named
Rosemary who works in the Alzheimer’s Unit of a nursing home. Rosemary and a
colleague named Arlene brought the residents of the home together one Good
Friday afternoon to view Franco Zeffirelli’s acclaimed production, Jesus
of Nazareth. They wondered whether these elderly Alzheimer’s
patients would even know what was going on, but they thought it might be worth
the effort. When they finally succeeded in getting everyone into position, they
started the video. Rosemary was pleasantly surprised at the quiet attention
being paid to the screen. At last came the scene where Mary Magdalene comes
upon the empty tomb and sees Jesus’ body not there. An unknown man, in reality
the risen Christ, asks Mary why she is looking for the living among the dead.
Mary runs as fast as she can back to the disciples and tells Peter and the rest
with breathless excitement, “He’s alive! I saw Him, I tell you! He’s alive.”
The doubt in their eyes causes Mary to pull back. “You don’t believe me . . .
You don’t believe me!” From somewhere in the crowd of Alzheimer’s patients came
the clear, resolute voice of Esther, one of the patients. “WE BELIEVE YOU,” she
said, “WE BELIEVE YOU!” [Rosemary Kadrmas in Jeff Cavins, et.al, Amazing
Grace for the Catholic Heart (West Chester, PA: Ascension Press, LLC,
2003), pp. 211-212.]
5) The killers asked her if
there was anyone [in the classroom] who had faith in Christ. A day after the terrible
tragedy at Columbine High, CNN journalist Larry King did a live interview with
a teenage girl named Mickie Cain, a student who had witnessed the massacre.
Mickie was having a difficult time maintaining her composure and was able to
blurt out only a few words before lapsing into uncontrollable sobs. Larry King
was patient and gave her plenty of time to regain her composure. Mickie
recounted the chilling story: “Let me tell you about my friend Cassie,” she said.
“[Cassie] was amazing . . . She completely stood up for God when the killers
asked her if there was anyone [in the classroom] who had faith in Christ. She
spoke up [and said she did] and they shot her for it.” [Franklin Graham, The
Name (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2002), pp. 14-15]. Such a
testimony as Cassie made that day makes our witness look pretty pathetic,
doesn’t it? The critical question is, would you make such a sacrifice for
something that you knew was patently untrue? Of course not. And neither would
those early disciples of Christ. They had met Christ, Risen from the grave, and
they would not testify otherwise, even while being tortured. The witnesses are
so credible, the change in their lives so dramatic, that their testimony cannot
be disregarded.
6) Cape of Good Hope: You
may remember a geography lesson from elementary school in which you learned
that the southernmost point of Africa is a point which for centuries has
experienced tremendous storms. For many years no one knew what lay beyond
that cape, for no ship attempting to round that point had ever returned to tell
the tale. Among the ancients it was known as the "Cape of Storms,"
and for good reason. But then a Portuguese explorer in the sixteenth century,
Vasco De Gama, successfully sailed East around that
very point and found beyond the wild raging storms, a great calm sea, and
beyond that, the shores of India. The name of that cape was changed from the
Cape of Storms to the Cape of Good Hope. Until Jesus Christ rose from the dead,
death had been the "cape of storms" on which all hopes of life beyond
had been wrecked. No one knew what lay beyond that point until, on Easter
morning, Jesus arose. The ancient visions of Isaiah became the
victory of Jesus over our last great enemy. Like those sixteenth century
explorers, we can see beyond human death to the hope of Heaven and eternal life
with the Father. More than that, we dare to believe that we shall experience in
our own human lives exactly what the Son of God experienced in His, for the
Risen Christ says to us, "Because I live, you shall live also." This
is the heart of our Faith.
7)
“I choose death....by
old age."
Long ago, there was an exceedingly clever court jester at the court of the
Caliph of Baghdad. For years he'd never failed to amuse the court whenever they
called him. But one day, in a split second of carelessness, he offended the
caliph who ordered him put to death. "However," said the caliph,
"in consideration of your many years of fine and faithful service, I'll
let you choose how you wish to die." "Oh
mighty Caliph," replied the jester. "I thank you for your great
kindness. I choose death....by old age." Wouldn't we all! But that just
delays the big question: Then what? What comes after you finally die at the age
of 110 on the tennis court? Only Jesus has the answer. He says, "I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever
believes in Me, even though he die, will live with Me
forever." (Msgr. D. Clarke)
8) He always
whistled: Have you heard the
story of the man whose hobby was growing roses? When he worked in his rose
garden, he always whistled. It seemed to everyone that he was whistling much
louder than was needed for his own enjoyment. One day a neighbor asked him why
it was that he always whistled so loudly. The man then took the neighbor into
his home to meet his wife. The woman was not only an invalid but was completely
blind as well. The man, you see, was whistling, not for his benefit, but rather
for the benefit of his wife. He wanted his blind wife to know that he was
nearby, and that she was not alone. That story is a wonderful illustration of
the significance of Easter Day. The affirmation, "Christ is risen!"
reminds us that God is near, and the experiencing of His presence strengthens us
in our weakness. (Living the Easter Faith,
Donald William Dotterer).
