Homily
Easter Sunday of the Lord's Resurrection
31 March 2024
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas
AMDG
If you could only say one word for the rest of your life, what word would you choose?
I bet you can guess what mine is. Risen! Risen! Risen! Jesus Christ is Risen! He is Risen from the dead! He is Risen just as He said! Alleluia! Alleluia!
That's my word, tonight and forever. Risen! On this word, I am happy to bet everything that I am and all that I ever will be.
Tonight I witness to you that this word - Risen - is the most mysterious, profound, dramatic and TRUE word that has ever been spoken in all of human history, or could ever be spoken. Tonight I sing this word - Risen - in liturgical concert with the angels, the saints, and yes, the martyrs who died for this word even today. Today, I should into the darkness that threatens so much and so many that this word - Risen - is the one thing I know to be true out of everything I know to be true.
Risen - that's my word - now and forever. What is yours?
Tonight my prayer is that you too will dare to shout into the world a word that is your destiny to proclaim. Tonight my prayer is that each and all of us, led by our catechumens and candidates, and the great risk of faith they speak tonight, will get off the couch! Tonight is not time for a virtual Easter! To hell with that. In this Church there is no sideline, no bench, no bystanders!
You have my answer - I dare you to proclaim yours!
Why this word for me? Because without it, even the most heartfelt words of love I ever say, words first spoken by Jesus - this is my body broken for you - lose their power. Without the word Risen even the greatest sign of love I have ever known, the cross on which I gave the most passionate kiss of my life last night, is powerless in the face of death. St. Paul said it best - unless Jesus is Risen, we are all pathetic losers!
But I don't profess this word tonight because I need it to be true. My conviction about the empty tom is not a vain wish that justifies my life or helps numb me to reality. No, this word is the fruit of being a disciple of Jesus. Jesus never invites you to a wishful faith. That's weak sauce! No, He invites me to follow Him first 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 face reality and fear nothing.
My conviction comes from the times I actually dared to be a real Christian, and I'll be damned if Jesus wasn't right - literally! Every time I die to sin and to myself, I lay hold of a new, different and powerful life that does not fade. Every time I suffer and die with Him, I also rise with Him!
It's real people!
Jesus Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen! Shame on me if this is ever something I have to pretend to be true, instead of something that as a disciple, through the risk of faith, I have discovered to be true.
On this truth - not this wish - but this truth - I am happy to bet everything that I am and ever will be. Not because I need to, not because I'm afraid not to, but because I want to.
My word is Risen! You've got next!
You're invited shortly to beat me or join me. If you dare join, renew your baptismal promises on Easter Sunday. If you join, please don't do anything cheap, or easy or pitiable. This is conviction Sunday - the word means 'with victory' - on our profession goes our participation in the greatest victory of all time! So let's decide with sharp minds, and pure hearts and courageous wills.
So I propose to you now a word that has rocked the history of the world, and changed forever the meaning of life and the destiny of man, to be the word of your life. On this most holy night set apart precisely for this decision, I invite you to say the most mysterious, dramatic, profound and true word that has ever been or could ever be spoken.
Risen! Jesus Christ is Risen! He is Risen from the dead just as He said. Alleluia! Alleluia!
No comments:
Post a Comment