The following homily was delivered by Fr. RJ on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010.  (if you wish instead to listen to the homily, click here) (the homily delivered by Fr. RJ on April 11 also appears below - please scroll down):

Surely he didn’t really mean it. Collette could hardly remember a time when the Nazis had not occupied her hometown of Paris. She was only four years old when Adolph Hitler first strolled through the streets of Paris with his entourage. She had few memories of her family having enough food, and did not have to have tickets to purchase the basic necessities. She knew a number of families whose sons had been conscripted to fight for Hitler’s army. She could barely remember what it was like to have the shutters on the windows of her family’s house open at night.

On an errand for her mother one day, she overheard an older boy whispering that the Americans and British had begun their invasion of France, that it would only be a matter of time before Paris was liberated, and that her brothers would never be conscripted to fight. When she asked her father about it that night his response was, "Don’t talk about such things. Surely your friend didn’t mean it. It would be wonderful if it were true, but it’s better just to live with things as they are." So Collette dutifully put such thoughts from her mind, and did not listen to further rumors. They were just too good to be true.

Early on that first day of the week, when the women set out to anoint the body of Jesus for burial, their hearts were filled with sorrow. This would be one of their last acts of devotion to the One who had given them hope. He had offered a new way to be faithful to the covenant with God. He had offered grace unlike any they had ever experienced. For that, He had been crucified. So, in the early hours of the morning after the Sabbath, the women set out to render the last service they could to the One who had welcomed them as no one ever had.

When they arrived at the place where they had seen the body of Jesus placed after the crucifixion, they found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty, and they were perplexed. So many questions ran through their minds at that moment. Who had moved the body? Where had they taken the body?

One of the dangers we face in our yearly celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord is that we know the story so well that we fail to experience the perplexity of the women and the disciples of Jesus. We know what happened to the body. We know that Jesus was raised. That was the last thing that the women expected to happen. They knew as well as we do that dead people stay dead.

As the women stood, stunned and perplexed, wondering where the body had been taken, two messengers told them the truth about what had happened. "Don’t you remember what Jesus said? Don’t you remember that He told you that He would be crucified by sinners and then would rise again?"

Surely they had heard these words. All who followed Jesus had heard these words, but they had thought, "Surely He didn’t really mean it." Up until Friday, His disciples were relatively sure Jesus didn’t really mean He would literally be crucified. On Friday, they had put all thoughts of a continued work of Jesus from their minds. On Saturday, they spent the day in mourning, anticipating the grim task of the next day. Early on the first day of the week, they dared not hope. Everything they knew had conditioned them not to hope. But Jesus really did mean it when He said that He would rise again. He really did mean it when He said that the liberation of creation from the powers of sin and death had begun, that the Kingdom of Heaven had established a beachhead and its triumph was inevitable. He really did mean it when He said that their sins had been forgiven and that a new creation was beginning.

The risk for us as we come to celebrate this great Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord is that we have taken for granted that Jesus really meant it when He told his disciples that He would be crucified, and on the third day, He would rise again. The empty tomb no longer perplexes us, but we can easily forget the other things that Jesus said and really meant. That is why St. Paul, reflecting on the resurrection, reminds us to set our minds on things above, and not on the things of earth. The resurrection of Jesus holds a much larger meaning than to simply say that this one person was raised from the dead. It means that our liberation from the powers of sin and death has come, and we are no longer servants of the things of this world.

We live in a world that has forgotten what it is like to live free from the fear of the shadow of death. We live in a world that has been accustomed to being conscripted by the powers of sin. All around us people tell us that the idea of a world in which sin and death no longer dominate is just too good to be true, that we should not imagine such a world. We live in a world that tells us that it is dangerous to open the windows of our hearts to the power of the Holy Spirit who can raise us up to new life and make us a new creation.

If we really believe that Jesus was raised from the dead, and that our lives are tied to His resurrection, then it no longer makes any sense for us to order our lives as though the present age is all that there is, or to be enthralled by the things that the world around us tells us are so valuable. If Jesus truly was resurrected, then perhaps He really also meant it when He commissioned His church to proclaim the forgiveness of sins in His name. How might that change the way that we engage the world around us? When we see those who are doing their best to mirror the latest Hollywood trends, we might find the strength to offer grace rather than derision. When someone is rude to us, we can treat them with love, kindness, and understanding because Jesus really did mean it when He taught us to pray, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." He really did mean it when He told his church to proclaim the forgiveness of sins in His name.

If we really believe that Jesus was raised from the dead, perhaps He really meant it when He said that we should give to those who beg and lend without expecting anything in return. How might the way that we view the poor, the unemployed, and the homeless around us change in light of the resurrection? Can we honestly believe in the resurrection and still believe that our purpose in life is to amass as much wealth as we can? If we believe in the resurrection of Jesus, are we more likely to keep our time and financial resources for our selves, or are we more likely to support those who take the message of the Gospel to those who have never heard it, that message of peace that can reshape the nations of the world? If we really believe in the resurrection, are we more likely to focus on our momentary desires, or to minister to those in our community who are living in extreme poverty, under the threat of violence, or have a serious illness? If we have set our minds on the things that are above, if we recognize that the things of the present world are of temporary value, if we believe in the resurrection, then surely we will use some of our time and our financial resources to further the Kingdom of Heaven in our community, and in the world. Surely we will order our lives in light of the age to come, and not simply in light of this present age.

