This is my homily for today, Easter Sunday, Cycle C. I gave the same homily (slightly modified) last night at the Easter Vigil. I used the same Gospel account of the discovery of the empty tomb, Luke 24:1-12, for both masses. That was the appointed reading for the Vigil this year, and while not the primary choice for Easter Sunday morning (that would be John's account), it's permitted.
I've been very busy the last few days with church-related activities. I sang with the choir at the Holy Thursday evening liturgy. On Friday I was the deacon and had to chant the first half of each of the 10 solemn intercessions. Then I accompanied the cross up the center aisle, singing "Behold, behold the wood of the cross, on which is hung our salvation" at three intervals. Then, at Easter Vigil, I was the Deacon of the Word (our other deacon was the Deacon of the Eucharist). I chanted the Exsultet and also preached. And I had to lug the Easter candle up or down the aisle (and up and down sanctuary steps) a few times. It's really heavy! And the fact that it's lit the whole time, ups the diciness quotient a few clicks. All this may not sound like much, but all of it took a lot of thought, preparation and practice in the spirit of trying to do it well.
Happy Easter, everyone! Now that I'm done with church duties, my wife and I are working on pulling together an Easter dinner for the family. Taking a break while the sweet potato casserole is in the oven to post the homily - it's below the break.
Here’s a rule of thumb I have for Gospel stories: if the story has an angel in it, that means it’s Good News. Angels = Good News. If you look at our new stained-glass windows over here to your right, you’ll notice our row of six beautiful windows is bookended by angels. The angel farthest to the left is the Angel of the Annunciation; that’s the Angel Gabriel who appeared to Mary before baby Jesus was born. The angel on the right is the Angel of the Resurrection, the angel that appeared at the tomb to announce that the grown-up Jesus who died on the cross has risen from the dead.
In fact, as Luke tells the story of Easter Sunday which we just heard, we get two angels – that is who the two men in dazzling garments are. It’s almost as though this news of Jesus rising from the dead is so urgent and important and such good news that God sent both angels from our stained-glass windows to announce it.
That’s my rule of thumb: angels = Good News. I also have a word for us today: Rejoice. Rejoice! Rejoice! In his Good Friday homily, Fr. Darrio said that Good Friday was an evening of veneration – when we venerate the cross on which Jesus died. In the same way, I’d like to announce that today is a day of rejoicing, because Christ is risen! On Saturday evening I chanted a very long prayer called the Exsultet, because that is the first word: Exult! Rejoice! Don’t just be happy – be joyful! Let the joy come spilling out from your innermost heart, through your eyes and tongue and hands and feet, because Jesus has risen!
Would you like to see what rejoicing looks like? I’m literally surrounded right now by examples of new life: lilies, begonias, hydrangeas, Kalanchoe. These flowers are doing their part to rejoice and praise God, simply be being what they are: a profusion of beauty, an abundance of life – these flowers are praising God in their own way, with lovely forms and dazzling colors. And they are a sign of Jesus rising to new life. These beautiful blooms grew from seeds that were planted in the ground, just as Jesus was laid in the tomb. And just as Jesus was risen to new life, these seeds sprouted into these breathtaking shapes and colors.
Would you like to know what rejoicing sounds like? It sounds like our children’s choir, making music this morning to praise God. “Let the trumpet of salvation sound aloud our mighty King’s triumph” – that’s a line from the Exsultet prayer I mentioned a few moments ago. We don’t actually have a trumpet today, but we a violin and a flute – praising God with strings and pipes, as Psalm 150 says. And we all have the musical instrument I love most of all: our human voices, rising in song like incense to praise God. “Let this holy building shake with joy”, says the Exsultet. Let’s raise the roof with our rejoicing!
Would you like to meet people who are rejoicing? They’re right here in the front pews. Our two candidates, Daniel and Jordan, were fully initiated into the church last night, when they were confirmed and received their first Communions. It’s been quite a journey, over months of study, prayer and discernment, to get to this point. And they are filled with joy. Rejoice for Jordan and Daniel!
That’s a thing about rejoicing: it often comes with great effort, and sometimes through suffering. And there is no doubt that some of us here have brought our suffering with us. As I look about, I see several members of our community who recently lost a spouse. And I see several who are on my cancer prayer list. . So many of us come here bearing burdens of suffering. Yet here we are, searching for joy to help lighten or heal the sorrow and sickness and pain.
