We Are Not Called to Darkness, But to Light

Easter Sunday 2014 – Called into the Light English & Spanish
Acts 10:34, 37-43; Colossians 3:1-4 & Matthew 28:1-10
Acts 10:34a, 37-43: Peter proceeded to speak and said: "You know what has happened all over
Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those
oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses of all that he did both in the
country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree. This man
God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the
witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He
commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge
of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in
him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name."
Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 -- R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
Colossians 3:1-4: Brothers and sisters: If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears,
then you too will appear with him in glory.
Matthew 28:1-10. After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel
of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His
appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The guards were shaken with
fear of him and became like dead men. Then the angel said to the women in reply, Do not be
afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just
as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has
been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.’
Behold, I have told you.” Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and
ran to announce this to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them.
They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be
afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
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Easter Sunday 2014 – Called into the Light English & Spanish
Acts 10:34, 37-43; Colossians 3:1-4 & Matthew 28:1-10
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. Our
responsorial psalm proclaims our faith and the reason we celebrate today. In his
farewell discourse, Jesus announced his death and resurrection with these
mysterious words: I go away, and I will come to you1. Dying is a "going away", yet
in Jesus’ case, there is something utterly new, which changes the world.
In the case of our own death, the "going away" is definitive. Jesus, on the
other hand, says of his death: I go away, and I will come to you. It is by going that
he comes. His going ushers in a completely new and greater way of being present.
By dying he enters into the love of the Father. Therefore, his going away is
transformed into a new coming, into a form of divine presence that remains with us
until the end of the ages.
On that Friday we call “good” Jesus of Nazareth died… died on a cross. On
that first Easter Sunday He rose, not for just a day or the 40 days until his
Ascension but forever! Jesus, who is now totally transformed, is free from the
limits of death.
He is able not only to pass through closed doors in the outside world. He can
pass through the interior door separating yesterday and today, between the past and
the future. On the day of his entry into Jerusalem, Jesus gave us the parable of the
grain of wheat which has to pass through death in order to bear much fruit.
We share in Christ’s death and resurrection in our Baptism and all the
Sacraments of the Church. In Baptism, the Lord enters your life through the door
of your heart. The Church expresses the reality of Baptism as the gift of a new
identity through the tangible elements used in the sacrament. In Baptism He leads
us along the path that passes through the waters of this life and introduces us to
everlasting life.
And then there’s the symbol of light and fire. Gregory of Tours recounts a
practice of lighting the new fire for the celebration of the Easter Vigil directly from
the sun, using a crystal. Light and fire, so to speak, were received anew from
heaven, so that all the lights and fires of the year could be kindled from them. A
beautiful symbol of what we celebrated last night at our Easter Vigil; the light of
Christ rekindled anew in our lives and symbolized by our Paschal Candle burning
brightly throughout the Easter Season, at our Baptisms and our Funerals.
Through his love for us, Christ took light from heaven and brought it to the
earth; the light of truth and the fire of love. As children of the light, we mustn’t
allow this light of truth to be extinguished. We must protect it from those forces
that seek to eliminate it so as to cast us back into darkness. Each year we rekindle
this light in our baptismal promises; promises that we will profess once again in
just a few minutes. This light is also fire, a power coming from God, a power that
1
John 14:28
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Easter Sunday 2014 – Called into the Light English & Spanish
Acts 10:34, 37-43; Colossians 3:1-4 & Matthew 28:1-10
doesn’t destroy, but seeks to purify us so that we may become men and women of
God.
Today and forever, we must turn towards Him who is the Way, the Truth
and the Life. Let us thank Him, because through the power of His Word and His
Sacraments, He illumines our path and draws us toward Him. Yes, Lord, make us
Easter people, men and women of light, filled with the fire of your love. This is the
day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. Happy Easter!
