Easter Sunday, April 5 Homily
April 5
English
Have you ever been super-enthusiastic about a new idea that occurred to you – one that was so promising and exciting, but one which you hadn’t entirely thought through? When I was a college student, I had one of those brilliant ideas – to work as a telemarketer over a summer break. I needed to make a little money, and someone suggested the idea to me, and before I knew it, I was gung ho with dollar signs before my eyes, and, and, and. And then came the “but”. In order to make money, I’d have to convince someone to allow a total stranger to come to their house and talk to them about installing new doors or windows. Needless to say, that job really didn’t last too long. In fact, I quit after my trainer, who was listening in to my conversation with an elderly woman who just had surgery and was telling me some of her woes, tried to convince me to get her to make an appointment. Looking back I think it was the priest-in-the-making in me, who felt such compassion for her!
Well, in the first reading today, we hear the kerygma proclaimed – a short summary of the Gospel: that Jesus suffered, died, and now had risen from the dead. And we get this kind of and, and, and build-up: You know how God anointed Jesus, and how He went about doing good, and how they put him to death, and how God raised Him from the dead, and, and, and. And? And now what?
It happens that sometimes people get that far – they hear the Gospel message – all the and, and, ands, and they know the story of what happened. But then they’re left with a kind of rhetorical “And now what?”, which they may never even realize is being asked or even needs to be answered!
So, now what? Well, our passage from the Book of Acts today tells us: “everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.” In other words, after hearing all the familiar, yet awesome, details of Jesus’ suffering, death, and Resurrection, a response is required – a response of faith or belief. We are called to believe that Jesus truly died and rose from the dead – this is the essence of our Christian faith, the Resurrection. But, now what? What does it mean to believe? It’s a little different than waiting on Peter Cottontail!
The thing about belief is it’s not merely an intellectual assent to the truth. Yes, I agree that 2 + 2 = 4. Yes, I believe Jesus is the Son of God who rose from the dead. But, for faith to truly be faith, it requires a corresponding commitment to how we live our lives. You see, as the Truth, God became man in the person of Jesus to teach us how to live our lives. Therefore, to make a response of belief or faith in God requires our very lives. Pope John Paul II put it this way – he said, “Jesus is the answer to the question that is every human life.” This means that apart from Jesus the ultimate reason for our existence on this earth escapes us. And to live the totality of our lives with Him and for Him is what brings true joy and peace.
St. John, the beloved disciple, is a supreme model for us of what it means for belief in Our Lord to be a complete and total response of our lives. John is the one, who reclined next to Jesus at the Last Supper. He’s the one who was with Jesus to the very end – to whom Jesus entrusted His mother, Mary, at the foot of the cross. And he’s the one in our Gospel today, who runs faster than Peter to the empty tomb, who looks in and believes. The beloved disciple was with Jesus in the ups and downs, in the remarkable and the mundane moments, and in the joys and sorrows of His life. In other words, the beloved disciple is an example of how to love Jesus. And certainly He didn’t always have to know what was in the Lord’s mind to know what was in His heart.
My friends, you and I are called to imitate such a steady and enduring faith in our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As God-made-man, He is the one who loves us so much, that He not only united Himself with us in life, but even in death. And now as the Lord of all, He desires for us to let Him into every aspect of our lives: both the private and the public, the easy and the difficult, the moments of goodness and even of sin. And it’s by this type of relationship that the Lord Jesus truly becomes Our Lord and the Lord of our lives. God bless you.