His Victory

Easter Sunday

During the Night

The Easter Vigil

Rosary Monastery, St. Ann’s

23 April 2011

Romans 6:3-11

Matthew 28:1-10

          “And there, coming to meet them, was Jesus.”

I can remember as a young man in seminary, 22 or 23 years old, being very much perplexed by the insistence of one of my scripture professors hammering home again and again in class that the appearances of the Risen Christ were more important than the fact that the women and Peter and John saw the empty tomb early in the morning on Easter Sunday, saw and believed… I never really understood his insistence.

I guess it must have been one of those academic/professorial things, like dissecting frogs in biology class. There are certainly lessons to be learned from looking at the parts, but a frog is a frog when it’s alive and hopping around with all of its parts. Any child could tell you that the empty tomb was a great surprise and terribly important, but the whole message comes through as we have it from the Gospel: “And there, coming to meet them, was Jesus.” Empty Tomb and Risen Christ: no child would ever separate them; together they tell the story; together they make that good news which is more than just one alleluia worth.

          Sadly, we really can, just like the absent minded professor of the comedy, get out of touch or miss the bigger picture of things. Our Lenten penance and our meditation on the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ in this Holy Week are meant to bring us to the joy of this night, to the tenuous light of the Easter candle, to the simple but oh so profound joy, exultation really, of learning that the tomb is empty “And there, coming to meet them, was Jesus.”

          The strife is ore, the battle done, now is the victor’s triumph won…. Alleluia, as the old Easter hymn goes. Easter must be seen for what it is in all its glory: more than a remembrance or recalling, Easter is an actual victory and victory celebration. Easter is now and it is everything, because in the Resurrection of Jesus the whole scene changes, the script for the play of humanity is definitively rewritten, not so much for the sake of a new and happy ending, but as a launch into that which is beyond time.

          The world around us is way too much here and now. Maybe that’s why in terms of sentiment even for Christians (and I say this sadly), maybe that’s why even for Christians Easter takes a sentimental second place to Christmas and the Baby in the manger. Our faith in the Son of God become man like us in all things but sin, offered up upon the Cross for our salvation, risen gloriously on the third day, breaking the bonds of Hell, this is our faith! It is anything but everyday, anything but a recipe for healthy and happy living. The world, the universe, everything but everything is changed because Jesus has won for us the victory over sin and death. Alleluia, He is Risen as He said! Alleluia!

Allegiance to the King of the World

The Resurrection from the Dead and the Life of the World to come

“Some Sadducees – those who say that there is no resurrection – approached Jesus and they put this question to him…” (Whose wife will she be?)

          There’s little doubt where the Sadducees were coming from and where their hopes or expectations for this life resided. No doubt as well they have their counterparts in our day and time! One possible read of the message for this Sunday (Luke 20) would have less to do with critiquing those who can’t get beyond the here and now, and more with inviting us to choose or to express more clearly or decisively our allegiance to the Lord of Life.

          I have to admit that I always shudder when I read the Maccabees passage which is assigned as the first reading for the 32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C. The gory details of the entire passage describing the torture and death of all eight come vividly to mind each time I read even a part of it. Such brutality against these seven young men, boys some of them, and their mother, just because they would not abandon the traditions of their ancestors and eat pork! They chose sacrificing life and limb, literally, for their hope in God’s promise to Israel and they clarify the content of that promise: life forever with God in the glory of the resurrection.

Here we have an Old Testament book witnessing to the faith in the resurrection of the dead (in B.C. times certainly a controverted article of faith which the Sadducees refused to accept), the faith we profess, which took on substance and clarity in Jesus’ teaching and in His victory over sin and death (A.D.). It is in this sense that the Letter to the Hebrews certainly has also in mind the heroism and faith of this mother and her sons and how by faith they saluted from afar the Risen One (Heb. 11:13-16; 32-39):

 “Inhuman fiend, you may discharge us from this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up, since it is for his laws that we die, to live again for ever… Ours is the better choice, to meet death at men’s hands, yet relying on God’s promise that we shall be raised up by him; whereas for you there can be no resurrection, no new life.” (2^nd Maccabees 7)

