After the tragic death of Jesus, sadness covered the Holy Land. It lasted until th crack of dawn on Easter Sunday. Then a shout was heard around all of Jerusalem: He is risen! Jesus is risen from the dead!Scripture of the Week
To this very day the same cry of joy is heard around the world. ALLELUIA!
Friends, our Easter Gospel contains St. John’s magnificent account of the Resurrection.Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M. (U.S.C.C.B.): Easter Reflection.
There are three key lessons that follow from the disquieting fact of the Resurrection. First, this world is not all there is. The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead shows as definitively as possible that God is up to something greater than we had imagined.We don’t have to live as though death were our master and as though nihilism were the only coherent point of view. We can, in fact, begin to see this world as a place of gestation toward something higher, more permanent, more splendid.
Second, the tyrants know that their time is up. Remember that the cross was Rome’s way of asserting its authority. But when Jesus was raised from the dead through the power of the Holy Spirit, the first Christians knew that Caesar’s days were, in point of fact, numbered. The faculty lounge interpretation of the Resurrection as a subjective event or a mere symbol is exactly what the tyrants of the world want, for it poses no real threat to them.
Third, the path of salvation has been opened to everyone. Jesus went all the way down, journeying into pain, despair, alienation, even godforsakenness. He went as far as you can go away from the Father. Why? In order to reach all those who had wandered from God. In light of the Resurrection, the first Christians came to know that, even as we run as fast as we can away from the Father, we are running into the arms of the Son.
Let us not domesticate these still-stunning lessons of the Resurrection. Rather, let us allow them to unnerve us, change us, and set us on fire.
"Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people & hallelujah is our song."
—Pope Saint John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, r. 1978-2005; feast: 22 October)
"How can we not sing? How can we not express the fullness of those feelings accumulated during our long Lenten journey & during the dramatic ritual of the Paschal Triduum?"Saint Quote o' the Day
—Pope Saint Paul VI (1897-1978, r. 1963-1978; feast: 29 May)
"O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory? For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first fruits of those who fallen asleep. To Him be glory & dominion unto ages of ages."
—Saint John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church (347-407, feast: 13 September)
Friends, on this Easter Vigil, in our Gospel we hear St. Mark’s account of the Resurrection. The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the be-all and end-all of the Christian faith. If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, all bishops, priests, and Christian ministers should go home and get honest jobs, and all the Christian faithful should leave their churches immediately.Video reflection by Paul Jarzembowski (U.S.C.C.B.): Triduum Reflection.
As Paul himself put it: “If Christ has not been raised, then empty [too] is our preaching…. We are the most pitiable people of all.” It’s no good, of course, trying to explain the Resurrection away or rationalize it as a myth, a symbol, or an inner subjective experience. None of that does justice to the novelty and sheer strangeness of the biblical message.
It comes down finally to this: if Jesus was not raised from death, Christianity is a fraud and a joke. But if he did rise from death, then Christianity is the fullness of God’s revelation, and Jesus must be the absolute center of our lives. There is no third option.
"The readings in the Paschal Vigil carry us into the mysterious arena where human sin meets God's justice & mercy. There life & death 'have contended,' & there the victory of the risen Christ over death stands out as the source of our salvation & the model of Christian living."Saint Quote o' the Day
—Pope Saint Paul VI (1897-1978, r. 1963-1978; feast: 29 May)
"The One Who is our very life descended into our world, & bore our death, & slew it with the abundance of His own life. Thundering, He called us to return to Him in heaven."Mother Teresa Quote o' the Day
—Saint Augustine of Hippo, Doctor of the Church (354-430, feast: 28 August)
"The most important part is that we keep the work as His work & that we do not spoil it with any claims."Archbishop Sheen Quote o' the Day
—Saint Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)
"Solitude can be very rewarding & full of blessing because in the silence of the inner being, one finds God."
—Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
Friends, today’s Gospel is John’s wonderful narrative of Christ’s Passion. On the cross, Jesus entered into close quarters with sin (because that’s where we sinners are found) and allowed the heat and fury of sin to destroy him, even as he protected us.Video reflection by Father John M. McKenzie (U.S.C.C.B.): Triduum Reflection.