If you’re not exactly sure how to be joyful on a day like Easter, there is a pretty good example of joy in the Bible. It’s a story that was read here just a few weeks ago – the story of the Prodigal Son. When the father receives his young son back, he orders that his son be dressed in the finest robe, with a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. He orders that the fatted calf be prepared for a feast. Then the entire household celebrates with music and dancing. Why? Because as the father said, “This son of mine was dead, and has come to life again”!
That’s our model for rejoicing. Cast off the workaday clothes of our sinfulness and put on the new robes of faith in Jesus, because this is a time to rejoice! Feast on the banquet of Christ’s body and blood, offered in sacrifice for us and yet conferring new life on us – and isn’t that a reason to rejoice in gratitude! Gather with your families tomorrow/today for the holiday, and if music and dancing aren’t quite your thing, then be together and talk, enjoy some laughs, and love and care for one another. Then, if you’re like me, you’ll eat too much. And then, if you’re like me, you’ll take a joyful nap. This is how we rejoice, because Jesus was dead and has risen to new life! And we rejoice because what happened to Jesus, will happen to us, too. This is our Easter faith and our Easter joy. Rejoice!
From what I can tell, the attendance at the Triduum services and the Easter masses is up this year compared to prior years. I'd like to congratulate our pastoral staff for doing a good job (which they do), and I don't doubt that is a contributing factor. But I'm also reading that, in France and perhaps some other European countries, mass attendance is climbing significantly, especially among Gen Zers. In France, I guess the number of young adults going through OCIA (formerly known as RCIA) is up something like 35-40%. So it may be that the good attendance in our little corner of the church can be attributed to some big, macro shift happening among people in the developed world. In a way, I hope that is the case and it's not just us.
ReplyDeleteThis young person's experiences with a budding sense of faith are familiar to me. She's about the same age I was when I was baptized by the Episcopalians, a very joyful time for me. If she finds her way to organized religion, I pray her faith weathers the way a congregation grinds you down with rules, disapproval, litmus tests, and obligations.
DeleteRejoice, indeed. And pray that those who see themselves as pillars of the Church do not snuff out more flames than they ignite.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/apr/20/dont-forget-were-here-forever-a-new-generations-search-for-religion-lamorna-ash
Happy Easter, Jean!
Delete"And pray that those who see themselves as pillars of the Church do not snuff out more flames than they ignite."
DeleteAn especially apt prayer with a papal conclave in the offing!
Thanks, Jean, I want to echo Katherin's happy Easter, and extend them to all of us in our little virtual community here.
Woke up late. My friend M called me to tell me Pope Francis had died. I will sorely miss this pope and his voice. I especially admired his attention to the climate crisis. A hard act to follow.
DeleteI was at church today for the end of the early mass and then was the deacon for the next mass, which is the mid-morning mass. It was sunny this morning and not too warm. Everyone was in their Easter finery. I may be wrong, but I think the sunny weather gets people motivated to pull out the dressy, springy outfits and head over to church. Now it's overcast and raining steadily. For me at least, the mood bubble has, if not completely popped, at least deflated a little.
ReplyDeleteWe had a lovely sunny Holy Saturday, but Easter was rainy. That's okay, because we needed the rain badly. Of course we had the renewal of Baptismal promises, and the sprinkling rite at Mass. The sprinkling didn't reach up in the choir loft, but I got good and sprinkled out in the parking lot afterwards. "Springs of water, bless the Lord..."
DeleteI admire you for tackling the Exsultet. The Easter Vigil wasn't at our parish this year, it was at the larger parish in our cluster. The associate pastor is a younger guy who is musically talented, and he sung the Exsultet. My husband is thankful he has never been asked to do that, music isn't his strong suit.
Right, in theory a deacon should chant it but most deacons aren't very enthused about it and, frankly, wouldn't be able to do it. I happen to know how to chant well enough to make it through the piece but, until this year, never had the opportunity. More often than not we had a cantor sing an "arrangement", sometimes one with some choir sections. We've also had a string of priests with very nice voices (better than mine). One of them, an associate pastor, did it last year. The following July he was made a pastor in a nearby suburb, so I told our pastor and music director that I'd like to try it for this year. Then, a few months later we got a new associate pastor with a very impressive singing voice. He, unaware of my previous offer, volunteered to sing it this year. I told everyone I would be fine with that, but the pastor and music director decided to keep it with me. It was a little too much like an episode of Glee for my taste (minus the teen hormones, I guess). I think it came off okay but I think I can improve. But whether I ever get a second crack at it is TBD.