9) And so
the Iron Lady wept. In 1984,
when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of Britain, a terrorist's bomb
exploded in the conference room where many of the government meetings were
held. Margaret Thatcher survived this blast, but some of her cabinet members
were killed. The following Sunday, Margaret Thatcher went to church as she
always did. But that particular Sunday seemed different. As Margaret Thatcher
sang the hymns, listened to the message, saw the candles upon the altar and the
sunshine streaming through the stained-glass windows, she began to weep. She
wept because everything around her had been changed by the loss of her friends.
The familiar had now become strange. The goodness and beauty of the world
around her seemed almost too much to bear. She knew she would not only miss her
friends, but also the wonderful times they had had together. And so the Iron
Lady wept. If we can relate to Maggie Thatcher's grief, maybe we can relate to
the grief of Jesus' disciples and friends on that first Easter morning.
10) “I want to see your Resurrection!”
Father Basil Pennington, a Catholic monk, tells of an encounter he once had
with a teacher of Zen. Pennington was at a retreat. As part of the retreat,
each person met privately with this Zen teacher. Pennington says that at his
meeting the Zen teacher sat there before him smiling from ear to ear and
rocking gleefully back and forth. Finally, the teacher said: “I like
Christianity. But I would not like Christianity without the Resurrection. I
want to see your Resurrection!” Pennington notes that, “With his directness,
the teacher was saying what everyone else implicitly says to Christians: You
are a Christian. You are risen with Christ. Show me (what this means for you in
your life) and I will believe.” (http://www.stjohnslaverne.org/SermonReadingArchive/OmernickEasterSundaySermon20
06.rtf.) Marilyn Omernick.] That is how people know if the Resurrection is
true or not. Does it affect how we live?
11)
“Do you mean like Elvis?”
A father was explaining to his five-year-old son how Jesus died and then, on
the third day, rose from the dead. “That’s what we believe,” the father said.
“That’s how we know Jesus is the Son of God, because He came back from the dead
just as He said He would.” “Do you mean like Elvis?” the boy replied. Well, no.
Not exactly like Elvis. This is a new world. People nowadays believe just about
everything, except that which is most true. We have to work a little bit harder
in this new world to help people
12) From the
empty tomb: It was a hot summer afternoon. The famous
Hollywood film director Cecil B. DeMille was drifting in a canoe on a lake in
Maine, reading a book. He looked away from the book momentarily, down to the
lake. There a bunch of water beetles were at play. Suddenly one of the beetles
began to crawl up the side of the canoe. When it got halfway up, it attached
the talons of its legs to the wooden side of the canoe and died. DeMille
watched for a minute; then he turned back to his book. About three hours later,
DeMille looked down at the dead beetle again. What he saw amazed him. The
beetle had dried up, and its back was starting to crack open. As he watched,
something began to emerge from the opening: first a moist head, then wings. It
was a beautiful dragonfly. DeMille sat there in awe. Then the dragonfly began
to move its wings. It hovered gracefully over the water where the other beetles
were at play. But they didn’t recognize the dragonfly. They didn’t realize that
it was the same beetle they had played with three hours earlier. DeMille took
his finger and nudged the dried-out shell of the beetle. It was like an empty
tomb (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies)
13) Easter: surprising or
amazing? There is an old story about Noah Webster,
who wrote the famous dictionary that bears his name. As you can imagine, he was
a stickler for the precise use of language. He was also something of a
womanizer. One day he was in the pantry kissing the maid when Mrs. Webster
walked in on them. Mrs. Webster said, "Why, Noah, I'm surprised."
Noah said, "No, my dear. We're surprised. You're amazed." (Mark
Trotter, "Do You Amaze Anybody?", May 22, 1988). I think the story is
apocryphal. I'm sure Mr. Webster was a stickler for the right word, but when
you look in his own Webster's Dictionary
he says surprise is a synonym for amaze. Amaze is the stronger word. Easter is
both surprising and amazing. Here is God's ultimate act of love and power. It
is an act of love that has gone to its limit in Jesus' gift of Himself on the
cross. It is an act of power that burst the tomb, and announced to the world
that Love is stronger than hate, Good prevails over evil, and Life is
triumphant over death.
