2015/08/02 daily bread

Before Mass:

Give us this day our daily bread… we pray it all the time – but what does it mean?  Today’s readings give us some insight into that.  To set the stage, it helps to know that today’s Gospel come the day after last Sunday’s Gospel where Jesus fed the 5000.  Pay attention to the details today….  Pay attention to what the Israelites say in that first reading – and think about what it really implies.  Notice the attitude of the crowd in the Gospel, and think about what THAT really implies. 

Homily:

Ever read the Little House on the Prairie books?  GREAT reading – honestly.  It’s a simple story which tells a lot about how people lived in the late 1800’s in the plains.  In one book called The Long Winter, their town in Minnesota had gotten cut off from civilization by a series of blizzards.  For MONTHS, the train couldn’t get through, so there were no provisions – no food.  All they had was wheat – and not enough of that.  They would take their daily ration of wheat and make a course bread from it… and for months – THAT was all they ate.  As you can imagine, they were close to starvation.  I bring it up because of what the little girl said one time as they sat down to eat.  Something like “I’ll be glad if I never see wheat bread again as long as I live”.  Her mom immediately snapped at her for being so ungrateful.  Mom knew that there was only enough wheat left for one more day – and after that – there was no telling how she would feed the family.   

It’s easy, when we’re in the midst of suffering, to concentrate on what we DON’T have, rather than the blessings.  The girl had lost sight of what a blessing it was to have that daily portion of bread. 

The Israelites had DEFINITELY lost sight of the blessings they’d received.  They somehow forgot all the wonders God had done to deliver them out of Egypt – the plagues, the parting of the red sea, the pillar of fire…  today, they were lamenting that they were hungry… and apparently they were all drama-queens… “oh, if ONLY we had stayed in Egypt!  At least there we had enough food to eat!”  REALLY…  do you realize what you’re saying?  YOU WOULD RATHER BE A SLAVE TO PHAROAOH THAN BE FREE.  Really?  Yeah- pharaoh might beat us and make us work all day for nothing – and kill our kids – and deprive us of our dignity… but hey – at least we had food!!!

God needed to teach them a lesson.  It wasn’t their fault they acted like that:  The Israelites had been slaves for 400 years, so ALL THEY KNEW was to trust PHAROAOH to feed them.  God needed to get them to realize that HE is the real source of their food.  Listen to this one line again:

Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion; thus will I test them, to see whether they follow my instructions or not.

Notice the part about the ‘daily portion… remind you of anything?  “give us this day our daily bread”.  God’s been trying to teach us to take only what we need for like 3000 years now.  See – God sent just enough manna for everyone to have what they need.  The catch is – anything you don’t eat today will rot overnight.  So – anything I collect more than what I need is wasted –AND – it means somebody else didn’t get their share.

They needed to learn to depend on GOD for their daily bread. 

God provides what we need every day.  Some days it will seem like not enough… but He gives us enough to sustain us through the desert.  You’ve probably heard the cliché:  if God brings you to it, he’ll bring you through it.  If God leads you to the desert, he’ll provide what you need to get through that desert. Often we won’t recognize the manna while we’re in the midst of life’s troubles - until afterward -looking back.  We thought he had abandoned us, but in hindsight, we see his Grace at work sustaining us each day of the journey.   

Jerry spent several years in the desert.  He started drinking when he was in High School – it started out as a social thing, you know, to fit in with the crowd.  Through college, weekends were for one thing:  drinking parties.  After dropping out of college, Jerry found that he couldn’t stop drinking.  Anytime he tried to put the bottle down, he would get depressed and shaky.  When he was drinking, he felt like he was fun to be around – like everybody was his friend… but when he put the bottle down, he found that he didn’t have anything to say.  So he kept drinking…  but it was killing him.  He lost his job three times, because too often he just wouldn’t show up.  He couldn’t hold a steady relationship with the women he dated.  He had alienated his brothers and sisters because he had lied to them repeatedly and even stole from them to be able to afford his next drinking binge.  He knew his life was in shambles… he wanted so much more out of life – so he TRIED to quit – but every time he tried, the depression would set in again.  Then he’d think – at least while I was drinking, I was fun to be around.  The guys at the bar were all my buddies –but now I’ve got nobody.

He decided that it was better to be a slave to his addiction than to be free.  At least with his addiction, he didn’t have to feel the pain that the alcohol had caused to him and those around him – he could stay numb. 