          The mother and her seven sons suffered brutal torture and death confident that their victory was in the hands of the King of the world whom they worshipped. For them nothing was to be gained by winning the favor of any worldly king or potentate who cannot restore life to the dead or preserve himself from that obligatory passage through the gates of death. St. Paul (as we read this Sunday in his 2^nd Letter to the Thessalonians) likewise knew all too clearly that ultimately at issue in the fight were not custom, usage or moral message, but that sure hope which comes from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ himself. He is God of the living, not the dead, for in Him all are in fact alive.

          Father Robert Barron of Word on Fire just reviewed a recent Clint Eastwood film called “Hereafter”. It would seem that the object of the movie is to make a statement about “life” or “something like existence” beyond the grave. It would seem the movie tries to do so without reference to God. The mother and her seven sons from Maccabees, St. Paul and we too must stand speechless and sad that anyone, including Clint Eastwood, would make an effort to comfort people as they face the big existential question, while denying the power and presence of the King of the world.

O Comforter, to Thee we cry, Thou Gift of God sent from on high, Thou Font of Life, Thou Fire of Love, and sweet Anointing from Above…

Hollywood has once again shown its allegiance and opted for the favor of worldly potentates, opinion makers, of those sad creatures skulking about, hell-bent on poisoning the well, or as it says elsewhere: seeking the ruin of souls.

          “Jesus replied, ‘The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection they are sons of God.”

          The Sadducees opposing Jesus saw nothing except the here and now; even today and beyond Hollywood there are many who live only for the moment. I can remember as a young priest in the late 1970’s hearing some writer or prominent Catholic speaker promoting a more serious or committed approach to marriage preparation as an antidote to divorce. He held the opinion that the ordinary form of marriage preparation back then in the U.S. was a bad first marriage. The problem is not so simply described. With time and experience we have learned that only exceptionally does the second attempt net better results than the impetuous first try. Marriage preparation, no matter how long or how excellent, cannot always supply the deficiencies of a faith upbringing cut short, or cope for the lack of support most couples and families have to face when trials or hardships come their way. Nor does it successfully confront a lifestyle bent on a measure of quality which does not surpass the moment or the celebration of the here and now.

The Sadducees are as good a reminder as any that our own day and time has no corner on the market of short-sightedness or the urge for immediate gratification. Many would insist that faithfulness in marriage, for instance, is imposed from outside; few people are convinced of the overarching value of “sticking it out”, of really living the marriage vows as recited. Common parlance would insist that the law and social pressure kept my grandparents (for whom wedding bells rang over a century ago) together a whole life long. The longer I live the more I see the half truth in all of this. The mindset of the Sadducees is what is really telling. Faith in the resurrection from the dead, hope in the sovereignty of the King of the world, love for Christ, Who gave Himself up for all of us, it is in such that the everyday heroism of faithfulness in matrimony and much more is grounded. Too bad there aren’t statistics concerning O.T. divorce among Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection, as opposed to Pharisees, who did!

          Many out there would insist that more believing does not necessarily mean more faithful, whether it be to a partner in marriage or to Christ Jesus Himself. But that is not really the point. The point has to do with perspective and where my hope lies. Most places in the world fewer young people are presenting themselves for marriage. Some hastily tack a signboard on the phenomenon which reads: FEAR OF COMMITMENT. More accurately perhaps we might be said to find ourselves standing speechless before the general tenor of a society worse than that of the Sadducees, who at least attempted to live on in their progeny, children and grandchildren, who before dying and returning to dust brought them the joy of seeing themselves young again or at least their same color of eyes or their dimples or the way they gimp along repeated, the spitting image of his dad or of her mom even as different as we snowflakes are from one another. The notion of a culture of death makes many bristle, but what is it when you encounter so many today who without God in their world or hope of a world to come go one worse than the Sadducees and also deny themselves the joy of seeing themselves in their children.

