Homily
Easter Sunday of the Lord's Resurrection
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas
12 April 2020
What's your deepest conviction?
I'm here tonight at the Easter Vigil to declare my deepest conviction. I'll answer first. I doubt it's a surprise. Maybe you've heard it before.
Jesus Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!
On this most holy night, I, in liturgical concert with the angels, saints, and yes, the martyrs who died for this conviction even today, shout into the darkness that this is the one thing I know to be true out of everything that I know to be true.
I further profess these words to be the most mysterious, the most dramatic, the most profound, and yes, the most TRUE words that have ever been spoken or could ever be spoken in human history.
Jesus Christ is Risen. He is truly Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!
On these words, I bet all that I am and all that I ever will be.
What is your deepest conviction?
Tonight, I just want to witness. I'm not going to try to convince you or try to make you feel guilty for what you struggle to believe. To heck with all that. What I'm interested in is your real faith. Your deepest desire. Is there a truth that you would give your life for? This is the night set apart for this conversation. So let's have it . . over Facebook live.
Tonight my prayer is that everyone gets off the couch. Ironically, most of you right now are on a couch. Yet if tonight is worth doing at all, then there can be no sideline and no bench. No couch potatoes. No wall flowers. No bystanders.
Don't be afraid to answer the pivotal question of this night - what is your deepest conviction?
Don't blow it off. Don't be afraid.
You have my answer - Jesus Christ is Risen. He is truly Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Why these words for me? Because without them, the most heartfelt words I ever say, words first spoken by Jesus - this is my body broken for you - lose their meaning. Without the Resurrection even the greatest sign of love I have ever known - the cross to which I gave the most passionate kiss of my life last night - is powerless in the face of death. St. Paul said it best - if Jesus isn't Risen, I'm pathetic.
But I don't profess these words tonight because I need them to be true. My conviction about the empty tomb isn't a vain wish that justifies my life, it is the fruit of my being a disciple of Jesus. Jesus invites faith, but also calls disciples to follow Him all the way to the cross to verify whether there is a love stronger than death. I pray my discipleship has been a courageous one, filtered through the cross of Jesus where I have learned from him how to fear nothing and avoid nothing.
My conviction comes from the times I dared to be a real Christian, and I'll be darned if Jesus wasn't right. Every time I die to sin and myself I lay hold of a new, different, and powerful life that does not fade.
Jesus Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen! Shame on me if this is ever something that I pretend to be true, instead of something that I because I am a disciple have personally discovered to be true in my real life.
On this truth I am happy to bet all that I am and ever will be. Not because I need to, or I'm afraid not to, but because I want to.
What's your deepest conviction?
You're invited to beat mine, by all means. Or join me through the renewal of baptismal promises. I just pray that none of us will do something cheap, easy or pitiable. On conviction night, let's decide with sharp minds, and pure hearts and courageous wills.
And so, I propose to you now words that have changed the meaning of life, and the destiny of man, more than any other. On this most holy night set apart for this very decision, I present to you the most mysterious, dramatic, profound, and TRUE words that have ever been or can ever be spoken.
Jesus Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Easter Sunday of the Lord's Resurrection
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas
12 April 2020
What's your deepest conviction?
I'm here tonight at the Easter Vigil to declare my deepest conviction. I'll answer first. I doubt it's a surprise. Maybe you've heard it before.
Jesus Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!
On this most holy night, I, in liturgical concert with the angels, saints, and yes, the martyrs who died for this conviction even today, shout into the darkness that this is the one thing I know to be true out of everything that I know to be true.
I further profess these words to be the most mysterious, the most dramatic, the most profound, and yes, the most TRUE words that have ever been spoken or could ever be spoken in human history.
Jesus Christ is Risen. He is truly Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!
On these words, I bet all that I am and all that I ever will be.
What is your deepest conviction?
Tonight, I just want to witness. I'm not going to try to convince you or try to make you feel guilty for what you struggle to believe. To heck with all that. What I'm interested in is your real faith. Your deepest desire. Is there a truth that you would give your life for? This is the night set apart for this conversation. So let's have it . . over Facebook live.
Tonight my prayer is that everyone gets off the couch. Ironically, most of you right now are on a couch. Yet if tonight is worth doing at all, then there can be no sideline and no bench. No couch potatoes. No wall flowers. No bystanders.
Don't be afraid to answer the pivotal question of this night - what is your deepest conviction?
Don't blow it off. Don't be afraid.
You have my answer - Jesus Christ is Risen. He is truly Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Why these words for me? Because without them, the most heartfelt words I ever say, words first spoken by Jesus - this is my body broken for you - lose their meaning. Without the Resurrection even the greatest sign of love I have ever known - the cross to which I gave the most passionate kiss of my life last night - is powerless in the face of death. St. Paul said it best - if Jesus isn't Risen, I'm pathetic.
But I don't profess these words tonight because I need them to be true. My conviction about the empty tomb isn't a vain wish that justifies my life, it is the fruit of my being a disciple of Jesus. Jesus invites faith, but also calls disciples to follow Him all the way to the cross to verify whether there is a love stronger than death. I pray my discipleship has been a courageous one, filtered through the cross of Jesus where I have learned from him how to fear nothing and avoid nothing.
My conviction comes from the times I dared to be a real Christian, and I'll be darned if Jesus wasn't right. Every time I die to sin and myself I lay hold of a new, different, and powerful life that does not fade.
Jesus Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen! Shame on me if this is ever something that I pretend to be true, instead of something that I because I am a disciple have personally discovered to be true in my real life.
On this truth I am happy to bet all that I am and ever will be. Not because I need to, or I'm afraid not to, but because I want to.
What's your deepest conviction?
You're invited to beat mine, by all means. Or join me through the renewal of baptismal promises. I just pray that none of us will do something cheap, easy or pitiable. On conviction night, let's decide with sharp minds, and pure hearts and courageous wills.
And so, I propose to you now words that have changed the meaning of life, and the destiny of man, more than any other. On this most holy night set apart for this very decision, I present to you the most mysterious, dramatic, profound, and TRUE words that have ever been or can ever be spoken.
Jesus Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!
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