Jerry was like the Israelites in the desert.  They would rather be slaves to Pharoah than take a chance that God could sustain them in the desert.  Better the devil you know that the devil you don’t….so to speak. 

How does that fit your life and mine?  We all have situations, addictions, and habits that control us at times.  Only you know what it is in your own life – something that you know you should get rid of – but it’s easier to just keep it, rather than upsetting the boat. 

Think of the woman in an abusive relationship who stays with her husband for years and hides the bruises. She’s afraid to leave because – well – at least with him she has a roof over her head and food to eat.  Besides, if she were to try to get help, it might upset him and make him even more violent.  And what will people think of me!? 

Or the guy at work who is so negative – such an instigator of trouble – that he is poisoning the whole place.  Everyone’s attitude suffers because he brings everyone down.  However, he also goes out of his way to do extra work all the time – so the folks in charge don’t want to chase him away.  Better to live with the poisonous attitude than to risk getting less work done. 

All of these situations require a leap of faith – a journey into the desert of the unknown.  Would we prefer to stay in our slavery to our addictions and habits – or would we like to feel the freedom that God offers?  God doesn’t guarantee that every leap of faith will be easy – or even successful – but in every journey, He’s teaching us to trust HIM to sustain us daily

…but we might not recognize the manna until we’ve gotten through the desert.

2015/07/19 Sheep without a Shepherd

Before Mass:  The first reading scares me today – it is a warning to all pastors who fail to keep the flock together.  Woe to you shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock!  You know – there are many members of our flock who will not be with us this weekend… is that MY fault?  Is there something I taught that I shouldn’t have?  Is there something I failed to teach that I should have?  God promises to punish me and Fr. Eugene if we DON’T do everything in our power to keep HIS flock together.  This is serious business with eternal consequences.

Today - Be thinking for yourself about two questions:  The big question is this:  who is MY shepherd?  Who do I allow to lead me?

And secondly – in some way – every ONE of us is responsible for keeping the flock together… so ask yourself what role do I play in scattering the flock?  In what way to do I work to keep the flock together?

Homily:

They were like Sheep without a Shepherd….

What do you mean no shepherds?  They had synagogues and temples with rabbis and priests and scholars of the law....they had plenty of shepherds.  Plenty of people who claimed to be in charge of the flock.  But… Jesus himself said – ‘they were like sheep without a shepherd’.

What did Jesus see in them?  What does a sheep without a shepherd look like?  I don’t have experience myself – but I’m told that merino sheep are very high on the brain scale.  If they’re caught in a flood, they won’t move to higher ground.  If a wildfire is headed their way, they’ll run around in a circle until the fire catches them.  If water is available in three corners of the pen, they’ll all gather in the fourth corner and die of dehydration.  Now this may be exaggeration, but who am I to say.  Is THAT what Jesus saw that made him think the people were sheep without a shepherd?  Was he calling them stupid?  I don’t think so…  There’s another story I heard of a ship carrying sheep across the water and one Ram jumped off… and the entire herd followed and drowned. 

THIS that might explain what Jesus saw.  Sheep WANT to follow a leader.  While they have their individuality, their instinct is to follow.  Without a GOOD leader, they’ll follow anything.

Jesus saw that the people were searching for a leader –

The religious leaders of the day who were SUPPOSED to care for the flock hadn’t done the job.  Religion was not about relationship with God – only rules.  All those rules were used to EXCLUDE people.  The average guy couldn’t competed… Just to go to the temple, they had to go through a series of ritual washings just to enter the temple… so much so that most would say, “I can’t compete...I can never be good enough…I’m not even worthy to go to church…

Jesus knew these people were like sheep without a shepherd – they were SEARCHING for a leader.  They would follow anybody who gave them hope –because as far as they knew, they had been excluded from God’s kingdom.  They were cut off from God!

Is that you and I?  Are we looking for a someone to follow?  Will we follow any teaching that makes us feel good?   That’s really the main question of the day: who do I allow to teach me?  Who do I allow to shepherd me?  Political leaders?, Donald Trump?  radioand tv?, friends, Internet?.. and likewise:  Who leads your children?   