SPANISH TRANSLATION
Este es el día en que actúo el
Señor: sea nuestra alegría y
nuestro gozo. El salmo responsorial
proclama nuestra fe y la razón por
la que celebramos hoy. En su
discurso de despedida, Jesús
anunció su muerte y resurrección
con una frase misteriosa: Me voy, y
vendré a vosotros. Morir es una "ida", sin embargo, en el caso de Jesús, es algo
totalmente nuevo, es lo que cambia al mundo.
En el caso de nuestra propia muerte, la "ida " es definitiva. Jesús, por su
parte, dice de su muerte: Me voy, y vendré a vosotros. Es por su ida que Él viene.
Su ida establece un modo de estar presente completamente nuevo y más grande.
Con su muerte entra en el amor del Padre. Por lo tanto, su partida se transforma en
una nueva venida, en una forma de presencia divina que permanece con nosotros
hasta el fin de los siglos.
Ese Viernes Santo Jesús de Nazaret murió... murió en una cruz. En ese
primer domingo de Pascua se levantó, no sólo por un día o los 40 días hasta su
Ascensión, sino para siempre! Jesús, que ahora está totalmente transformado, está
libre de los límites de la muerte.
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Easter Sunday 2014 – Called into the Light English & Spanish
Acts 10:34, 37-43; Colossians 3:1-4 & Matthew 28:1-10
Él no es sólo capaz de pasar a través de puertas cerradas en el mundo
exterior, sino también a través de las puertas interiores que separan el ayer y el
hoy, el pasado y el futuro. El día de su entrada a Jerusalén, Jesús nos dio la
parábola del grano de trigo que tiene que pasar por la muerte, a fin de dar mucho
fruto.
Compartimos la muerte y resurrección de Cristo en nuestro bautismo y en
todos los sacramentos de la Iglesia. En el Bautismo, el Señor entra en tu vida a
través de la puerta de tu corazón. La Iglesia expresa la realidad del Bautismo como
el don de una nueva identidad a través de elementos tangibles en el sacramento. En
el Bautismo Él nos guía por el camino que pasa a través de las aguas de este
tiempo y nos introduce a la vida eterna.
Y luego tenemos el símbolo de la luz y el fuego. Gregorio de Tours nos
narra una costumbre particular, la de encender el fuego nuevo para la celebración
de la Vigilia Pascual directamente del sol, usando un cristal. Recibiendo así luz y
fuego, de nuevo desde el cielo, de modo que todas las luces y fuegos del año
podrían ser encendidos de ellos. Un hermoso símbolo de lo que hemos celebrado
anoche en nuestra Vigilia Pascual, la luz de Cristo renovando una vez más nuestras
vidas y simbolizada por el Cirio Pascual encendido, iluminando a lo largo del
tiempo de Pascua, nuestros bautismos y nuestros funerales .
Por su amor a nosotros, Cristo tomó la luz del cielo, y la trajo a la tierra; la
luz de la verdad y el fuego del amor. Como hijos de la luz, no debemos permitir
que esta luz de la verdad sea extinguida. Debemos defenderla de las fuerzas que
pretenden eliminarla para arrojarnos en la oscuridad. Cada año reavivamos esta luz
con nuestras promesas bautismales; promesas que vamos a renovar una vez más en
tan sólo unos minutos. Esta luz es también fuego, un poder que viene de Dios, un
poder que no destruye, sino que busca purificarnos para que lleguemos a ser
hombres y mujeres de Dios.
Hoy y siempre, debemos buscar a Aquel que es el Camino, la Verdad y la
Vida. Démosle gracias, porque a través del poder de Su Palabra y Sus
Sacramentos, Él ilumina nuestro camino y nos atrae hacia Él.
Sí, Señor, haznos vivir una Pascua perpetua, que seamos hombres y mujeres
de la luz, llenos del fuego de tu amor. Este es el día en que actúo el Señor: sea
nuestra alegría y nuestro gozo. ¡Que tengan todos una Feliz Pascua de
Resurrección!
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