Easter Sunday (B) Homilies

RESPONSORIAL

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad

Feasting on the Word

Confronting the "foolishness" of faith in a risen Christ

Today of all days, Christians confront the “foolishness” of faith in a risen Christ. Amid the pageantry of the day, the trumpets, the bright Easter colors, the fancy hats, and fuller-than-normal pews, the church confronts a conundrum: there is nothing logical, or practical (or any of those other “-icals” that so dominate postmodern life) in the resurrection of a martyred social activist from the first century CE. In a marketplace of ideas that prefers its news as salacious factoids or verifiable, evidentiary truths, the psalmist’s “salvation” and, indeed, Jesus’ resurrection from the dead do not register as “real.”

But perhaps that is the point. The psalmist and the witnesses in the garden are not rationally reporting on the events of the day, but exposing the inbreaking of a new worldview, indeed a new world of possibilities where “real” and “foolish” are the products of limited thinking and narrow imagination. The song of this day reveals those shackling limits to be illusory. In their place, new truth is revealed—a truth that cannot be quantified or catalogued, but must be sung. And the song is bold, even ecstatic, because the promises of this new truth are grander than even the psalmist can imagine. In the “real world,” people do not walk down the street breaking into song—that is the stuff of Broadway and Hollywood. Anyone who did that would look foolish. But there is the psalmist, dancing down the street, singing at full blast for everyone to hear and see. And there is the Christ, dancing along. Perhaps today of all days, the purpose of the spectacle is to reveal that the only thing foolish is not singing along, not joining in the dance.

SOURCE: Content taken from Key Word Commentary: Thoughts on Every Chapter of the Bible ; Mark Water; Copyright © 2003. Amg Pubs. All rights reserved.

Life Recovery Bible

God’s ways are not the same as our ways.

Psalm 118:22-25 What people may cast aside as unfit for use, God uses to do awe-inspiring work. This can be true for us, too. We may feel that our life is beyond repair or that God would never use us for anything significant. God often uses the most unlikely people to work his greatest miracles, proving to the world that he is at work. As willing vessels of God’s power, we can be transformed to impact others far beyond our wildest dreams. To do this, we must entrust our life to God.

SOURCE: Content taken from THE LIFE RECOVERY BIBLE notes by Stephen Arterburn & David Stoop. Copyright © 1998, 2017. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved.

Boice Expositional Commentary

Favorite psalm of Martin Luther

Psalm 118 tells us not only about Jesus Christ and his work of redemption but also about ourselves and of our need to trust God and praise him in all circumstances. This was the favorite psalm of Martin Luther. In the preface to his sixty-page exposition of the psalm, dedicating the work to Fredrich, Abbot of Saint Giles of Nuremberg, Luther wrote:

This is my own beloved psalm. Although the entire Psalter and all of Holy Scripture are dear to me as my only comfort and source of life, I fell in love with this psalm especially. Therefore I call it my own. When emperors and kings, the wise and the learned, and even saints could not aid me, this psalm proved a friend and helped me out of many great troubles. As a result, it is dearer to me than all the wealth, honor, and power of the pope, the Turk, and the emperor. I would be most unwilling to trade this psalm for all of it.

SOURCE: Content taken from BOICE EXPOSITIONAL COMMENTARY (27 Volumes). James Montgomery Boice, 2007.All rights reserved.

READING 1 | READING 2 | GOSPEL

Easter Sunday (B) Homilies

Catholic Bible Study

The Day of the Lord

by Michal Hunt (Agape Bible Study)

In the Responsorial Psalm, we sing the same hymn of thanksgiving the Old Covenant people of God sand in liturgical worship during the eight days of the Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread.  Psalm 118 begins by proclaiming God’s enduring love for His people and then announces that “the Lord’s right hand” has been “lifted high.”  We understand this verse as a foretelling of Jesus Christ, who, after giving us new life and victory over death, was raised to glory when He ascended to the Father’s right hand in Heaven (Mt 26:64; Mk 14:62; Acts 2:33).  Jesus is the “stone,” which the Old Covenant “builders,” rejected who became the “cornerstone” of our New Covenant faith (Ps 118:22).

Hymn of thanksgiving

Psalm 118 is a hymn of thanksgiving that is the last of the Hallel Psalms (Ps 113-118) sung by the congregation in liturgical worship at the Jerusalem Temple during the eight days of the Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread.  It was also Psalm 118:25-26 that the crowd shouted as Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Mt 21:9; Mk 11:9-10; Lk 19:38; Jn 12:13).

God’s enduring, covenant love

Psalm 118 begins by proclaiming God’s enduring, covenant love for His people (verses 1-2).  Verses 16-17 speak of “the Lord’s right hand” that has been “lifted high,” which we understand to be Jesus Christ, who, in His Resurrection, has given us new life and victory over death.  Jesus is the “stone which the builders” (the religious authorities of the Old Covenant “rejected” only to become the “cornerstone” of our faith (verse 22).

Jesus as the cornerstone

Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22-23 when He taught in the Temple on what was Monday of His last week in Jerusalem, applying the verses to Himself in Matthew 21:42.  After Jesus’ Resurrection, St. Peter testified at his trial before the same court that condemned Jesus, that Jesus Christ is the “cornerstone,” and the religious authorities are the “builders” who rejected Him, applying Psalm 118:22 to Christ in Acts 4:11.

Peter will quote Psalm 118:22 again, identifying Jesus as “the cornerstone” in 1 Peter 2:7.  St. Paul will also write that Jesus is the “cornerstone” in Romans 9:33 by referring to a related prophecy in Isaiah 28:16b.  And in Ephesians 2:19-20, Paul wrote that Christians are part of God’s household … built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone [cornerstone].

Finally, Christ fulfilled Psalm 118:23 in His works that are “wonderful in our eyes” (verse 23) because He has made it possible for us to receive the gift of eternal salvation.

SOURCE: Michal E. Hunt at Agape Bible Study; used with permission.

READING 1 | READING 2 | GOSPEL

Easter Sunday (B) Homilies

PIANO: Francesca Larosa

Psalm 118 – This is the day

Official LIVE video of Psalm 118 (Francesca LaRosa – Psalms WORD FOR WORD) with the vocal line included to help you sing along! (Perfect for cantors to prepare for Sunday mass)

REAWAKEN

Psalm 118 | Commentary & Music:

Jesus Christ is Risen! Alleluia! We hope you enjoy this newer version of “This is the Day” for Easter Sunday. Commentary at 0:25​. Song at 3:00​. This IS the day the Lord has made! Johan van Parys talks about how Psalm 118 sings Gods praises for the Jewish people’s liberation from Egypt and from Babylon. On Easter, we sing it because Jesus Christ has liberated us from sin and death! Alleluia!