"The Wreck of The Duetchland"
Part II, Verse 35, line 5
—Gerard Manley Hopkins

The Easter experience is a past event, a present reality and a future hope.

Easter is a celebration of the past. Jesus died and rose again. The significance of the historical fact of the resurrection of the Lord is not that it is a proof of faith, but that the empty tomb is a sign that faith brings new life.

Easter is a celebration of a present reality. The reality is that Jesus lives! Not that Jesus died and rose again in the past, but that Jesus lives among us and within us right here, and right now. This is our Easter proclamation. We experience his presence in our lives in many beautiful ways. He is among us and within us when we are together as a community. He is here in the proclamation of the scripture for he is the very Word of God. We experience his real presence in the sacraments. It is not just water that is poured on the baptized. God's life is poured into them. It is not just sacred chrism that is put on the foreheads of the confirmed; it is the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit that comes upon them empowering them to lead others to Christ. It is not just a host that you receive today. When you receive communion you receive Jesus Christ because Jesus lives.

Easter is the celebration of future hope. This future hope is that we will all share in the fullness of the New Life. When we are baptized we are given a share of the Resurrection of the Lord. Baptism is placed at the center of our Easter celebration. It is our acceptance of the New Life of the Lord. It is the sacramental sign of God's transforming us into new creatures.

It is easy for us to have the same mentality as the ancient Egyptians. It is easy for us to think that we can buy our own happiness. But when the pyramid was closed all was ended. There was no more to life. Their hope was in their wealth. Their wealth remained buried with them until it could be stolen from their tombs to be displayed in museums.

We cannot buy our own happiness. Nor can we find great hope for happiness as resulting from the accumulation of wealth. All that remains after our death is our sharing in the Resurrected Life of the Lord. This is our hope.

The death of the Lord effected a transformation of reality. He was raised up. And those who would join him in the gift of themselves to God through others would also be raised up. Immortality. That's what Easter is about. Immortality is granted through the death of Christ to those who live the life of Christ.

Alleluia, alleluia! Reality has been transformed. Immortality has been received by those who have died to selfishness and who lived in the world.

As the sun rises in the East to begin a new day, may this Easter, the celebration of the transformation of the world, bring us all a new commitment to living the death and life of Jesus in our own lives.

Homily by Father Joseph Pellegrino
March 2005

PONDER POINTS:

1. Name ways in which the Easter experience has transformed my life.
2. How does the Easter experience touch my life today?
3. How does the Easter experience touch the whole of creation?