14)“Suppose
he isn't in there!" Two famous Broadway producers were
pallbearers at the funeral of the great escape artist, Harry Houdini. As they
lifted the beautiful and heavy casket to their shoulders, one of them turned
and whispered to the other, "Suppose he isn't in there!" He was, of
course. Only one man in human history has conquered the grave, and it is He
Whom we call Lord. "Christ has been raised from the dead," writes St.
Paul, "the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep" (I
Corinthians 15:20). What deliriously good news that is! No wonder our Church is
full on Easter Sunday! That is news that turns the world upside down. Jesus
Christ is risen!
15) Resurrection Bay: In the movie The Hunt for Red October,
the opening scene was filmed in Resurrection Bay, Alaska. This dramatic setting
received its name in 1792 when the Russian trader and explorer Alexandr Baranov
was forced to find refuge there during a vicious storm on Easter Sunday.
Resurrection Bay has the distinction of remaining ice-free even in the dead of
winter. Even in squalls and storms, it provides safe harbor. As Christians, we
anchor our souls in Resurrection Bay. The world may be caught in a thousand
tempests, and storms may arise from all directions. But the empty tomb assures
us of tranquility and a passageway to Heaven that will never ice over. Jesus
died and rose again to give us peace with God and the peace of
God -- life both eternal and abundant. We anchor our souls in the haven of
rest. (Turning Point)
16) Many infallible proofs:
Albert L. Roper was a prominent Virginia attorney, a graduate of the University
of Virginia and its law school, who eventually became mayor of the city of
Norfolk. He once began a thorough legal investigation into the evidence for the
Resurrection of Christ, asking himself the question: "Can any intelligent
person accept the Resurrection story?" After examining the evidence at
length, he came away asking a different question: "Can any intelligent
person deny the weight of this evidence?" Even those who traveled for
three years with Jesus experienced disbelief over His Resurrection, but Jesus
showed Himself alive by many infallible proofs. We don't base our Faith on
legends, myths, or fairy tales. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is
well-documented, and many critics have been silenced (and even converted) when
they've carefully investigated the evidence [Albert L. Roper, Did Jesus
Rise From the Dead (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1965), foreword.] We have a
Risen Savior! He offers Himself to us today with many infallible proofs. (Turning Point- 3/29/13)
17) Joke Saturday: According to an ancient Russian Orthodox
tradition, the day before Easter was devoted to telling jokes. Priests would
join the people in telling their best jokes to one another (presumably “clean”
jokes!!) The reason was to reflect the joke God pulled on the devil in the
Resurrection. Satan thought he won on Friday, but God had the last laugh on
Easter Sunday.
18)
He is no longer in the
grave: In 1887, twenty-two
years after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, his coffin was dug
up and opened because there were constant rumors that his body was not in the
grave. So they dug it up and the body was there. The rumors continued so 14
years later they had to dig it up again. Both times witnesses were present who
testified that Lincoln was still in the grave. Three days after the death of
Jesus Christ, similar rumors began to spread throughout the land of Israel.
Only this time there were no witnesses who could say that they had seen His body.
In fact, to the contrary, many witnesses claimed to have seen him out of His
grave and even talked with Him after the Resurrection. As great a man as
Lincoln was, there were witnesses to prove he was still in the grave. If one of
our Presidents or another leader in our government were to cry out today to
Lincoln for help, there would be no response. If a scientist were to cry out to
Einstein for help today there would only be empty silence. If someone were to
call out to Mohammed or Buddha or Gandhi today there would be no help. But if
you and I call out to Jesus Christ there is instant power available to us...
power to change lives ...why? Because He lives! (Rev. David Henderson).
19) The
parable of the butterfly: As a butterfly soared overhead, one caterpillar
said to the other, "You'll never get me up in one of those things!"
Yet for every caterpillar the time comes when the urge to eat and grow subsides
and he instinctively begins to form a chrysalis around himself. The chrysalis
hardens and you'd think for all the world that the caterpillar was dead. But
one spring morning the life inside the chrysalis will begin to writhe, the top
will crack open, and a beautifully-formed butterfly will emerge. For hours it
will stand stretching and drying its wings, moving them slowly up and down, up
and down. And then, before you know it, the butterfly will glide aloft,
effortlessly riding the currents of the air, alighting on flower after gorgeous
flower, as if to show off its vivid colors to the bright blossoms. Somehow, the
miracle of the butterfly never loses its fascination for us. Perhaps that is
because the butterfly is a living parable of the promise of Resurrection. On
Easter morning, the disciples saw Jesus' grave-clothes lying on the cold slab
-- empty, but still lying in the wrapped folds that had gone round and round
the corpse. Only the corpse was gone, leaving the grave-clothes much like an
empty chrysalis deserted by a butterfly, which has left to soar free. "He
is risen as He said," an angel told the incredulous disciples.