We can see, with special clarity, why the first Christians associated the crucified Jesus with the suffering servant of Isaiah. By enduring the pain of the cross, Jesus did indeed bear our sins; by his stripes we were indeed healed.
And this is why the sacrificial death of Jesus is pleasing to the Father. The Father sent his Son into godforsakenness, into the morass of sin and death, not because he delighted in seeing his Son suffer, but rather because he wanted his Son to bring the divine light to the darkest place.
It is not the agony of the Son in itself that pleases his Father, but rather the Son’s willing obedience in offering his body in sacrifice in order to take away the sin of the world. St. Anselm said that the death of the Son reestablished the right relationship between divinity and humanity.
"The journey also brings sacrifices, but these must not stop us. Jesus is on the Cross: you want to kiss Him? You cannot help bending over the Cross & letting yourself be pricked by some thorns of the crown that is on the Lord's head."Mother Teresa Quote o' the Day
—Pope Blessed John Paul I (1912-1978, r. 1978; feast: 26 August)
"You need a deep freedom to be like Jesus. See, He could have been born in a palace, yet He chose to be poor… Are we so free that we can be completely naked with Jesus there on the cross?"Saint Quote o' the Day
—Saint Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)
"Jesus took upon Himself the scourging that would have been our due in order to save the creatures He formed & loved."
—Saint Odo of Cluny (880-942, feast: 18 November)
"The fruit of this tree is not death but life, not darkness but light. This tree does not cast us out of paradise, but opens the way for our return."
—Saint Theodore the Studite (759-826, feast: 12 November)
"Keep your eyes on the crucifix; for Jesus without the cross is a man without a mission, & the cross without Jesus is a burden without a reliever."
—Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus washes the disciples’ feet. He is giving them a visual proclamation of his new commandment: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”Video reflection by Deacon Bernard Nojadera (U.S.C.C.B.): Triduum Reflection.
When we accept this commandment, we walk the path of joy. When we internalize this law, we become happy. And so the paradox: happiness is never a function of filling oneself up; it is a wonderful function of giving oneself away.
When the divine grace enters one’s life (and everything we have is the result of divine grace), the task is to contrive a way to make it a gift. In a sense, the divine life—which exists only in gift form—can be “had” only on the fly.
Notice please that we are to love with a properly divine love: “I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.” Radical, radical, radical. Complete, excessive, over-the-top.
"With the institution of the Eucharist, we enter into the very heart of humanity's drama. Will it be life directed toward death, or life open to eternity!"Saint Quote o' the Day
—Pope Saint John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, r. 1978-2005; feast: 22 October)
"I tell you that you have less to suffer in following the cross than in serving the world & its pleasures."Mother Teresa Quote o' the Day
—Saint Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney (1786-1859, feast: 4 August)
"On the Cross, Jesus said, 'I thirst.' He was not asking for something to drink. When they offered Him vinegar He didn't drink it… Very often we offer Jesus a bitter drink too. This bitterness comes from the depths of hearts & wells up in our words. When we give this bitterness to each other, we give it to Jesus."Archbishop Sheen Quote o' the Day
—Saint Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)
"Let no one think he can be totally indifferent to God in this life & suddenly develop a capacity for Him at the moment of death."
—Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
"Give me back my brain…"
"Hey, don't write yourself off yet,
It's only in your head, you feel left out
Or looked down on,
Just try your best,
Try everything you can,
And don't you worry what they tell themselves
When you're away.
"It just takes some time,
Little girl, you're in the middle of the ride,
Everything, everything'll be just fine,
Everything, everything'll be alright, alright…"
"The cruel, hot summer
led into the long, hard fall,
becoming the dark, killing winter
until spring replenished us all."
—Bill Willingham, Fables
"Maine is the world that went south,
Maine is a punch in the mouth,
Maine at the top of the chart
Has crushed my evil heart!
"Maine is the devil you know,
Maine is the heaven below,
Maine at the top of the chart
Has crushed my evil heart!…
"Maine is the poison you love,
Maine is the hell from above,
Maine at the top of the chart
Has crushed my evil heart!
