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Surrexit Christus Hodie! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Surrexit Christus Hodie! Alleluia! Alleluia!

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He Is Not Here by He Qi

From Pope Francis’s homily at the Easter Vigil:

But at this point, something completely new and unexpected happens, something which upsets their hearts and their plans, something which will upset their whole life: they see the stone removed from before the tomb, they draw near and they do not find the Lord’s body. It is an event which leaves them perplexed, hesitant, full of questions: “What happened?”, “What is the meaning of all this?” (cf. Lk 24:4). Doesn’t the same thing also happen to us when something completely new occurs in our everyday life? We stop short, we don’t understand, we don’t know what to do. Newness often makes us fearful, including the newness which God brings us, the newness which God asks of us. We are like the Apostles in the Gospel: often we would prefer to hold on to our own security, to stand in front of a tomb, to think about someone who has died, someone who ultimately lives on only as a memory, like the great historical figures from the past. We are afraid of God’s surprises; we are afraid of God’s surprises! He always surprises us!

Dear brothers and sisters, let us not be closed to the newness that God wants to bring into our lives! Are we often weary, disheartened and sad? Do we feel weighed down by our sins? Do we think that we won’t be able to cope? Let us not close our hearts, let us not lose confidence, let us never give up: there are no situations which God cannot change, there is no sin which he cannot forgive if only we open ourselves to him.

Let the risen Jesus enter your life, welcome him as a friend, with trust: he is life! If up till now you have kept him at a distance, step forward. He will receive you with open arms. If you have been indifferent, take a risk: you won’t be disappointed. If following him seems difficult, don’t be afraid, trust him, be confident that he is close to you, he is with you and he will give you the peace you are looking for and the strength to live as he would have you do.

See the full text of Pope Francis’s homily at the Easter Vigil.

Happy Easter!!

We just got home from the not boring vigil. First Anthony and Ben were both trying to get into my lap during one of the readings from Genesis and jostled Lucy awake and she started bawling. Then I got her nursing discretely and Father wanted to grab her to use her as an example in his homily. I had to shake my head no and then burn with embarrassment as he talked about her crying as an example of God’s people crying out in the darkness. And I just knew everyone was looking at me and I was hoping she wouldn’t unlatch and leave me flashing the whole congregation.

Then Sophie woke up screaming and had to be carried out during the Eucharistic prayer and Anthony too at the same time. Fortunately my sister was there to grab him and take him out back. Oh and when Dom tried to take Sophie out her hair got caught in his coat button and she started howling even louder. So then I was left in the pew with Lucy and Ben both in my lap and I couldn’t get up for everyone to get past me for communion. Fortunately my brother in law was just in front of us and when he came back he took Lucy so I could go to communion. I felt bad that Dom didn’t get communion, though.

Oh and we had two adults baptized and I totally bawled. Especially when one took Rose as her baptismal name and the other took Francis as her confirmation name. Why is it even more special when they share my kids’ names? Oh and the other took Mary Magdalene as her confirmation name. So cool.

The kids were all so tired and cranky by the time we got home. But they ask to go and look forward to it all year. And will surely be talking about it for a long time. So worth it in the long run.

Man, we were totally *that* family tonight. But Christ is risen and its all good.

Happy Easter, everyone.

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1 comment
  • Nicely written. I haven’t read his book, but I love Fr. Barron’s Catholicism series. He has a wonderful way of articulating.

    I can’t help but wonder how things might be different if the Church were better at articulating what Mary and the Incarnation and the beauty of womanhood and motherhood. I think there is a lot there that most people don’t think about or don’t know about. Two Sundays ago our associate pastor mentioned in his homily (it was on Thomas and doubt) how the single greatest thing he hears from females in the confessional is how they doubt that they are lovable. Clearly the feminist movement has done little good, and in many ways more harm, to the female’s understanding of herself. The church holds the truth on this if it were just better at preaching it and preaching it so people could understand it.

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