20) “Which
one would you ask which way to go?'" Dr. Seamands tells
of a Muslim who became a Christian in Africa. "Some of his friends asked
him, 'Why have you become a Christian?' He answered, 'Well, it's like this.
Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road forked in two
directions, and you didn't know which way to go, and there at the fork in the
road were two men, one dead and one alive--which one would you ask which way to
go?'"
21) A real Easter
egg: A small chick begins the long journey to
birth. The not-yet-a-bird weighs little
more than air; its beak and claws are barely pin pricks. The bird-to-be is in its own little world:
protected by the rigid shell, warmed by the mother hen’s body, nourished by the
nutrients within the egg’s membrane. But then the chick begins the work of
life. Over several days the chick keeps
picking and picking until it can break out from its narrow world — and into an
incomparably wider one. But for this to happen, the egg has to go to
pieces. New life demands shattering the
old. That is the real Easter egg. Not a
complete egg dyed and painted with so many designs and colors. Not an egg that has been hardboiled,
impossible to shatter. Not an egg made
of chocolate. The real Easter egg is shattered and destroyed. The real Easter egg exists in broken
pieces. The real Easter egg is cracked
and opened, revealing the new life that has emerged. For centuries, the world
has marked the Resurrection of the Lord with eggs. But the Easter meaning of the egg is found in
the struggle of the chick to free itself from its confines so as to begin life
in a much bigger world beyond it. We
struggle to break out of a world that we perceive is going to pieces; we pick
away at an existence that leaves us dissatisfied and unfulfilled. The promise of the Easter Christ is that we
can break out of our self-contained little worlds and begin to live in a world
where peace and justice reign, a world illuminated by hope and warmed by love,
a world that extends beyond time and place into the forever of God’s dwelling
place. [From a meditation by Brother
David Steindl-Rast, O.S.B.].
22) “Yes,
There Is Hope” (Rev. Bill Self):
In the early part of World War II, a Navy submarine was stuck on the
bottom of the harbor in New York City. It seemed that all was lost. There was
no electricity and the oxygen was quickly running out. In one last attempt to
rescue the sailors from the steel coffin, the U.S. Navy sent a ship equipped
with Navy divers to the spot on the surface, directly above the wounded
submarine. A Navy diver went over the side of the ship to the dangerous depths
in one last rescue attempt. The trapped sailors heard the metal boots of the
diver land on the exterior surface, and they moved to where they thought the
rescuer would be. In the darkness they tapped in Morse code, "Is there any
hope?" The diver on the outside, recognizing the message, signaled by
tapping on the exterior of the sub, "Yes, there is hope." This is the
picture of our dilemma as we worship on this glad Easter Day. Humankind is
trapped in a dreadful situation. All around we are running low on hope, and we
look for a word from beyond offering it to us. This world in which we live is
plagued with war and famine, mounting debt and continual destruction. The more
we try to rescue ourselves the more we seem to fall behind. We wonder.
22) “Is
there hope?” On December 17, 1927, a Navy Submarine, USS S-4, off
Provincetown, MA, was accidentally rammed by a US Coast Guard cutter as the sub
was surfacing, following a “series submerged runs over a measured mile course
to facilitate calibration of her of speed- and distance measuring equipments.” The
cutter had tried unsuccessfully to avoid the collision, but tore two holes in
the side of the sub, “one four feet long and two feet high in the ruptured
ballast tank and the other 2-and-a-half feet long by a foot high in the battery
compartment pressure hull.” The sub sank, bow first and settled on her keel in
102 feet on mud. There were heavy seas, gale winds and freezing temperatures.
Portsmouth Navy yard called in naval and civilian personnel to begin
salvage on the sub. They readied the USS Bushnell, a tender, which arrive the
next morning, joining other rescue ships, some of them local fishing boats. Captain
Ernest J. King took command. (Robert Loys Sminkey, Commander USN Retired)
http://www.subvetpaul.com/USS-S-4.htm
With him was Signalman Joe Dawson who had just completed a temporary
assignment on the S-4 (and was replaced there by his best friend, Walter
Tolson). Dawson had come from the USS
Camden where he had been preparing for his Christmas leave.
In 1997, at 90, as the last
survivor of the USS-S-4, Dawson related the story of the rescue attempt:
The first diver to go down, Commander Ellsberg, returned, reporting
the hole and “no sign of life.” The next
morning “divers Edie and Carr heard tappings
in the forward torpedo room. They found out there were six men living. Their
message to Edi and Carr was, ‘Is there hope? Please hurry, please!’”
“The divers were then ordered to connect oxygen hoses to the S-4.