This is where the psalm comes in… the Lord is my Shepherd… in verdant pastures he gives me repose… do you know what that really means?  We don’t say‘verdant’ and ‘repose’ very often… in fact, I only say that when I’m reciting this psalm  J  … what’s it mean?  Verdant is green – kind of like it is here after all the rain – lush, green, lot’s of grass.  Repose means sleep!... So it’s really saying ‘in green pastures he gives me sleep’ –This is important if you understand the geography in Israel – it’s pretty dry, so as soon as the flock awakened, the shepherd would drive them like 10 miles to find a new pasture because they all the grass the night before and slept where there was no grass left. You woke up hungry and had to walk for hours before you could eat again…The Good shepherd takes us to a pasture that is so plentiful…so verdant, we can start eating as soon as we get up in the morning.

‘By restful waters he leads me’… the watering holes were a dangerous place… predators would lurk there, so sheep were scared even to approach it.  But the good shepherd takes us to a watering hole where we don’t have to be afraid.

‘Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side’

This surely applies to us… we all go through dark times.  In those moments, often our only source of courage and peace is our shepherd.  If we didn’t have Jesus beside us in those times of despair, how could we go on?

So – is HE?  Is Jesus YOUR shepherd?

Can we honestly say that we look to our shepherd at the beginning of each day to thank Him for the verdant pastures around us – all those blessings he gives us:... the house we live in, the bed we woke up in, the food awaiting us in the kitchen. 

Do we look to Jesus to guide us throughout the day?  To protect us from evil?

Or – do we only follow Him when it’s convenient…politically correct… or when there’s something in it for us?  Back to our big question of the day:  if we DON’T allow Jesus to lead us every minute of the day, who DO we allow to lead us the rest of the time?

Whereas the good shepherd leads us in paths of righteousness, any other leader will lead us down many wrong paths.  We don’t have to look far to see how the culture is leading us away from God and toward evil.  Our culture is like a wolf, picking off one lamb at a time…. devouring souls.  The sad part is that in many respects, we’ve done it to ourselves. 

Our culture has chosen shepherds who publicly made it clear that they stand against the teachings of the Church…and some of them even call themselves Catholic.  As Americans, we are free to choose them… but when we choose shepherds like that - we can’t be surprised that they’ll put into place a set of judges who will redefine the foundations of our society.  Obviously, I’m referring to the series of court decisions on abortion rights and the recent decision about the definition of Marriage.  Honestly, the day is likely coming where we won’t get married in Church anymore.  More likely, you’ll come to the Church for the Sacrament of Matrimony… then go to the courthouse to have the marriage license signed.  Christianity is under attack…But we knew that when we chose who we wanted to follow.  

It’s still our choice:  We can choose to follow Jesus, the Good Shepherd – or we can choose to follow anybody who makes us feel good… but we might find ourselves following them off the side of the ship.  

2015/06/07 - Corpus Christi - Inside Out

A couple of years ago, a young lady was talking to me about why she didn’t become Catholic.  I mean - it seemed like the obvious next step to me– she and her boyfriend came to Mass together quite often – so what’s the hold-up?  Her argument was simple, yet more profound than I had expected.  She had trouble with how we call the Mass a “sacrifice”.  Does that strike anybody HERE as odd?  No – we’ve heard the words all our lives – what we do here at Mass is called many things:  the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, the supper of the Lamb, you could call it a re-enactment of the Last supper even… but her beef was when we called this the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Now – to me, this shows that she had actually given this some thought – and had come to the conclusion that this didn’t make sense.  To her credit, her claim is not un-founded.  We read in scripture that Jesus died once for all – which means no further sacrifices are needed!  That’s why we don’t have the temple anymore…we don’t NEED to continually kill lambs and goats and turtledoves on our altar.  Jesus’ sacrifice was the sacrifice to end all sacrifices.  So – where do we get off offering the ‘sacrifice of the Mass’ all over the world every day? 

Well – today’s readings, I think, make this point about as clear as can be.  We’re gonna have to do a little scripture study this morning to help everyone understand this – so grab your missallette and turn to page 176:

Look at that first reading:  about half way through – Moses sent some men to offer some sacrifices – then look what he did with the blood:

Moses took half of the blood and put it in large bowls; the other half he splashed on the altar. Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people, who answered, “All that the LORD has said, we will heed and do.” Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words of his.” 

