{"id":2481,"date":"2018-04-01T12:16:33","date_gmt":"2018-04-01T16:16:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2481"},"modified":"2018-04-01T12:17:40","modified_gmt":"2018-04-01T16:17:40","slug":"easter-morning-homily-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/easter-morning-homily-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Easter Morning Homily 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Easter Morning<\/a>
\nActs 10:34a, 37-43
\nPsalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 (24)
\nColossians 3:1-4
\nJohn 20:1-9
\nApril 1, 2018<\/p>\n

Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb on the first day of the week.\u00a0 They find \u201cthe stone removed from the tomb.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 She knows this is important and immediately runs<\/em><\/strong> to Simon Peter and \u201cthe other disciple whom Jesus loved<\/em>\u201d and told them about the stone.<\/p>\n

Immediately, they both ran<\/em><\/strong> to the tomb.\u00a0 Simon Peter goes in first and sees the burial cloths but no body.<\/p>\n

The other disciple follows Peter in.\u00a0 We are told \u201che saw and believed<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

What did he see?\u00a0 What did he believe?<\/p>\n

By the way, whose tomb is it anyway?<\/p>\n

All the running tells us the fact that the tomb is empty is important.\u00a0 Today, the fact that so many people come to church this morning tells us this is something important.<\/p>\n

So, again, whose tomb is it anyway?<\/p>\n

It is the tomb of Jesus.<\/p>\n

This gospel passage standing alone assumes we \u201cknow what has happened all over Judea.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

To understand the important of the empty tomb, we need to take a step back at what happened leading up to the empty tomb.\u00a0 Obviously, Jesus had died or they won\u2019t have laid him in the tomb.\u00a0 What led to his death?<\/p>\n

Jesus came as the Messiah but not the messiah that some people wanted.\u00a0 They wanted a great political king who would free them from the Romans.\u00a0 Jesus doesn\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n

These same people wanted a messiah that would agree with everything they said.\u00a0 Jesus didn\u2019t.\u00a0 His words came from God our Father.<\/p>\n

Jesus knew they were plotting to kill him.\u00a0 He was not deterred.\u00a0 Knowing what was about to happen and knowing how it would shake the faith of the disciples, Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples.<\/p>\n

It was not just any meal.\u00a0 It was the Passover meal celebrated with unleavened bread and wine.\u00a0 Jesus takes the bread and wine and transubstantiates it into his Body and Blood which he will give up for us on the Cross.<\/p>\n

And so he gives us the precious gift of the Eucharist and tells us to keep celebrating it in remembrance of him.<\/p>\n

Then came the arrest and trial of Jesus.\u00a0 He was an innocent man but those who opposed him wanted him dead.\u00a0 They beat him, they mocked him, and mocked him as the king of the Jews because they didn\u2019t understand what it means for Jesus to be our king.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, he was crucified, considered the worst and most humiliating form of execution.\u00a0 Did it have to be?<\/p>\n

Yes.<\/p>\n

To understand why, we must understand that Jesus\u2019 life was not taken from him.\u00a0 He freely gave it up for us.<\/p>\n

After his death, Jesus was laid in the tomb.\u00a0 Now, we come back to the empty tomb on Easter morning.\u00a0 The empty tomb means Jesus is Risen!\u00a0 It means that Jesus was not defeated.\u00a0 Jesus is victorious over death!<\/p>\n

So, we can see Jesus\u2019 death as something good (Hence, we call it Good Friday).\u00a0 His death brings us salvation.<\/p>\n

He did this because he loves us!\u00a0 He died for our sins so that we might have eternal life.<\/p>\n

This is what brings us here today.\u00a0 We need the hope that Jesus brings.\u00a0 It reveals God\u2019s love for us.\u00a0 It is the high point of salvation history.<\/p>\n

God has always loved his people.\u00a0 He watched over them.\u00a0 He heard the cry of the Israelites in Egypt and rescued them from slavery.\u00a0 He formed a covenant with them based on the Ten Commandments.\u00a0 When people failed to follow his commandments, God allowed them to suffer the consequences of their sin but he did not stop loving them.<\/p>\n

He sent prophets to lead them to conversion but they didn\u2019t always listen.\u00a0 Ultimately, God sends us his Son Jesus because he knows it is the only way for us to be saved.<\/p>\n

Jesus died for us!<\/p>\n

Jesus gives us a way to celebrate his sacrifice.\u00a0 It is the Eucharist!\u00a0 Every time we celebrate Mass, we are celebrating the sacrifice of Jesus.\u00a0 Every time we receive Communion, we are receiving Jesus to strengthen us, to help become who Christ calls us to be.<\/p>\n

Let us rejoice for Jesus Christ is Risen Today!<\/p>\n

Thank you Jesus!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Easter Morning Acts 10:34a, 37-43 Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 (24) Colossians 3:1-4 John 20:1-9 April 1, 2018 Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb on the first day of the week.\u00a0 They find \u201cthe stone removed from the tomb.\u201d\u00a0 She knows this is important and immediately runs to Simon Peter and \u201cthe other disciple whom Jesus …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Easter Morning Homily 2018’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[29,26,82],"tags":[127,429,430,31],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-E1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2481"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2483,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481\/revisions\/2483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}