Three or four time the sea tore the hoses from the S-4, endangering the lives
of the divers. They decided to wait until the weather subsided. The men could
only live 72 hours without the oxygen we were trying to get to them The last
message sent y the submariners was hard to decipher. It said, ‘We understand’…
and that was the last we heard from them.” (ibid., Dawson letter)
This is the picture of our dilemma as we worship on this glad Easter
Day. Humankind is trapped in a dreadful situation. All around we are running
low on hope, and we look for a word from beyond offering it to us. This world
in which we live is plagued with war and famine, mounting debt and continual
destruction. The more we try to rescue ourselves the more we seem to fall
behind. We wonder. (Rev. Bill Self)
With the Apostles, we are locked securely in our upper room,
trembling in fear of the forces of evil – secularism, materialism, atheism,
selfishness -- which assail us and our world.
With the submariners we ask, “Is there hope? Please hurry, please.
And we are answered. Here He
stands, in our midst though the room is still locked. He says, “Peace be with
you!” showing us His wounded hands and side, and letting us rejoice that it is
truly He, Alive! Then He says to us again, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, so I send
you.” Then we understand that He is our hope, now
and forever. Alleluia! HE IS RISEN!
A story is told of an Eastern village that, through the centuries,
was known for its exquisite pottery. Especially striking were its urns; high as
tables, wide as chairs, they were admired around the globe for their strong
form and delicate beauty. Legend has it that when each urn was apparently
finished, there was one final step. The artist broke it – and then put it back
together with gold filigree. An ordinary urn was then transformed into a
priceless work of art. What seemed finished wasn't, until it was broken. In the
same way, Jesus allowed his body to be broken for us and thus attained the
glory of his resurrections. Steve Goodier (Fr. Botelho).
24) Empty
Tomb: Easter celebrations lead us to an empty tomb! The
coffin of President Abraham Lincoln has been opened twice since his death. The
first time it was opened in 1887, twenty years after his death. Why was it opened?
Because of the rumour that the coffin did not contain Lincoln’s body. It was
opened and the body in it was proven to be Lincoln’s. Fourteen years later, the
same rumors circulated again. Again the coffin was opened and again the body
was proved to be Abraham Lincoln’s. Similar rumors circulated about the body of
Jesus after his death. The only difference was that Jesus’ body was not in the
tomb. Now the rumors concerned about what happened to Jesus’ body. Today’s
gospel does not present us with the risen Christ. Instead it presents us with
the empty tomb! The angel asks: “Why are you looking for the living among the
dead?” Unfortunately, we humans are still looking for the living among the
dead.
(John Pichappilly in The Table of the Word; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
26) Do Not Be Amazed: The Fourth Wise Man is a movie made for television and based on Henry Van Dyke’s 1895 classic. It begins like a Christmas story but ends as an Easter story. Martin Sheen stars as the fourth wise man, Artaban, who was late for the journey the three wise men made it to Bethlehem because he stopped along the way to help someone in trouble. For the next 33 years, he tries to find the promised Messiah, only to miss him at every turn because he is constantly getting sidetracked to help people. In his last efforts to find Jesus, Artaban arrives late one more time at the crucifixion. Jesus has just died on the cross. At that moment the earthquake occurs and Artaban is struck by a falling tile. As he lies there dying he is broken-hearted because his quest to find the Messiah was never realized. Suddenly, the Risen Lord appears to him. Jesus tells him that for the past 33 years he had, in fact, been found by the fourth wise man in the person of all the people this wise man had helped. Whatever Artaban had done to the least of the Lord’s people, that he had done to Jesus himself. This Easter story is retold in another form in today’s Gospel. Instead of three wise men seeking the Lord, with the fourth wise man coming along late, we have three women coming to the tomb, seeking the Lord who has been crucified. (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds; quoted by Fr. Botelho)
**********************
Andrew Greeley:
8. Homilists are reluctant to cope with the implications of Easter and substitute high flown and empty rhetoric. Or perhaps they are unwilling to deal with the hints of resurrection which are part of daily life, promises and foretastes of the ultimate resurrection.
Easter did not happen just once in the past. It happens every day. Easter is not merely a harbinger of ultimate resurrection when life triumphs completely over death. It happens every day. Each of its experiences death and rebirth often. Today is the festival when all those “little” resurrections are brought together and integrated with the overarching resurrections, once and future, which are at the core of our faith..
Story:
Once upon a time there was a terrible fight in a certain family. The father and the mother had slipped into the habit of low level nastiness with one another and were drifting apart. The children (teenagers) were routinely snarling at one another and at their parents. Sometimes they joined in the mean-spirited exchanges between the parents. No one left the house, there was no divorce nor even the talk of divorce -–but there were lots of thoughts about it.
