Homilies
Excerpts – Easter Sunday (B)
Excerpts from Fr. Hawkswell, Fr. Fleming, Fr. Chama, Msgr. Pellegrino, Jamie Waters, Fr. Sigma, Fr. Kavanaugh, and others
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FEATURED AUTHORSLIFE ISSUESPRIESTS FOR LIFEBLOG ROLL
The tomb is empty! Our salvation has been accomplished!
Fr. Vincent Hawkswell
B.C. CATHOLIC
“Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father,” Jesus told Mary Magdalene on Easter Sunday morning. He was speaking to the whole Church, said Pope St. Leo the Great: “I would not have you come to me as to a human body, nor yet recognize me by fleshly perceptions: I put you off for higher things, I prepare greater things for you: when I have ascended to my Father, then you shall handle me more perfectly and truly, for you shall grasp what you cannot touch and believe what you cannot see.” (2021)
Come to his table and ask the Risen Jesus to fill your heart’s emptiness
Fr. Austin Fleming
A CONCORD PASTOR COMMENTS
How do you suppose they felt, these three women, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome? How do you suppose they felt as they made their way to Jesus’ tomb? that first Easter Sunday morning? They had rested on the Jewish Sabbath but bright and early on Sunday morning, these three who had stood at the foot of the Cross made their way to the tomb where they had left their dear friend’s body, late Friday afternoon.
Their mission was to embalm him with spices. I’m sure the pace they kept was slow, their steps burdened by loss and grief, by disappointment in their hearts, confusion in their minds, and a hollow, aching sadness in their souls. They felt helpless. They wondered how they would even get into the tomb, the stone blocking its entrance was so large and heavy.
They didn’t dress up for the first Easter Sunday. They weren’t planning a nice brunch for later in the day. There wasn’t a Cadbury egg or a jelly bean in sight and they met no bunnies with baskets along the way. And us? Some of us might have new Easter outfits – or we got dressed up for the occasion. And maybe that bunny has left us an Easter basket or a bowl of sweets… (2015)
Holy Week Homilies
AN OVERVIEW OF HOLY WEEK
Homily for Holy Thursday
Homily for Good Friday
Resurrection—Hope of new life
Fr. Evans K Chama, M.Afr
SINGLE HUMANITY
To believe in the resurrection is a choice of joyful hope for new life that risen Christ offers
Christ is risen! He is truly risen! That’s the Easter greeting that resounds especially among the Christians of oriental traditions. It’s a joyful expression in the hope for new life that the resurrection of Christ brings. And you, how’s does Christ’s resurrection touch your life? (2018)
Fr. Chama’s reflection is divided into these sections:
TV5Monde and About heaven
Life after death –a human question!
In Easter celebrations Christians speak out
Resurrection, future with a way
The center of the arena
Msgr. Joseph A. Pellegrino
DIOCESE OF ST. PETERSBURG
It was the year 203. The place was Roman Carthage in North Africa. The scene was the arena. The occasion was a festival in honor of Caesar’s birthday. The main actors were two young mothers, 22 year old Perpetua and her servant girl, Felicity. Perpetua’s infant son was still nursing. Her greatest suffering was not having her baby with her in the prison. Felicity had given birth two days earlier. This was fortunate for the Romans and a blessing for Felicity. The Romans would not condemn a pregnant woman to death because that would mean killing an innocent child. Felicity wanted to join her mistress and fellow Christians in death. Her prayer was answered when she gave birth in the prison. (2018)
Easter Sunday Homily: The power of the cross is given to us (2012)
Good Friday Homilies
Give it to Jesus (2018)
Only one person did not have to die (2015)
Some feeble attempts at poetry on the Seven Last Words (2012)
Give it to Jesus on the cross (2009)
Holy Thursday Homilies
The new Covenant of the Body and Blood (2018)
The banquet of love (2015)
Nourished and nourishing (2012)
Service, Priesthood, Eucharist (2009)
Jesus is risen, exclusion is dead
Jamie Waters
AMERICA MAGAZINE
Happy Easter! Today we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The first reading and the Gospel offer insights into early Christian witnesses that can inform us as witnesses for Christ today…
These early Christian witnesses struggled with the mystery of the resurrection. Their reactions are a mixture of fear, faith, confusion and understanding. Throughout the Easter season, we will hear more about these reactions and encounters with the risen Christ and the mission to spread belief, as we heard in the first reading. These texts remind us that Christian witness is not just about recognizing the empty tomb; it is a call to action. When Mary encounters the empty tomb, she tells others who come to believe (beloved disciple) and seek to understand (Peter). As we enter this Easter season, we should be mindful of how our lives reflect our witness to the risen Christ. Our actions should reveal faith in Christ and understanding of the Gospel, which can inspire others to believe. (2021)
The punctuation of the resurrection
Fr. George Smiga
BUILDING ON THE WORD
Christianity stands or falls on the truth of Jesus’ resurrection. We believe that by the power of God, Jesus was raised bodily from the dead. If you take this belief away, Christianity is no longer Christianity. It may still be a wonderful collection of moral teachings. There will still be a long tradition of holy men and women who show us how to live. But without the truth of the resurrection, there is no gospel, there is no good news.
The resurrection reveals something to us about God. It gives us one clear instance when the power of God and the goodness of God were so real that death was reversed and a new kind of life emerged. If we believe in a God who gave that new life to Jesus, we also believe in a God who give that life to us. So the crucial question is how do we respond to the proclamation of the young man in today’s gospel. He says to the women, “Jesus has been raised.” Do we believe him or not?