“this is the blood of the covenant”…wow…that should sound pretty familiar to us.  Remember that, we’ll come right back to it.  Look specifically at what was going on…. Moses read the book of the covenant to the people… remind you of anything?  Isn’t that what we just did 3 minutes ago?!  Next he took the blood of the sacrifice and did what:  splashed half on the altar – and sprinkled the rest ON THE PEOPLE!  Think about that – imagine you’re in the congregation that day and they come around throwing blood all over the place.  If you’ve ever been near the end of the aisle when Fr. Eugene comes around with the holy water… just imagine if that was BLOOD he was sprinkling.  Seems really weird and maybe even gross to us now… but this was the BLOOD OF THE COVENANT – and the fact that you had the PHYSICAL BLOOD STAINS on your clothing was an outward sign to the world that YOU were in on the covenant – you and God were reconciled. 

Next – check out the second reading – even more deep imagery here:  He’s describing what the High Priest would do on the day of Atonement…. You ever heard of Yom Kippur?  That is the highest feast of the year for Jews – it was the only day of the year that the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies – that’s the inner chamber of the Temple where it was believed that God dwelt.  This was HIS home on earth.  [Other than that day – nobody could enter the Holy of Holies – in fact, they would tie a rope to the high priest just in case he would faint or something so they could pull him out – because NOBODY else was allowed in there.]  On the day of Atonement, the High Priest went in and offered a sacrifice for the whole nation.  Listen to this… he would kill the lamb… splash half the blood on the altar … and the other half he would – what?  Sprinkle on the people!  Sound familiar?  Every year, the High Priest would re-enact the sacrifice that Moses made way back at Mt. Sinai!  This was how they constantly re-atoned for the sins of the nation.  This is how they renewed the covenant with God.  Which covenant was that?  The same covenant that God made way back in Moses’ time. 

Now –knowing that background, perhaps the rest of that reading makes a bit more sense.  I’d love to re-read it all – but just check out that one long sentence:

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.

Notice – the blood of the first sacrifice, he says, cleansed our flesh… but the blood of the new covenant cleanses our consciences.  That’s a big difference.  Like I said, that old covenant seemed to focus mainly on what the people DID – the external observances of what God told them to do.  The new covenant is more of an INTERNAL change.  And for that reason, we come forward at communion – not to have the blood sprinkled on our OUTSIDE – but to DRINK the blood – to take it into our own body so that we can be cleansed from the INSIDE OUT!

 This sacrifice of Jesus was the ultimate Day of Atonement.  He didn’t just go into the Holy of Holies in the Temple – he entered the ultimate Holy of Holies – HEAVEN – where God dwells.  And what did he do there?   Don’t miss this… He entered the holy of holies with the PERFECT sacrifice.  Not the blood of lambs or bulls… but with his OWN BLOOD.  He achieved perfect atonement for us because HE HAS ENTERED HEAVEN AS THE PERFECT SACRIFICE AND REMAINS THERE – He is both Human and Divine – so for the first time, Humanity and Divinity are united in heaven. 

When Jesus said in the Gospel – “this is the blood of the covenant” in the Gospel – surely that means so much more to all of us now.  This is the sacrifice of atonement.  Offered once for all – so the young lady was right – we DON’T have to continually sacrifice anymore.  What we do is RE-PRESENT the same sacrifice to God through our Mass.  Jesus does not die every time we come to the altar.  He becomes present in the Eucharist – body, blood, soul, and divinity – let me try to explain this:  Jesus is in heaven, right?  Well at the moment of consecration we believe that somehow we are united to heaven…and Jesus, who is standing forever before God the Father as the perfect lamb, slain as atonement for the sins of the world is also present to us here on our altar…and we offer this body and blood back to God as our weekly or daily atonement.  Bends our brains doesn’t it??  We don’t have to understand it – just participate in communion in order to renew OUR side of the covenant.  The sign of that covenant is the Body and Blood that we take into ourselves.  We are changed – inside out.

2015/05/15 - What defines you?

 “May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance…”

Homily

I've got a stack of graduation invitations this year – and I was thumbing through them the other day and noticed how each graduate had as many as 6 pictures on their invitation.  Back when I was a senior, you just took a picture from here to here (upper part of the body) and THAT was your senior picture.  Today, senior pictures tell a story… a story about WHO this person is.  There were several pictures of them with their tractor, with their favorite truck or car…Many had pictures with their sports equipment or trophies.  Some has specific clothing on to tell what awards they had won or what group they belonged to.  For High School seniors, this is how they tell the world Who they are:  what they are passionate about.

Now …picture yourself 20 years after high school introducing yourself as – Hi – I’m Bob and I was on the cross country team at NE Dubois.   Everybody’s like…so what?