What was once a happy and loving family, as families go, had turned into a battleground in which four armies were fighting, and not taking any prisoners.
Then, the girl teen was in an auto accident in which her car was totally by a drunken driver. The other three rushed to the hospital and found her in bed, covered with bandages, but able to smile weakly. I had one of those near death experiences, she informed them (what self-respecting teen in an auto accident doesn’t have one of them) and God told me we’re a bunch of geeks and we should stop fighting with each other. Now. So they all hugged one another and cried and promised they’d start over again. Now the family had new life and it was Easter. (Andrew Greeley)
From Sermons.com
You probably do not remember the name Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin. During his day he was as powerful a man as there was on earth. A Russian Communist leader he took part in the Bolshevik Revolution 1917, was editor of the Soviet newspaper Pravda (which by the way means truth), and was a full member of the Politburo. His works on economics and political science are still read today. There is a story told about a journey he took from Moscow to Kiev in 1930 to address a huge assembly on the subject of atheism. Addressing the crowd he aimed his heavy artillery at Christianity hurling insult, argument, and proof against it.
An hour later he was finished. He looked out at what seemed to be the smoldering ashes of men's faith. "Are there any questions?" Bukharin demanded. Deafening silence filled the auditorium but then one man approached the platform and mounted the lectern standing near the communist leader. He surveyed the crowd first to the left then to the right. Finally he shouted the ancient greeting known well in the Russian Orthodox Church: "CHRIST IS RISEN!" En masse the crowd arose as one man and the response came crashing like the sound of thunder:
An hour later he was finished. He looked out at what seemed to be the smoldering ashes of men's faith. "Are there any questions?" Bukharin demanded. Deafening silence filled the auditorium but then one man approached the platform and mounted the lectern standing near the communist leader. He surveyed the crowd first to the left then to the right. Finally he shouted the ancient greeting known well in the Russian Orthodox Church: "CHRIST IS RISEN!" En masse the crowd arose as one man and the response came crashing like the sound of thunder:
"HE IS RISEN INDEED!"
I say to you this morning: CHRIST IS RISEN! (congregational response should be: HE IS RISEN INDEED!). I am convinced! I have faith that Christ was dead and he was buried. That I believe. But, this too I accept as true: He rose from the dead and will come again in glory.
This is Easter. And to stand here on this day in this pulpit and proclaim this word. . . I cannot begin to tell you how this defines all that I am.
I say to you this morning: CHRIST IS RISEN! (congregational response should be: HE IS RISEN INDEED!). I am convinced! I have faith that Christ was dead and he was buried. That I believe. But, this too I accept as true: He rose from the dead and will come again in glory.
This is Easter. And to stand here on this day in this pulpit and proclaim this word. . . I cannot begin to tell you how this defines all that I am.
But, you will say to me, how do you know that the resurrection is real? How do you know that it is really valid?
1. Because someone told me about the Resurrection
2. Because the Resurrection as stood the test of time
3. Because I have experienced the Resurrection
2. Because the Resurrection as stood the test of time
3. Because I have experienced the Resurrection
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Happy Easter, Church. Christ Is Risen. He Is Risen Indeed.
The resurrection of Jesus is God's final word spoken in the face of sin, suffering, evil and death. Thanks Be to God.
Easter egg hunts have been in the news all week, both because of the controversy in the White House over the invitations that went out warning that the one on the White House lawn might need to be cancelled, as well as the refusal of some school districts to refer to "Easter eggs," only "Spring eggs."
Come on. Easter egg hunts? They are part of our most beloved childhood memories, even though they have very little to do with the real Easter. Or do they?
Coloring eggs; that sweet smell of vinegar; getting those same six colors all over fingers, clothes, and countertops year after year. Then getting up early enough to compete against brothers and sisters to find the most baskets of eggs and goodies.
As parents we have different memories of the same event. Easter egg hunts mean bleaching out those Easter egg-colored clothes and counter tops; getting up even earlier than the kids; making lots of egg salad sandwiches (with strange colors staining the bread); and finding Easter grass still lurking in corners of the house on the Fourth of July.
But while some of the traditions behind Easter egg hunts have remained the same, there has been one big change that has transformed large community-wide egg hunts, Sunday school class quests, and our own living room look-fors.
Let's get real: we might still color and decorate real eggs. But how many of those actual hard-boiled eggs get taken out of the fridge and hidden in nooks and crannies anymore? Real eggs have been replaced with plastic eggs. The realities of lurking bacteria and potential lawsuits have banished actual eggs from almost every "egg hunt." Instead, plastic eggs filled with store-bought candies have, for the sake of sanity and sanitation, replaced the hand-colored hard-boiled real egg.
