HOMILY MONDAY of EASTER WEEK
Absorbing and Manifesting the Reality of Easter
(Acts 2:14, 22-33; Ps 16; Mt 28:8-15)
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This first day after the celebration of the Great Triduum of Easter, we are invited to allow the reality of the newness of Easter sink in more deeply, to be children of the resurrection, and to witness to the Good News of the resurrection by our lives.
The Gospel teaches us important lessons about Easter: The first is faith in the resurrection of Jesus, announced to the women by angels. The second is joy in this new creation. A third is to worship Jesus, as did the women. A fourth is the mandate to go and tell others about this great good news that Jesus is risen, we are forgiven, and his Spirit is with us. We are children of the resurrection.
The first reading takes us to the Pentecost event and its important lessons: The Holy Spirit transformed Peter and the apostles and will transform us. Easter is all about forgiveness. Jesus is truly risen. All the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, put into the mouth of King David today, have been fulfilled in Jesus who is risen, and whose body would never experience corruption. And we are to be witnesses to the resurrection by our words and our lives, as was Peter and the eleven who stood with him.
Ron Rolheiser and David Wells
Well-known speaker and author David Wells from England gave a talk on “Go and Announce” at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress. To “announce” is more than just talk, he stated, it is to manifest our faith in actions. Wells gave the example of some street evangelists who were rudely putting down participants at the entrance to the arena – they were just announcing, not manifesting, he stated.
Wells then gave the opposite example of a priest friend he was visiting when he was in his teens. They happened to pass by a homeless man with only threadbare slippers on. The priest asked the man what size his feet were, and when the reply was the same as his, took off his shoes and gave them to the poor man, taking his worn-out slippers to wear himself. David was deeply touched by this incident and felt in his heart he wanted to be like this priest who was manifesting, truly “announcing” the Good News by his life.
Adam Exner OMI was that inspiration to many of us scholastics as he gave himself freely in spiritual direction to many religious men and women who came to see him at the scholasticate where he was teaching, so much so that he had almost no time for himself. I learned much about spiritual direction from Exner’s example and the experience of being directed by him. He too, was daily “announcing” the Good News.
The Eucharist is like another appearance of Jesus to his disciples – we hear his Word and receive him in communion. We are then sent out to be children of the resurrection, to announce the Good News, to manifest it by our lives of faith and love, worship and service.
