Homily for Easter ~ Msgr. Daniel Hoye

Over twenty five years ago I met a young Bishop from Saginaw Michigan named Kenneth Untner. HE had a great gift.  He would read the gospel before mass and when it came time for him to proclaim it at mass he would go to the middle of the sanctuary and do it word for word from memory. He was also a great preacher  He said that Easter sermons ought to be brief. He said, “When you are dealing with something like the Resurrection, words will never do it. It is the hardest thing to believe that there is life after death.  But it’s also the most wonderful thing to believe.” “And, the bishop concluded, we are asking people to bet their life on it.”

Over the years I have had the privilege of talking to people who know that death is approaching.  If they are people of faith, death is not something they fear but something to be experienced as a portal to eternal life.  While the unknown may be unsettling, faith assures us that thinks will be ok.  While the unknown may cause us to be anxious, faith assures us that Christ is with us ,

Easter celebrates the Christ's victory over death and it is the promise of our victory as well.

One way to pray about Easter is to think of the way that the stone was rolled away from the tomb .

Do you ever find yourself in a tomb, buried figuratively in a cave like Jesus?  It might be a tomb of resentment because of some hurt received from others?  Maybe a tomb of fear about the future and what it might hold?  It may be a tomb of despair about some difficult situation and how to handle it.

Today Jesus wants to give us the power to roll the stone away and  rise from our tombs, not only when we die but even now when we are living..  This is the good news of Easter.  It’s the good news that no tomb can hold us anymore—not the tomb of despair, not the tomb of discouragement, not the tomb of doubt—not even the tomb of death itself.

The Jesuit poet, Gerard Manly Hopkins wrote in one of his poems that we need to breathe Easter.  Take a deep breath and see what Easter can do to make us alive.  Breath in Easter that gives us hope.  Breath in Easter that helps us to see beyond the difficulties of life to the hope of resurrection.

We  sing  “Jesus Christ is risen today"  And, yes, you can bet your life on it.

Monsignor Hoye