Love Stronger than Death - Easter 2011

Pope Benedict XVI's 2011 Easter Vigil Homily

Easter and the paschal experience of Christians, however, now require us to take a further step. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week. After six days in which man in some sense participates in God’s work of creation, the Sabbath is the day of rest. But something quite unprecedented happened in the nascent Church: the place of the Sabbath, the seventh day, was taken by the first day. As the day of the liturgical assembly, it is the day for encounter with God through Jesus Christ who as the Risen Lord encountered his followers on the first day, Sunday, after they had found the tomb empty. The structure of the week is overturned. No longer does it point towards the seventh day, as the time to participate in God’s rest. It sets out from the first day as the day of encounter with the Risen Lord. This encounter happens afresh at every celebration of the Eucharist, when the Lord enters anew into the midst of his disciples and gives himself to them, allows himself, so to speak, to be touched by them, sits down at table with them. This change is utterly extraordinary, considering that the Sabbath, the seventh day seen as the day of encounter with God, is so profoundly rooted in the Old Testament. If we also bear in mind how much the movement from work towards the rest-day corresponds to a natural rhythm, the dramatic nature of this change is even more striking. This revolutionary development that occurred at the very the beginning of the Church’s history can be explained only by the fact that something utterly new happened that day. The first day of the week was the third day after Jesus’ death. It was the day when he showed himself to his disciples as the Risen Lord. In truth, this encounter had something unsettling about it. The world had changed. This man who had died was now living with a life that was no longer threatened by any death. A new form of life had been inaugurated, a new dimension of creation. The first day, according to the Genesis account, is the day on which creation begins. Now it was the day of creation in a new way, it had become the day of the new creation. We celebrate the first day. And in so doing we celebrate God the Creator and his creation. Yes, we believe in God, the Creator of heaven and earth. And we celebrate the God who was made man, who suffered, died, was buried and rose again. We celebrate the definitive victory of the Creator and of his creation. We celebrate this day as the origin and the goal of our existence. We celebrate it because now, thanks to the risen Lord, it is definitively established that reason is stronger than unreason, truth stronger than lies, love stronger than death. We celebrate the first day because we know that the black line drawn across creation does not last for ever. We celebrate it because we know that those words from the end of the creation account have now been definitively fulfilled: “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen 1:31). Amen.

Source: www.vatican.va

Easter Message...

Below are two Easter links.  (1) Pope Benedict XVI's  2010 Easter Vigil homily and (2) the last Easter message given by Pope John Paul II in 2004.

Pope Benedict XVI's 2010 Easter Homily
What is new and exciting in the Christian message, in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, was and is that we are told: yes indeed, this cure for death, this true medicine of immortality, does exist. It has been found. It is within our reach. In baptism, this medicine is given to us. A new life begins in us, a life that matures in faith and is not extinguished by the death of the old life, but is only then fully revealed.

Pope John Paul II's 2004 Easter Message
Stay with us now, and until the end of time.  Grant that the material progress of peoples may never obscure the spiritual values which are the soul of their civilization.  Sustain us, we pray, on our journey.  In you do we believe, in you do we hope, for you alone have the words of eternal life (cf. Jn 6:68). Mane nobiscum, Domine! Alleluia!

You will understand later - Thursday, April 21st

Readings of the Day

Gospel: John 13: 1-15
Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father.  He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.  The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over.  So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments.  He took a towel and tied it around his waist.  Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Master, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him,
“Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.” Jesus said to him,
“Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all.” For he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are clean.” So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am.
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

• wash: to cleanse by the action of liquid; to pass a liquid (as water) over or through especially so as to carry off material from the surface or interior.
• What is the significance of Christ's washing the feet of his disciples?  Why their feet?  What parallel does this have to the "cleansing" of our sins He took upon Himself on the cross?
• understand: to grasp the meaning of; to grasp the reasonableness of.
• Do I always understand the lessons God wants to teach me at the time?  How does a "bigger picture" perspective help me to grasp?  How often do I get impatient with Him because I can't grasp?  What can I learn from the disciples?
• model: an example for imitation; an image to be reproduced.
• Is Christ an example I try to imitate?  In what aspects of my life would others be able to see me as a reproduction of Christ?  What other models do my words and actions portray?

Definitions from http://www.merriman-webster.com/ and http://www.dictionary.com/.

Thirty Pieces of Silver - Wednesday, April 20th

Readings of the Day

Gospel: Matthew 26: 14-25
One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The teacher says, My appointed time draws near;
in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”‘ The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another,
“Surely it is not I, Lord?” He said in reply, “He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him,
but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” He answered, “You have said so.”

• if: requirement or stipulation; granting or supposing that; on condition that.
• Why did Judas ask for something in return for handing Jesus over?  Do I ever commit a wrong without thinking that I'll be getting some payback?  Is Jesus worth more to me than thirty pieces of silver?  (Remember, even Judas realized what he had done and tried to return the silver).
• recline: to lean or lie back; rest in a recumbent position; repose.
• How can Jesus calmly recline with his disciples hours before he was to be arrested?  Do you think He didn't know what was coming?  Or did his peace and composure come from knowing that He was doing God's will and that God would sustain Him?  How do I react in the midst of present or onlooking suffering?
• distress: great pain, anxiety or sorrow; trouble; that which causes pain or suffering; a state of danger or desperate need.
• Is it equally distressing for me to hear Christ's words - that I, too, will betray Him?  Am I not unrealistic expecting that I reach perfection?  Accepting that I do and will sin doesn't mean I don't try, but doesn't it help me ask for and accept God's mercy?

Definitions from http://www.merriman-webster.com/ and http://www.dictionary.com/.

...and it was night - Tuesday, April 19th

Readings of the Day

Gospel: John 13: 21-33, 36-38
Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him, “Master, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.” So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him. So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him. Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or to give something to the poor. So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night. When he had left, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.” Simon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going, you cannot 
follow me now, though you will follow later.” Peter said to him, “Master, why can I not follow you now?  I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times.”

• betray: to deliver to an enemy by treachery; to fail or desert especially in time of need; to be disloyal to; to disappoint the hopes or expectations of.
• Whether or not I have betrayed Jesus and my faith is not a question - the real question is, how many times have I consciously betrayed Him?  If I normally "plan" to sin, then how do I get caught up in deserting my faith, disappointing God's hopes for me to be "another Christ" to those around me?
• night: the time from dusk to dawn when no sunlight is visible; the quality of state of being dark; period of dreary inactivity or affliction; condition or time of obscurity, ignorance, sinfulness.
• Can I relate to the feeling of night and darkness that comes into a soul after separating myself from God's friendship?  Do I see this night around me?  How can I be a light in that darkness?
• deny: to give a negative answer to; to refuse to admit or acknowledge; disown
• Do I pray for the grace to be courageous in my faith?  Peter didn't plan on denying Christ...why then did he do so?  What lesson can Peter teach me here?  Knowing that Christ compassionately forgivess Peter, and helps him to move forward from his failings - does this give me peace and hope in God's forgiveness?  How can I better take advantage of the grace to be better that comes from that encounter of mercy with Him?

Definitions from http://www.merriman-webster.com/ and http://www.dictionary.com/.