In other words rather than searching for an egg, a symbol of new life, we have a petroleum based plastic shell filled with candies made of artificial colors and sweetness. Not a very life-affirming symbol. Not a very Easter-y symbol...
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More Hope than We Can Handle
Earlier this week, an old couple received a phone call from their son who lives far away. The son said he was sorry, but he wouldn't be able to come for a visit over the holidays after all. "The grandkids say hello." They assured him that they understood, but when they hung up the phone they didn't dare look at each other.
Earlier this week, a woman was called into her supervisor's office to hear that times are hard for the company and they had to let her go. "So sorry." She cleaned out her desk, packed away her hopes for getting ahead, and wondered what she would tell her kids.
Earlier this week, someone received terrible news from a physician. Someone else heard the words, "I don't love you any more." Earlier this week, someone's hope was crucified. And the darkness is overwhelming.
No one is ever ready to encounter Easter until he or she has spent time in the dark place where hope cannot be seen. Easter is the last thing we are expecting. And that is why it terrifies us. This day is not about bunnies, springtime and girls in cute new dresses. It's about more hope than we can handle.
Craig Barnes, Savior at Large
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Yes, There Is Hope
In the early part of World War II, a Navy submarine was stuck on the bottom of the harbor in New York City. It seemed that all was lost. There was no electricity and the oxygen was quickly running out. In one last attempt to rescue the sailors from the steel coffin, the U.S. Navy sent a ship equipped with Navy divers to the spot on the surface, directly above the wounded submarine. A Navy diver went over the side of the ship to the dangerous depths in one last rescue attempt. The trapped sailors heard the metal boots of the diver land on the exterior surface, and they moved to where they thought the rescuer would be. In the darkness they tapped in Morse code, "Is there any hope?" The diver on the outside, recognizing the message, signaled by tapping on the exterior of the sub, "Yes, there is hope."
This is the picture of our dilemma as we worship this glad Easter Day. Humankind is trapped in a dreadful situation. All around we are running low on hope, and we look for a word from beyond offering it to us. This world in which we live is plagued with war and famine, mounting debt and continual destruction. The more we try to rescue ourselves the more we seem to fall behind. We wonder: Is there any hope?
Bill Self, Is There Any Hope?
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It Opens on the Dawn
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it was still dark. But the darkness was soon overcome with light. Maybe that's the message you need to hear this day. Perhaps for whatever reason you are in darkness right now. Family concerns. Problems at work. Anxiety about your health and your future. The loss of someone you love. Easter promises us more than the stars in our darkness. Easter promises us that in the midst of our deepest darkness the Son rises to overwhelm the darkness forever.
Victor Hugo once put it like this, "For half a century I have been writing my thoughts in prose and verse and history and philosophy . . . But I feel I have not said the thousandth part of what is in me. When I go down to the grave I can say, I have finished my day's work,' but I cannot say, I have finished my life.' My day's work will begin again the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare. It closes on the twilight; it opens on the dawn." Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it was still dark "but the darkness did not remain. The dawn broke. God's Son had risen.
Victor Hugo once put it like this, "For half a century I have been writing my thoughts in prose and verse and history and philosophy . . . But I feel I have not said the thousandth part of what is in me. When I go down to the grave I can say, I have finished my day's work,' but I cannot say, I have finished my life.' My day's work will begin again the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare. It closes on the twilight; it opens on the dawn." Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it was still dark "but the darkness did not remain. The dawn broke. God's Son had risen.
King Duncan
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The Easter Choice
When faced with new realities, you have at least three options for how to respond (and it is nearly certain that you will opt for one of these three possibilities). First, you can stay bewildered. You can let this event knock you flat on your back and then stay there. Second, you can engage in world-class denial. You can look at the facts and ignore them. Or third, you can, slowly perhaps, assimilate this new information. You may get knocked as flat on your back as the next person by this new realization, but eventually you pick yourself up. You embrace this new truth and then go through the long, sometimes painful, process of re-assessing life in the light of this new evidence.
This is the Easter choice. When faced with the incredible proclamation that Jesus rose again from the dead, you can be agnostic and cynical by saying that you don't know what to make of this but then neither are you going to try. Who cares anyway? Or you can deny it. The whole thing is fiction, fantasy, a pious wish but something that never really happened. Or you can move past the shock toward acceptance. But let me caution you: if you are going to accept the truth of the bodily resurrection, you need to let it change you totally.
That's the Easter choice. The problem for most of us is that we are not surprised enough by Easter to realize we face a choice. Easter is a part of the background scenery of our lives. We've never been afraid of Easter, never been bewildered by it. Believing that Jesus rose again from the dead becomes a little like believing the earth is round and that it orbits the sun. Once upon a time people didn't know that. They thought the earth was flat and that the sun orbited the earth. It caused quite a stir when this view had to be revised. But that was a long time ago and now we accept that picture of our solar system without much thought. Sure the world is round and we orbit the sun, but what does that have to do with anything? It doesn't change what I have to do at work tomorrow, does it?