That’s perfectly OK and normal when you’re IN high school, but sooner or later… unless you’re Vic Betz, being on the cross country team will no longer describe who you are 20 years later.  ;)

Who we are changes over time – so how would you answer that 20 years later?

You probably already have noticed, that if you’re a Man, you would probably say something like – I’m Mike and I work at Alcoa in the IT department.  Or – My name is Jerry and I’m a Pilot for American Airlines.  I’m Isadore and I’m a farmer.  See the pattern?  Men define who they are BY THE JOB THAT THEY DO. 

If you are a woman – how you answer that question – Who are you?  Is not quite as predictable as it used to be.  But traditionally, most women would answer with something like:  I’m Janet – I have a husband, Bob of 27 years and 2 kids, Bobby Jr who is married to Annette - and Kelly, who just graduated from college…and we have 1.5 grandkids.

See the difference?  More often – not always – women traditionally identify who THEY are by their family…or by their relationships.  I’m a mother, a wife, and a grandmother….and if they have a job, that comes secondary.

Men, on the other hand, usually – again, not always – usually identify themselves by What they DO.  Regardless, the common denominator here is that we ALL IDENTIFY OURSELVES BY WHAT WE’RE PASSIONATE ABOUT… Our Life’s work defines who we are.

So what is your life’s work?  What work will define WHO YOU ARE?

I was walking around the cemetery this morning and noticed that even on tomb stones, people put pictures that define who the person was… pictures of their house, barn, tractor… the tomb stone defines what that person’s passion was.

So what will be your life’s work?  What will be on your tombstone?

Pray about that.  No matter what stage in life we are, God has a plan…God has given you a unique talent – as it says in the 2^nd reading – for building up the body of Christ.  If we’re not asking God what HE wants us to do, we will likely end up doing something that doesn’t really fulfill us.

When we reach the end of life and go before the pearly gates, St. Peter will ask the question one last time:  Who are you?  Think about the BEST way to answer that question… and then go…and live that kind of life.

2014/04/26 - Recognize that Love Song

Back when Jerry and his wife Brenda were first dating, he was a helpless romantic.  I remember on his four-month anniversary, he got up an hour early so he would have time to drive to her house and put a card under on her windshield.  He didn’t even sign it… it just said… Happy Anniversary!  I’m dedicating a song to you.  Listen to WIKY at 9 o’clock.

That’s all it said.  He didn't even sign it...

Well- she could guess who it was from – I mean- they both were head-over-heels in-love with each other.  He was all she could think about – and She was on his mind every moment of the day.  She tried to imagine what song he was going to dedicate to her.  It was so exciting!  Brenda got to work blushing, and the rest of the ladies knew SOMETHING was up… so she told them that ‘Jerry’ was dedicating a song to her at 9 o’clock.  Well – ALL the ladies were excited then.  It’s always nice to see someone else in love…  it reminds them of when THEIR husbands had gone out of their way to do special things for them.  Sigh… if only it could be that way… but instead, they all lived vicariously through watching this young couple in-love.

9 o’clock rolled around – and there wasn’t much work getting done in the place.  Anybody who wasn’t waiting on a customer had their ear to the radio listening for that special song.

Just after nine, they played ‘You can go your own way’ – by Fleetwood Mac.  Brenda started to worry… was that it?  Was that his way of telling her to get lost!?  The more she thought about it, the more teary-eyed she got.   The other ladies tried to reassure her… but even they had to wonder.  After a couple of commercials, the next song was Thriller by Michael Jackson.  Was THAT my song?  She didn’t even LIKE Michael Jackson… maybe the message was that their relationship was ‘thrilling’?  Or maybe it was a scary nightmare like it shows in the video.

Finally at 9:25, a voice came on the microphone – sorta shaky – you could tell he was nervous.  He didn’t say anything – but just started singing,…she recognized the voice – and the song immediately…it was ‘their’ song, which uniquely expressed THEIR Love for each other…and she hung on every word.  Jerry wasn’t a bad singer, but not exactly good either… but to her it was the most beautiful song she’d ever heard.  She quickly became a blubbering puddle on the floor…  J 

Don’t we ALL wish we had someone who loves us like that?  Makes us feel special…Goes out of their way just to make US happy….Makes a public spectacle of themselves just for OUR sake?

