Easter Homily: (Paul Kelly) 22-23/3/2008.
We begin where we left off on Good Friday….
“If Easter says anything to us (tonight/today), it says this: You can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there. You can nail it to a cross, wrap it in winding sheets and shut it in a tomb,…… but it WILL RISE! “
Tonight we celebrate the fact that Christ has risen….. // He, who IS the way, the truth and the Life….. could not possibly be held in death’s grasp….. he broke free and promises us eternal life ….too.
God has the final say over the tensions and tragedies of life…..… and it is good news…. God says “yes” to the goodness of creation and “Yes” to each one of us…… it was right to remain faithful // our hope in his promises is fulfilled…..
EASTER IS ABOUT FAMILY (sharing time for family, or if we are not able to be with them this easter, certainly giving thanks for the gift of them in our lives…)…..and giving thanks to God for the many ways God brings us to fullness of life…
We give thanks for our FAMILY, our friends….and for so many graces and blessings we have received in life… to nurture us and give us strength and joy……
Easter is the perfect time for celebrating Baptisms and welcoming people into our church communion……. We give thanks for those who will be baptized and received into the church this season. God’s gentle grace has led them here… and their decision is a great source of renewal and thanksgiving for the whole community.
Easter is not only about the promise of everlasting life in heaven,..// .. there are so many ways in which Jesus’ rising from the dead is a sign of God’s constant work to “bring us out of the entombment” that we can experience in our lives…// // (Tonight/today) is also about the real promise that “God can and does” want us to be “fully alive”.,… // and renewed in spirit and mind…. and brought to life again from so many things that can sap the life out of us…. weigh us down…. and imprison us…… whether it be fear, guilt, pain, illness, doubt, grief…… or countless other equally painful struggles….
Anyone who has ever gone through a “dark night of the soul” in their life, (and that is each of us at one time or another)…….and has come through the other end and now finds themselves in a renewed place, raised up again, (never imagining that they would be in this new space) but here they are!!!….with the help of God’s grace, (shown by the helping hands of family, friends, colleagues, ….and so many other ways…)…. anyone who has gone through this can testify… Christ really IS at work brining us to new life (in so many ways)…… and (Tonight/today) we give thanks for this…. and pray for those who continue to hope and trust in God’s faithfulness…. // God’s love and care for us will never fail….. God effects resurrection IN our lives, in ways beyond our expectations….. beyond our presumptions or in ways different from the literal limits of our requests ….. Often, we only recognize a ‘resurrection moment in our lives’ with a kind of ‘dawning realization’ - like Mary Magdalene: thinking that someone had hidden the body of our Lord….. searching and praying that she might find where they had hidden his body….… and not at first realizing that her prayers had been answered in this man she initially mistakes for a gardener, (but no, it is the Lord himself)…..
I would like to conclude with an ode… a short poem written to express the truth of the Lord’s Rising in our life journey….Anyone who can sing the words of this ode (or their own unique variation for their own life situation) knows that the resurrection is a reality ….. here and now…. in the lives of each of us:
“Lord, only you know
the path of fire
I’ve been through
these past years.
But I made it
a miracle of grace,
Not by MY own strength,
But only ‘cos I clung to you
Today I arise,
though I still bear the wounds
Today it begins,
One step after another;
Some days backwards,
Mostly forward.
No longer in darkness
for That's in the past
Today I arise, //
today we begin…..
This “new day” dawns…
Lord, this -- new day dawns…!!”
(words by P.W. Kelly).[1]
May the Lord of the resurrection bless you and renew you with fullness of life – here and now (and forever)….
[1] Title inspired by an ode attributed to St Patrick: “I arise today”
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.
I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me;
God’s wisdom to uphold me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak to me,
God’s hand to guide me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s angels to save me.
attributed to Saint Patrick (c. 390-c. 461)
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