          In a sense, there is no crossover or reconciliation between the mother and her seven sons and their executioners; there can only be contrast between the Sadducees and Jesus: “Jesus replied, ‘The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection they are sons of God.”

          In both cases, however, we as third parties, as witnesses have the choice of choosing whether to rally to the standard of the King of the world or to conform our lives to the dictates of the movers and the shakers for whom there is no resurrection. It’s too easy to make a desperate attempt to cling to the glitter and the fanfare; the invitation is to choose life really, life in its fullness.

The month of November, which commends to our prayers the Poor Souls in Purgatory, reminds us of the choice which is ours as well, that life is much more both here and now and in the glory of the resurrection:

“In him, who rose from the dead, our hope of resurrection dawned. The sadness of death gives way to the bright promise of immortality. Lord, for your faithful people life is changed, not ended. When the body of our earthly dwelling lies in death we gain an everlasting dwelling place in heaven. And so, with all the choirs of angels in heaven we proclaim your glory and in their unending hymn of praise…”(Preface of Christian Death I)

          The clarity and determination of the mother and her seven sons from the book of Maccabees might be a rarity in the face of social pressure, but this does not excuse us from striving to enter by the narrow gate, of opting for the road less traveled, of throwing in our lot with the King of the world.

PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI

Recognize your dignity, O Christian!

The Easter Vigil
22 March 2008 (During the Night)
Rosary Monastery, St. Ann’s

In the midst of this beautiful Easter night Vigil so full of words and ideas, let me share just a brief reflection inspired by the Epistle Reading taken from the 6th Chapter of St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans. I would be remiss if I didn’t share this thought relevant to St. Paul’s teaching on Baptism as a share in Christ’s death and thereby in His resurrection.

Just a short while ago we heard these words: “If in union with Christ we have imitated his death (through Baptism), we shall also imitate him in his resurrection. We must realize that our former selves have been crucified with him to destroy this sinful body and to free us from the slavery of sin.”

If daily Mass is part of your life as it has been of mine for way more than half the years which have passed since I first saw the light of day, then perhaps you too sense something awkward or wrenching about the Holy Saturday just past, the one day of the whole Church year with no public liturgy and no celebration of any sacrament outside of the context of giving someone the Last Rites.

An ancient homily on Holy Saturday found in the Breviary expresses this sentiment and explains the significance of what now fills our hearts with joy:

“The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.
He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory… He took (Adam) by the hand and raised him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.’
I am your God, who for your sake have become your son… Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.”

Maybe we cannot even get a handle on the wonder which is the Resurrection, but it is worth trying and I think that sharing the perspective of the Fathers of the Church who spent a lot of time reflecting on Jesus as the new Adam might be of help to us. Our Faith really is something “up close and personal” as the expression goes. Permit me to share an insight from my own life experience which helps me put flesh and bones on these highly exalted mysteries, that is, in some way to understand the dynamics of the way in which we were saved:

As the oldest of eight children and a boy, having been away from home in the seminary from my mid teens and maybe also for my temperament, when I was around my father or saw a picture of him, I drank in every detail especially of my father’s face. His smile, his laugh, and other expressions of emotion, plus just his face without any special expression, are here in my head to be called up from my memory as vivid pictures, even nearly 23 years after his death. Now that I am older and maybe even a bit jowly, there are times when I catch my own reflection out of the corner of my eye and I see his expression, the corner of his mouth in mine. What I used to blame on his dentures, I can now see was not the dentist’s fault. This little detail or experience makes me reflect on the moving experience older dads must have when they catch a glimpse of themselves in the face of an adult son.

That having been said, try to imagine the emotion of Adam on this night so many centuries ago, when looking up from the darkness and the shadow of death into which he and Eve had banished themselves, he saw himself in the glorious face of his Son, his Creator, his Savior!

“Rise, let us leave this place," Jesus, the Risen One, said to him, "for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.”

