Easter Homily, Sunday, March 31st, 2024

Easter (Mk. 16:1-7) “What Now?”

        The disciple’s reaction when they went to the tomb of Jesus was one of bewilderment. The various apostles investigated the tomb.  Some walked away in a daze, not knowing what to think. Others ran away in fear.  Still others went off to share the news of the Resurrection.  The question for all was, “What do we do now?”

        Was this the end of the story?  Jesus conquered death.  He came out of the grave.  He gave his disciples the good news. “You will live forever with me,” he said. But is this all we need to know?

        Often, people debate the goal of religious education.  What is the job of a catechist.  Many would say that the goal of catechesis would be to get people to heaven. If we stay out of serious trouble our whole life, if we live as moral individuals we will be with Jesus for all eternity.  Is that crux of the Christian message? If that is the goal of Christian life, then life would seem to be one big waiting game. We wait for the payoff at the end of earthly life.  What happens between now and the time we die doesn’t seem to have much to do with Easter. 

        On Easter we baptize people at Sacred Heart.  We also remind ourselves of our own baptism.  Everyone who attends Mass on Easter weekend renews their baptismal promises. What do these rites say to us?  Is it like graduation?   When we go through a course of study, we usually receive a diploma at the end.  We have made it.

        For the people who are baptized at Easter is this the graduation from OCIA?  Rather than a diploma, do we get a ticket into eternal life with Jesus? For those baptized does the renewal of our baptismal complete the efforts of a more committed Christian life?  Do we get a pat on the back for a job well done?  Is Easter about being affirmed as exemplary Christians?

When we ask these questions, we should take note of what the disciples did after they walked away from the empty tomb.  The apostles didn’t celebrate the completion of the journey. No, they prayed over the question of what to do next. And then Jesus appeared to them fresh from the grave.  We are told in some of the accounts that Jesus breathed on them bestowing the Holy Spirit right away. In other accounts he stayed with them 40 days.  He gave them further instructions.  For him the earthly work wasn’t done when he emerged from the tomb.  No, the mission continued.

        What do we see the apostles do after they interact with the risen Jesus?  We are told that they go into the streets to preach.  Many converts were made.  Hundreds of baptisms were administered.  The goal was to teach people how to live like Jesus.

        In some ways the fact that we use the word Christian to describe who we are is misleading.  Jesus never uses that word in the Gospel accounts. The way he talks about his followers is that they are disciples.  He used that word dozens of times in the Gospel narrative. What is a synonym for the word disciple?  A synonym would be apprentice.  We know what an apprentice is.  An apprentice carpenter is someone who spends time with an experienced craftsman. The apprentice works with the carpenter, watches what they do, after a while, they try to build things themselves.

        When we are baptized, we become apprentices of Jesus. We commit ourselves to growth.  We need to do three things.  We need to live our life in relationship to Jesus.  We must have an ongoing conversation with him.  Second, we need to seek to become like Jesus. Our Christian life is about being an icon of Jesus for others to see. Finally, we need to live “the way.”  “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Jesus said. If we understand our Baptism, we know that we start a journey.  We are always moving forward on then road.  We may never become Jesus but if we are following the way we are going in the right direction.

        Jesus burst forth from the tomb.  He was alive.  He was not just physically alive, but Jesus is alive in each of us.  We have a task to do for Jesus.  If we haven’t begun let’s get started.  And if we are laboring in the vineyard for the Lord let us continue.

Reflection Questions:

1.  Am I a Christian?  Am I a disciple?

2.  Did the Apostles leave the empty tomb knowing what to do?  What guided them?

Dear Parishioners,

                We are in the final weeks of our “Your Heart Our Hands” offertory commitment drive.  So far, we have received 305 responses. If everyone follows through on their commitment, we will have a significant increase in our offertory donations.  This would be most welcome and would help us come closer to a balanced budget.

        If you have your pledge card at home and have not turned it in, please do so.  If you have lost your card, please take one the next time you are in church and return it.  You can also pledge online.

        Please remember that on April 21st at our 11 a.m. Mass we will be having the last celebration of the 100th year of our church building.  We will be blessing a donor book that will be permanently installed in the St. Damien Center.  Refreshments will be served after Mass and there will be an archival display as well.

        Come and join us for this Mass. I thank all those who are doing the planning and all those who have donated to our recent capital campaigns.

        May Our Lady pray for us,

        Fr. Mark

P.S. There will be no post Easter Tuesday.