Surely you know… we all do have someone like that.  He goes out of His way every moment of every day to provide for us.  He tries to let us know that we ARE special – and He does everything He can to make give us JOY.  In the end, he made a public spectacle of himself just for OUR sake.

But do we know him?  It says in the Gospel – “I know mine and mine know me”.  Do we really know him?  How do we recognize him? 

The answer to that question came on Public Television last Sunday.   Did anybody happen to see the show called “Earth: the New Wild”?  I think the Holy Spirit led Mary to turn on that channel that night because the story we heard fits right into our theme today.   They were talking about the Samburu tribe in Africa.  They live in a very dry area, but they never completely run out of water.  In the dry season, they go to these sand pits and they start digging with their buckets – shoveling the sand out for hours until they are like 10 feet deep.  They’ve learned that there is bedrock below the surface where the water will pool.  Next they build a trough at the top of their hole and scoop one bucket of muddy water at a time into that trough for their livestock to drink.

Now –that’s amazing in itself that they even know how to find the water… but picture this… there are dozens of men in this sand pit…each digging their own hole…for their OWN livestock.  Next – the cattle show up.. hundreds of them… and they all go to the right watering hole.  How do you think they know which watering trough is THEIRS?  Because each shepherd sings his own song – it’s amazing to hear – all of these songs being sung at one time – it’s a noisy mess… but the cattle RECOGNIZE THE SONG OF THEIR SHEPHERD and walk right past all of the other troughs to get to THEIR shepherd.  To our ears, the songs aren’t that different, but the cows know.

Jesus says – I am the good shepherd.  I know my sheep and they know me!

How do you and I recognize the voice of Jesus?  I mean – there are dozens of songs being sung all around us every moment of every day…. Songs of lust… songs of cheating and greed… songs of vengeance… songs of bigotry…. Songs of temptation… songs of hatred.  Satan has many voices to entice us away from our shepherd.  How do we KNOW when we hear JESUS’ voice?  Just like Jerry singing to Brenda – she knew his voice when she heard the Love song. 

Anytime we think we’re being led into hatred or jealousy or religious bigotry… stop…recognize… it’s not Jesus singing.  In EVERY situation of our lives, the voice of Jesus may be drowned out by the world, but if we pray to Jesus to hear HIS voice… we’ll recognize HIS song from the others, because He ALWAYS sings of Love.

And he invites us to make a public spectacle of ourselves and sing along with him…

Jesus love me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.  Little ones to him belong, I am weak but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus Love me.  Yes, Jesus Love me.  Yes, Jesus Love me… the Bible tells me so.

 

2015/04/05 Easter Homily - trivial details

Before Mass:

Welcome to St. Raphael/St. Celestine – I know we’ve got several visitors with us today, and I hope you feel welcomed here at our Easter Celebration… this is the Big day… possibly the biggest celebration of the year – and we are so glad you chose to help us make it special.

I want to warn you about the Gospel reading today.  I really scratch my head about this one…with all the awesome stuff in the Bible, for some reason, every Easter morning we hear a reading about John and Peter racing to the tomb.  It is filled with details which, to me, are trivial (I would call the silly, but a friend told me it just ain't right to call something in the Bible 'silly')!  I think – man – if I was visiting here for the first time and I heard THIS reading, I’d be like – what’s the point?  Why do I care about who got to the tomb first?

That’s your challenge for the day… why should we care about the silly details?   What’s the point of the empty tomb?  Let’s make it our prayer that in today’s Celebration, that each one of us can walk away with a new understanding of how the Resurrection really CAN make a difference in our lives.

Homily:
Let me get this straight… John ran faster and got to the tomb first and looked in but didn’t GO in – then Peter arrived and he DID go in – and they saw this cloth over here and that cloth over there – and then John went in and he saw and believed.  So what? 

While the details themselves might not mean much… the way this story is told to us tells us something important that we might not even recognize.

I want everybody to think of one of the most shocking events that ever happened in your life.  For people over 75, it might be the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  For those over 55 or so, it might be when JFK was shot.  For those over 18, it might be 9/11.  Or for anybody, it might be when you found out a loved one was in an accident.

If I asked you to tell me about that experience, what would you say?  Think in your mind now – how would you tell me the story?  For most people, we have a script in our head… If I was to ask any of you to tell me where you were on one of those days – you wouldn’t hesitate – AND you would provide some very minute details.  Why?  Because the memories are SO VIVID in our minds that they MUST be important – we HAVE to share those details because …well… why else would we remember so vividly?  The more detail you remember about an event signifies just how much it shook you….just how much it scared you… just how much it changed your world.