If we believe that Jesus was raised from the dead, then we will acknowledge that God is going to make all things new, and calls those who have been given new life by the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead to participate in reshaping the world. It’s not too good to be true. Jesus really did mean it when He said that He would give us life in the Spirit, abundant life that rises above the vanity of the present world. May we never put such thoughts out of our minds. May we never forget that on this day, God has acted. Christ is risen, and the powers of sin and death have been defeated once for all.

The following homily, based upon John 20:19-31, was delivered by Fr. RJ on April 11, 2010.  (if you wish instead to listen to the homily, click here):

The disciples must have been bewildered. They had risked everything to follow Jesus. They had left families and businesses. They had risked the scorn of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They had put their faith in Jesus and His promise of a new world order, a new way of engaging the world, a new way of being faithful to their God. Everything seemed to be going so well when He entered Jerusalem. The crowds cheered and hailed Him as their king. Then, everything went terribly wrong. Jesus was arrested and crucified with two other men, men who had probably been involved in some kind of insurrection, or were at least considered a threat to the order of society. We need to remember that there were many expectations that people had of the messiah, but none of those expectations included crucifixion.

It was not just the crucifixion that had the disciples bewildered. Not only did they feel like Jesus had failed them, they felt like they had failed Him. Don’t forget Peter’s promise that he would gladly stand by Jesus even if the other disciples fell away. And what of Judas? How could they have failed to see that Judas was going to betray Jesus that night? How could they have not known that he was going out to get the temple police after that last supper they had with Jesus? All of the disciples had fled, and only the women and John, the young man who would not be considered a threat by anyone, had been with Jesus when He was crucified.

To make matters worse, the disciples thought that the women were getting hysterical. They were telling stories of seeing angels proclaiming that Jesus had been raised from the dead. Poor Mary Magdalene was even telling the disciples that she had seen the risen Lord with her own eyes. The disciples would not believe it. They were practical men, who knew that the dead do not rise, at least not until the day of the Lord. So, they locked themselves away from the world in shame, and grief, and fear.

I don’t think we can blame the disciples. When we are bewildered, when we are afraid, when we have failed, the natural human tendency is to withdraw from the world. We feel like we need time alone to make sense of the world, if any sense can be made of it. If I had been one of the disciples, I would have done the same thing.

Then came the event that changed everything for the disciples. Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Shalom. Peace be with to you." This was not just an idle greeting. He looked at the men who had been so disappointed with Him, who felt like hope was dead, the men who refused to believe the women who brought the message of His resurrection, and He offered them peace. Jesus did not scold the disciples for not taking seriously the words He had spoken when He told them that He would be crucified, and rise again on the third day. He did not look at Peter and remind him of the rash pledge that he had made. Jesus did not say that He had expected something better from the disciples. He just said, "Peace be with you."

When the disciples realized that it was Jesus, they rejoiced. When they received His greeting of peace, they knew that He was giving them a fresh start. The denials and abandonment were still in the past, but now, with the resurrection there was a future. Because Jesus was with them, they had hope. Because Jesus was with them, they could begin to understand that they had not left their homes and families and businesses for nothing. Because Jesus offered them His peace, they could have a renewed sense of purpose and mission.

When we find ourselves bewildered by the strange turns of life, we need to remember to whom we must look for peace. Sometimes we are tempted to look for peace in what has been termed "retail therapy." A multitude of people in our society are seeking relief from anxiety, fear, boredom, or loneliness through impulse purchases. As the average American credit card balance approaches ten thousand dollars, many economists are growing concerned. We should be concerned, not so much about the debt, but because people are seeking peace in things that are transient. An even greater cause for concern is that there are many people in the church who have fallen into this same trap.

When we find that we feel like we have failed we need to remember that because Jesus overcame death, He can give new life to us. Our failures may be ethical in nature. Our failures may be in business, or in a relationship with a friend or family member. Those failures do not have to signal the end of hope. If we remember that message of Jesus, that message, "Peace be with you," we can have the courage to begin again. We can have the hope that He will remake us more and more in His likeness. If we want to find true joy, and true forgiveness, and true hope, we must seek it in the risen Lord.

Of course, the disciples discovered something else when the risen Lord appeared to them. His greeting of peace was not for their sake only. His promise of forgiveness was not unique to him. His gift of new life was not to be shared only among the eleven. Jesus said, "As the Father sent me, so I send you," and He breathed the Holy Spirit upon them. The restoration and renewal of the disciples was for a larger purpose than their own restoration. They were to take the message of peace, the message of hope and forgiveness to the rest of the world.

When we experience the risen Lord ourselves, when we find His forgiveness or discover the peace that only comes from His presence with us, we must remember that it is more than a private blessing. Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, grants us peace so that we can take it to the rest of the world. Jesus forgives us so that we can extend forgiveness to one another.

When you find yourself bewildered, or anxious, or filled with sorrow or guilt, it is a good thing to set some time aside to be alone and wait for the presence of Christ. It can be very helpful to spend some time alone or with close friends and pray that the risen Lord will give you His peace. It is only through the experience of His peace that we can be freed from our bewilderment. It is only through the experience of His forgiveness that we can find the strength to be transformed. However, we must not stay locked away from the rest of the world for long. We must remember that He gives us His peace so that we can take it to the rest of the world. We must remember that He forgives us so that we can take the message of forgiveness to others. We must remember that He gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit so that we can continue the work that He began and bring renewal and forgiveness and hope to the whole world.

A selection of Father RJ's homilies are archived on this site.  To read them, click here.