DeleteLiturgical purists won't agree with me, but I have always thought the Exsultet could be improved by adding a few soft chords in the background, either keyboard or a stringed instrument. It would help the singer stay on key, among other things.
DeleteWe don't sing Victimae Pascali Laudes as the Easter sequence here, but the keyboard accompaniment for that is haunting and lovely. Sometimes I just play it on the piano at home.
She came home "from" rehab on Monday of Holy Week
ReplyDeleteSending prayers for Betty!
ReplyDeleteYes, so sorry to hear about Betty's health setbacks. Jack, if you don't mind my asking, does the local parish bring you communion from time to time?
ReplyDeleteJim said: Jack, if you don't mind my asking, does the local parish bring you communion from time to time?
ReplyDeleteInteresting question with a long answer as usual.
Decades ago, when my mother was hospitalized and asked whether she wanted communion, she would always ask if it was the priest or the deacon who would be distributing. The priest always did a quick visit of less than a minute. The deacon always came talked with mom, prayed with her and then gave her communion. Mom always chose to go to communion when the deacon came.
In the times when I have been hospitalized, I have never been given the opportunity to go to communion, but I have thought about it. The answer is I would agree if it was in the context of morning or evening prayer, which I could now do anytime anywhere with my website and iphone. I would probably shock the priest, deacon or layperson who offered the opportunity, thought I suspect they might say they do not have the time.
When the pandemic came, home communion posed the same problems as going to church. The person distributing communion would obviously not be socially isolated. So, we never asked for home communion. Now that the situation is more complex when we are going to be isolated sometimes because of the prevalence of Covid or other viruses and other times because of health problems.
In general, the parish has never taken my advice on things liturgical. They have their bureaucracy which wants to do things the way they do them. The pastor and others regard me as far too intellectual. They always say thanks but no thanks.
My belief is that unless my charisms are integrated into the life of the parish, I am not really a member of the parish even if I attend Mass regularly, even if I serve on pastoral council, or I sing in the choir. Those are all things which anyone can do.
The pandemic made this very clear to me. For years we did not go to communion, at a time when our communion with the entire Church greatly deepened through the virtual celebration of the Eucharist and the Hours. Obviously physical communion has much more to do with one’s life in the parish than with one's life in the universal Church.
I have spent a considerable part of my life studying the desert solitaries. They obviously did not attend the Eucharist, sometimes not for weeks, or months, or years, or even most of their lives. Yet in many cases they were regarded as the great intercessors for the Church because of their solitary life of prayer.
The reality is that our house or prayer is better than one might find in most retreat houses and many monasteries except for large one's like Saint Meinrad.
Perhaps someday the local parish will recognize how appropriate it would be for them to come to our house and celebrate lauds or vespers with communion.
Betty did receive communion last week in rehab. The facility is in her old bilingual parish. She knew the minister who offered it. I doubt they spent much time together; it is a big rehab facility.
Probably the more important event for Betty is that she met a fellow medical technician whom she had not seen in almost fifty years. The woman is in the permanent patient wing not the rehab portion. She is losing her cognitive ability but was able to relate to Betty (past memories often stay longer than recent memories). Betty took her phone number, and if phone conversations work, will probably visit her once Betty is able to walk better.
It’s been hectic lately. So I’m late to catching up here. I’m so sorry to learn of Betty’s painful medical issues. I will be praying for her with more specificity. I would also like to ask for prayers for my sister in law, Katherine. She has had multiple medical issues since February, but just found out that the kidney cancer she had 12 years ago ( they removed one kidney then) has returned, spread to her pancreas. She is 85 and not very strong right now. We haven't heard what they will recommend for treatment. She meets with an oncologist next week. Both parents died of cancer - mom at 82 and dad at almost 86. My husband seems calm about it, but they haven’t been particularly close over the years and he hides his emotions, so I’m not sure. She is the eldest of the four sibs. My husband is 15 months younger. But his health right now is pretty good and his most recent rehab has been a real boost too.
ReplyDelete