On the other hand, if you ask somebody who was not alive at the time to tell about Pearl Harbor, they would simply tell you the details they remember from the history books about the date, how many people died, and how that was when the US got pulled into WWII.

But THAT is exactly why John felt the need to share all of those silly details.  HE WAS THERE.  This event – this moment of finding the empty tomb – was such an emotionally charged event that completely changed his world, those details MUST be important.  This was his 9/11.  This was his Pearl Harbor.  All of these details tell us that JOHN REALLY DID BELIEVE WHAT HE WROTE.  If he just gave us the bare facts, it would be nothing more than reciting history...  

Now – to use 2000 years later – since we weren’t there, we might think – well, that’s nice… the tomb was empty… yeah, yeah, we’ve heard it before – Jesus rose from the dead…. Yawn…..

Here’s my point:  We can only appreciate the JOY of the empty tomb, when we have experience the DESPAIR of filling that tomb.  Repeat.  To say it another way, we can only feel joy at the resurrection when we know the man who is being resurrected.

Most of us have lost someone close to us – and we can remember the pain – the despair.  For some of us, this pain is really fresh.  For others, the pain is never too far below the surface.  Losing a loved one can shake our world – it can test our faith – it can drive us into despair. 

This is where John and Peter were that Easter morning… the depths of despair…. until Mary Magdalene told them the impossible news… that the tomb was empty.  WHAT!?  EMPTY?  NO WAY?!  That moment would have sparked thoughts like, “maybe Jesus WASN’T kidding when He said he would rise from the dead”?!  Could it be?!  Hope rose out of despair…  let me say that again… Hope was dead, but in that moment, hope was resurrected out of despair.  This is a definition of resurrection which you and I can apply to our own lives.

I have a quote on my desk at work which still puzzles me, but I know it is important.  It says, “Practice Resurrection”.  How do we do that? 

Jerry and his wife split up about a year ago.  It was a sudden thing, and he didn’t agree with the split at all… but he had no choice.  He respected her wishes.  He moved out, but maintained contact with the family as much as possible.  The two of them would talk – and even go out on dates – and things would look hopeful, but the next day something would happen that would throw him right back down into the depths of despair again.  Fortunately, Jerry is a man of faith – and the one thought that returned to his mind when things were darkest was this:  “I believe in the resurrection”.  A couple of months ago, the family was reunited.  Do you think Jerry has a different appreciation for his wife, his kids, his home than he had a year ago?  You bet.  You only appreciate the joy of the empty tomb when you have experienced the despair that comes from filling it.

All of us have experiences like that – maybe not to that extreme.  But Students – especially college students – think about Finals week.  You’ve got a speech to give, a Senior project to finish and present, plus three other Tests worth 50% of your grade …. All this at the same time you’re trying to keep up with your part-time job and family responsibilities.  It can be OVERWHELMING.  After a couple weeks with almost no sleep, it’s natural to question whether we can make it… whether it’s worth the pain.  Can anybody relate to what I’m saying?  But - How did you feel when it was over?  As that weight was lifted from your shoulders, you likely felt a joy like none before.  You can only appreciate the joy of the empty tomb when you have experienced the despair that comes from filling it.

Think of a runner who trains for years to run the Marathon in the Olympics…  When the race is over, what is it that brings them to tears?  Thinking back on what they went through – running almost every day since high school when they started running cross country.  The sprained ankles;  The blisters;  The shin splints;  The muscle aches.  The sweat, the cold, the heat and humidity, the rain, snow, sleet… the hours sacrificed away from family and friends…  The sweetness of the FINISH LINE is only enhanced by the pain – by the sacrifices that were made to get there.

So it is with the empty tomb today.  We can only appreciate the joy of the empty tomb if we understand the despair of filling that tomb.  We can only appreciate the joy of the resurrection, when we know PERSONALLY that Man who was resurrected.  We can only appreciate his victory, when we appreciate the sacrifice he made to get there. 

Jesus was like the runner in the Marathon – crossing the line with his last bit of strength – hands raised high as He claimed his victory.  We can each claim that victory for ourselves, if we will trust that through our personal experiences of pain and despair in life – we WILL experience the resurrection.  Hope will rise from the tomb.  Practice Resurrection.