Incarnation and Redemption – Christmas and Easter… How do I say it adequately? Understanding the implications of Easter, the consequences of our Baptism, should send us tumbling to our knees and by the same token jumping out of our skin for sheer joy. “You have put on Christ! You have become a new creation!” Recognize your dignity, O Christian! Recognize the favor shown to you! The Sun of Justice has dawned upon you, to take your hand, to lift you up and to take you to Himself. Ours is a life full of promise and blessing.

“If in union with Christ we have imitated his death (through Baptism), we shall also imitate him in his resurrection. We must realize that our former selves have been crucified with him to destroy this sinful body and to free us from the slavery of sin.”

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Divine Mercy Sunday

I can remember some years back there was a certain perplexity on the part of one or another as to how that would work when Pope John Paul II designated the Second Sunday of Easter Divine Mercy Sunday. Low Sunday, as this Sunday is also called, is First Communion Sunday in many countries and many liturgists would like to see it, as the Octave Day of Easter, given a special place in the post-baptismal catechesis of the adult initiation process. Patience and calm have ruled the day and it seems this Sunday has taken on new importance precisely because of the focus on Divine Mercy. The beautiful invocation Jesus, I trust in You! is successfully making the rounds in some of the cultures which need it the most.

The real issue over this Sunday involving the "unrest" of the past was/is that of the recognition or admission of one's need for God's mercy, awareness not only of my fallen nature (original sin), but of my sin as well, of my personal / direct / real / actual / specific need for forgiveness. Giving universal status to St. Maria Faustina's message about the Divine Mercy amounted to a confrontation.

The problem in the life of the Church which Divine Mercy Sunday addresses is very real and the message given to her a very good reason for why St. Maria Faustina was raised to the dignity of sainthood. If you aren't convinced of the amount of denial of the reality of personal sin which goes on or characterizes an ample cross section of Catholics in our day and time and touching folks from the High Altar to the back pew, then just mention the proposal to retranslate in the next edition of the English Sacramentary the keystone of the 1st form of the penitential rite at Mass, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa with "through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault". Albeit true that it's already quite a bit to get many people to confess that "I have sinned through my own fault", the word "grievous" seems not to want to apply for some reason.

The good news is that St. Maria Faustina's Divine Mercy Chaplet and even the Novena are catching on: For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Catholic radio and EWTN deserve a lot of credit in this regard, but the truth is that the Divine Mercy Chaplet fills a genuine need and speaks to a burning issue. The prayer, Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world, is truly weighty. The Divine Mercy Chaplet seems to be able to ring into a noisy and distracted life like a tiny silver bell and bring calm, bring reason, bring that measure of silence or stillness needed to face up to our need to confess our sins and do penance.

Our dining room has two split unit air conditioners: an old original, noisy one, insufficient even when there are six people at the lunch table; its handmaid, robbed from another part of the house and installed here for just those occasions when the old unit can't quite hack it. Somehow both units went out in rapid succession, the second on Wednesday of Holy Week. We were able to enjoy the high holy days with the windows open and a quiet little circulation fan. Needless to say, I heard the neighborhood really for the first time in the two and a half years I've lived in the house. As there isn't really much traffic in the neighborhood and even less over Easter, it was truly enjoyable to pick up on smaller sounds, like the wind rustling through dry palm fronds and precipitating their fall to the ground. Although I'd hate to have to entertain guests without AC, it certainly was enjoyable to spend a week without the hum of compressors outside closed windows, sweat or no sweat.

Let the Divine Mercy Chaplet help you to contextualize today, too. Sort of like AC off and windows open to a beautiful world out there. The world of "you are loved and saved, washed clean of your sins, perhaps even grievous ones, in the Blood of the Lamb. Atonement is for me and for you personally and we rejoice in Christ's victory. Let the Divine Mercy Chaplet take the "thump" out of your life and let you see and hear clearly in the real presence of the Dearly Beloved Son!

In Spirit and in Truth

Easter Sunday
8 April 2007, Rosary Monastery
St. Ann’s, Port of Spain

Homily


“Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that he must rise from the dead.”