Or to put this in another way, what kind of punctuation mark would we place after this young man’s words? He says, “Jesus has been raised.” We could follow that with a period. A period is a mark that indicates that a thought is finished, and it is time to move on to another. A period, then is not a very encouraging punctuation. (2012)
Rising
Fr. John Kavanaugh, SJ
SUNDAY WEB SITE
Jesus entered the deeps of death, a plunge he need not have made, had he not loved us in our sorry state. But he went to death with a “yes,” with the utter trust of Abraham, the constancy of Moses, the bright reliance of Isaiah. In Easter’s vigil, we plunge with him: “Are you not aware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Being like him through likeness to his death, so shall we be through a like resurrection.”
The risen crucified one sounds again God’s original “yes” to us now, even in our sin, even in the death which sin brought on us. Allowing us to be like and in him since he became so fully like unto us, he carries us, as one of his own, to safe land.(1997)
Lifeissues.net website publishes articles directly related to issues raised in Evangelium Vitae, and related homilies by Fr. Al Cariño, O.M.I., Fr. Tony Pueyo, and others.
Christ is risen! Alleluia!
If Jesus lived today, the international media, complete with pictures and video footages, would have treated the resurrection as Breaking News and and perhaps would have written it up with a screaming headline as follows: “Woman, two others find empty tomb!”
He is risen! Alleluia!
Christ overcame that barrier of death. In doing so, He gave humanity the possibility of returning to the Paradise lost by Adam and Eve. Jesus promises us that when the time comes for us to cross that barrier; we will see Him face to face. He also tells us that when we leave this earthly existence, our destiny will depend on how we prepared ourselves for our life in eternity.
Laetare, Rejoice!
Despite all the darkness in the world, evil does not have the last word.
– Pope Benedict VI
Salvation History Has Changed Forever
The transforming power of God has changed the course of human history forever. No longer are we slaves to the sin, but we are truly free. By rising from the grave, Jesus broke the chains of death and made us, once more, heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Follow, Follow, Follow…
Try to remember, and if you remember, then follow follow follow
Lifeissues.net website publishes articles directly related to issues raised in Evangelium Vitae, and related homilies by Fr. Al Cariño, O.M.I., Fr. Tony Pueyo, and others.
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Bulletin Insert
Our Easter Mission
“Have no fear. The outcome of the battle for life is already decided, even though the struggle goes on against great odds and with much suffering… “Christ is now raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep … so in Christ all will come to life again” (1 Cor. 15:2022). The paradox of the Christian message is this: Christ – the head – has already conquered sin and death. Christ in his body – the pilgrim people of God – continually suffers the onslaught of the Evil One and all the evil which sinful humanity is capable of.
”The liberating message of the Gospel of life has been put into your hands. And the mission of proclaiming it to the ends of the earth is now passing to your generation. Like the great apostle Paul, you too must feel the full urgency of the task: “Woe to me if I do not evangelize” (1 Cor. 9:16). Woe to you if you do not succeed in defending life. The church needs your energies, your enthusiasm, your youthful ideals, in order to make the Gospel of life penetrate the fabric of society, transforming people’s hearts and the structures of society in order to create a civilization of true justice and love.” – Pope John Paul II to Youth, August 15, 1993, Denver, Colorado.
Homily Suggestions
Acts 10:34a, 37-43
Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8
Jn 20:1-9 or Mk 16:1-7 or, at an afternoon or evening Mass, Lk 24:13-35
There is no day on which it is easier to preach on the victory of life than today, the Feast of Life, the Feast of Christ’s victory over death. Easter makes it clear that being “pro-life” is not something that flows primarily from any political or ideological loyalty, nor simply from a cause, plan, project, or organization. Being pro-life, and all its other manifestations and activities, flow from what happened on Easter. Christ did not only conquer his death; he overturned the entire kingdom of death!
On Easter, we do not come to Church simply to congratulate Jesus for rising from the dead. We come to celebrate the fact that we share that victory. We too, by living and dying in him, will rise in him on the last day.
But this victory is also about today, because we share his risen life now. If we share his life, we are “an Easter people,” or as Evangelium Vitae says, “the People of Life.” This means that we proclaim this victory of life, and stand strongly against all the forces in our society that eclipse or destroy the value of life – foremost among them all being abortion. We stand before these forces, not intimidated, hesitant, or unsure of our ability to overcome them. Instead, we stand before them in strength, declaring that they no longer have any ground to stand on, nor any place in our midst. Christ is Risen! On this day we preach with all the vigor and conviction that the Gospel inspires, and send our people forth to apply the Easter victory of Christ to every segment of society!
General Intercessions
Celebrant: Christ is Risen, and the power of His resurrection fills the world today with new life. With hope and expectation, we therefore bring him all our needs.
Deacon/Lector:
That the Church may boldly and faithfully proclaim the Resurrection of Christ to those who do not yet believe in it, we pray to the Lord…
That the leaders of the Church may embody the mysteries of new life which we celebrate in our liturgy, we pray to the Lord…
That the leaders of our nations and world may give priority to those with greatest need in the distribution of the world’s basic resources, we pray to the Lord…
That in the light of Christ’s victory over death, nations may work together to overcome violence against all, especially the poor, the weak, and the unborn, we pray to the Lord…
That the newly baptized and confirmed, and those received into full communion with the Catholic Church, may continue to grow with this community in worship and service, let us pray to the Lord…
That those who have died may one day share in the promise of new love one for us by the resurrection, we pray to the Lord…
Celebrant:
God of glory, you know the deepest desires of our hearts. As we celebrate the Resurrection, make us faithful to you in all we do. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