Is that what Easter becomes for us? We believe it happened but then, we've always believed that. Even Easter has somehow become part of the "routines" of this world. So why would it have much of an effect on what we do tomorrow? Easter is no longer shocking for us--it surely does not make us re-evaluate everything else we think we know. And anyway, we're not sure we want to have everything in our lives changed.
Of course, if we can believe in the resurrection at all, it is a gift of faith granted to us by the prior gift of grace. But if we have received that grace and accept the truth that gets proclaimed from every Christian pulpit in the world each Easter Sunday morning, then we have to know that this truth changes everything. This is not some fact we can ponder just once every twelve months. This changes everything.... and on EVERY day.
Scott Hoezee, Comments and Observations
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The Cape of Good Hope
I can still recall a geography lesson from elementary school in which we learned that the southernmost point of Africa is a point which for centuries has experienced tremendous storms. For many years no one even knew what lay beyond that cape, for no ship attempting to round that point had ever returned to tell the tale. Among the ancients it was known as the "Cape of Storms," and for good reason. But then a Portuguese explorer in the sixteenth century, Vasco De Gama, successfully sailed around that very point and found beyond the wild raging storms, a great calm sea, and beyond that, the shores of India. The name of that cape was changed from the Cape of Storms to the Cape of
Good Hope.
Until Jesus Christ rose from the dead, death had been the cape of storms on which all hopes of life beyond had been wrecked. No one knew what lay beyond that point until, on Easter morning, those ancient visions of Isaiah became the victory of Jesus over our last great enemy. Suddenly, like those ancient explorers, we can see beyond the storm to the hope of heaven and eternal life with the Father. More than that, we dare to believe that we shall experience in our own human lives exactly what the Son of God experienced in his, for the risen Christ says to us, "Because I live, you shall live also." This is the heart of the Easter faith.
Robert Beringer, Easter People, CSS Publishing Company
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Ongoing Easter
Ongoing Easter gets us finally home at last, for life is not an endless circle but life is moving to an end point. The crowning achievement of the risen Lord is to bring us finally home together with the whole family of God in that transition from time into eternity. It is a great privilege to witness that transition in the lives of people and I think of one this Easter day. Her name was Augusta. She lived 100 years, raised in the prairies of South Dakota, faced every manner of hardship and heartache, but was buoyant and lived on the resurrection side of the cross, raised a family. In the last hour of her life standing with her daughters around her in the hospital room, I heard her bless her daughters. Being a mother to the very end and with a twinkle in her eye, looked at the faces of her daughters around her and pointed to them each one and said, "Too much lipstick," and then closed her eyes in peaceful death.
That is the goal toward which the ongoing Easter draws us and transforms our dark, gloomy mornings into a shining doxology. We say with all the faithful of all of the ages, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By His great mercy, we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, unfailing and undefiled, kept in heaven for you. Though you must go through various trials, all this is so that your faith may redound to the praise, glory and honor of Jesus Christ. Without having seen Him, we love Him, and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. The outcome of your faith is the salvation of your souls.
F. Dean Lueking, Ongoing Easter
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Billy Graham responded to someone who shouted out "God is dead! God is dead!" Dr. Graham with tenderness replied, "That's strange because I just talked to Him in prayer a few minutes ago." Yes, the day you believe in the resurrection is the day you change the universe, and most importantly, you can reflect that transforming truth.
Eric S. Ritz
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The Legend of the Touchstone
Do you remember the Legend of the Touchstone? It's a great story to recall on Easter Sunday morning. According to that ancient legend, if you could find the touchstone on the coast of the Black Sea and hold it in your hand, everything you touched would turn to gold. You could recognize the touchstone by its warmth. The other stones would feel cold, but when you picked up the touchstone, it would turn warm in your hand.
Once a man sold everything he had and went to the coast of the Black Sea in search of the touchstone. He began immediately to walk along the shoreline picking up one stone after another in his diligent and intentional search for the touchstone. He was consumed with this dream. He wanted desperately to find this miraculous stone. However, after several days had passed, he suddenly realized that he was picking up the same stones again and again. So he devised a plan... pick up a stone; if it's cold, throw it into the sea. This he did for weeks and weeks.
Then one morning he went out to continue his search for the touchstone. He picked up a stone; it was cold... he threw it into the sea. He picked up another stone - cold! He threw it into the sea. He picked up another stone... it turned warm in his hand, and before he realized what he was doing...