If only there were more people in the world like Cornelius! Here’s a Roman citizen, a pagan, who with his family becomes convinced of the God of Israel, starts praying faithfully, opens his heart and life to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and is rewarded by our loving God, who let him become the first Gentile to hear the good news of the Resurrection and receive baptism from Peter himself.
As I say, if only more people, baptized or not, were like Cornelius! He put his life and the life of his whole household in God’s hands and was richly rewarded in hearing about and receiving God Himself in His Fullness, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as Gift into his life and the lives of his loved ones.
The women came running frantically this Sunday morning to tell Peter that they had found the stone rolled back and the tomb empty. Peter and John set off at a dead run to see for themselves. The Gospel of John says that the disciple Jesus loved went into the tomb, he saw and he believed. Peter tells Cornelius’ household:
“…three days afterwards God raised him to life and allowed him to be seen, not by the whole people but only by certain witnesses God had chosen beforehand. Now we are those witnesses – we have eaten and drunk with him after his resurrection from the dead – and he has ordered us to proclaim this to his people and to tell them that God has appointed him to judge everyone, alive or dead. It is to him that all the prophets bear this witness: that all who believe in Jesus will have their sins forgiven through his name.”
All of us here present this morning really have a double calling, or should I say, we can find ourselves both in Peter and in Cornelius. The angel who appeared to Cornelius told him to send for Peter in Jaffa. The angel did not announce the Resurrection; Peter, the witness, did. Ours is not a mystic, crystal revelation from the Age of Aquarius or from any other new age’s crystal ball, but the gift of another person to us. Mommies and Daddies bring their little Cornelius’ and Cornelias to baptism and share their prayer life and faith with them. What happened in Caesarea to the household of Cornelius happens in every Christian home.
Now that’s the way it should be, but it could be that we didn’t grow up in a Christian home or we didn’t appreciate what we had at home or maybe didn’t have the kind of a witness we needed at home. Maybe Mommy and Daddy weren’t Sunday church people, who ate and drank, so to speak, with the Risen Lord. As we know, it’s never too late and many a Cornelius or Cornelia finds his or her way to the Risen Christ as an older child, as an adolescent or even as an adult. The key is a hunger and thirst for truth, light and life, along with a readiness to be taught by God in the person of the witness He sends to us. That witness may be a grandparent, may be a teacher at school, may be a relative our own age, may be a schoolmate, may be someone at work or even someone we meet by chance.
For all of us here the Cornelius side of our calling may already be history and the actuality would be our other vocation to be witnesses, to be people who hear the prompting of the angel’s voice like Peter on the rooftop in Jaffa at prayer and go looking for that Cornelius or Cornelia who is seeking God in truth. For most of us, that is something we’ll do not on the road but right at home, right at the office, in school or at play. We’ll do it by being people who have kept the flame of faith from Baptism alive in our hearts, people who if we have sinned or fallen from grace have come back to oneness with the Lord through the sacrament of penance and a true spirit of repentance. We’ll do our witnessing just as St. Paul urges us, that is simply, by never hesitating to answer should someone ask us the reason for our hope.
Our faith is neither esoteric nor does it require of us getting up on a soap box or shouting about on street corners. Our faith is living with God at home, giving Him that hour plus on Sunday, the first day of the week, never denying Him by the way we speak, act or dress. Marriages that are founded on love, grow in love and despite differences and misunderstandings endure and win in love are evident both to the rest of the family and to friends. Faith is the same: it’s not preachy it’s lived and loved.
Rejoice with me this Easter, all you Corneliuses and Cornelias out there! You are hearing the best of all good news: Resurrexit sicut dixit, Alleluia! He is risen as He said, Alleluia! Rejoice with me this Easter, all you Peters and Johns and Mary Magdalens and other Marys who were at the Tomb early this morning and found it empty! Rejoice in the Risen One! Alleluia!
Try, just try and find something to compare with this! Alleluia!

Our Hope in His Victory

Easter Vigil 2007
Rosary Monastery
St. Ann’s, Port of Spain

Homily


At the risk of provoking a puzzled look or two, I’m going to state that our whole life as Christians is one big, long Easter Vigil. Not only is the Easter Vigil the mother of all vigils, the night of nights, it is a metaphor for the way we live out our Baptism in the course of the years granted to us on this earth. Alleluia.
What is the Easter Vigil in a few words? What is our life as baptized Christians in a few words? It’s about remembering or recalling how God saved His people throughout history and about how in the fullness of time He sent his own Son to be our Redeemer. It’s about our hope and prayer that God (through this Easter celebration / through our living out of the grace of our baptism day by day, year for year) may bring to perfection the saving work He has begun in us by water and the Holy Spirit. “He is risen and He has appeared to Simon!” Our hope for this life and for the next is in His victory over sin and death. Nothing else really matters. Alleluia!
After lighting our Easter candle, we spent time this evening with the Scriptures, now we’ll renew the promises of our Baptism, and then we will celebrate in the Holy Eucharist the central mystery of our faith. This is our vigil and this is our life. It reaches its high point not only at Easter, but every single Sunday, which as we know is “Resurrection Day”.
The early Christians suffered martyrdom rather than go without their Sunday Mass. Why has the first announcement of the Gospel generally been accompanied by persecution of Christian believers and their martyrdom? Because Satan doesn’t give in that easily; he’s not willing to turn over his control of people’s lives that easily. We are washed clean in the Blood of the Lamb. The Lamb was slain in mortal combat but lives forever victorious over sin and death, over Satan’s power. The strife is o’er the battle done… as the Easter hymn goes. Alleluia! We walk in the footsteps of Christ, we go to Him, and we identify with Him who suffered, died and was buried outside the walls, outside the vineyard. He rose victorious from the dead and vanquished the power of evil. Again: Alleluia.
I don’t know about you, but I have the worst time getting over or getting away from being curious about “how the other half lives”. By that I don’t mean the “rich and famous”, movie stars or politicians: most of their tragedies or insufficiencies are too evident and their choice of a certain life holds no attraction whatever for me. No, I tend to waste time wondering how certain good people in the world have failed to become Christians. It’s nothing more than a distraction, I know. Invariably however, I find out that such people are not truly happy. They don’t necessarily remain where they are because they think their life is the best or because they are satisfied. They content themselves rather with their life because they can’t imagine a better option. In some cases they live in fear of what might happen, if they let down their guard for a moment. It goes without saying that I could also describe a lot of baptized people as living that the same way, like pagans. Maybe (to refer to the famous quote from Mahatma Gandhi) that’s why some thoughtful people aren’t even attracted to us. For others the message of the Gospel is just too good to be true.
The Easter Vigil is a reminder, a pep talk for each and every one of us the baptized, encouraging us to stir up the flame of faith within us. We are called to set the world around us on fire with what seems to be the little light and warmth flickering from our candle of faith lit at Baptism.
It is no small task, but be of good courage. If you proclaim Jesus, True God and True Man, the Savior of the World who hung upon the wood of the Cross, our Light, the true light which comes into the world, if you proclaim Jesus, not by so much talk, but by the choices of your life, by your holy life, by your living out as best you can your vocation whatever it might be: husband and father, grandfather, mother and spouse, grandmother, widow or widower, single person, student, son or daughter, religious woman of the active or contemplative life, priest, papal nuncio. If you do so not only will you live happy, but you’ll join the fight to make up what is still lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the salvation of the world. You will be His Body.
I spent three years of my career in Jerusalem and I must say that one of the things which impressed me there were the pilgrims coming to Jerusalem from Ethiopia for Holy Week each year. I never talked to one of them that I can remember, but you’d see them about their devotions always dressed in white robes, baptismal garments. The white garment is a symbol of our having put on Christ in baptism. With the garment at our Baptism come the words of the priest exhorting us, exhorting parents and godparents to keep that life in Christ unstained.
A most blessed Easter to one and all!