The Resurrection of the Lord, The Mass of Easter Day | April 16, 2017

Fr. Brian Zumbrum’s homilies and reflections are posted weekly at Leaven in the World. To see the archive of all his posts, just click here: Salesian Sermons

PROTIP: You can take a look at the readings here. This homily focuses on the Gospel reading.

You are witnesses to the Resurrection. You have been chosen by God in advance to testify to what you have seen and heard.

But what exactly have we seen?

What exactly have we heard?

They are great questions. Because to be honest, the disciples in the Gospel would have had trouble answering these questions.

For they were not sure what they were seeing.

They were not sure what they had heard.

What did it mean that the tomb was empty?

​Was it simply a hallowed out rock? Devoid of life?

​Or was it the place where a miracle happened?

It all depends on your ability to see outside of the box. To see beyond the normal possibilities. To see the potential that lies just beneath the surface.

​The potential for change.

​The potential for new

​The potential for transformation.

I think the longer I am in the business of education, the more I realize that resurrection is always right there.

If we are able to see it.

​Just a few days ago, I got home from another retreat with my juniors and seniors.

​And I couldn’t help but see Resurrection

In the young man who decided that life was worth living for. That his silent struggle with depression was no longer hidden.

In the young man who realized that he actually had potential as a student and needed to stop squandering the gift that he had been given.

In the young man who for the first time felt a part of the brotherhood. And reveled in that experience.

The same young men who by all appearances were a mess. Failing classes. Discipline problems. Loners. Stoners. Outcasts. Troubled kids.

The young men who too often look like empty tombs. Devoid of life.

All of this potential was always there. One just needed to be able to see it. To see the miracle that is at the heart of all transformation.

My friends, where is the Resurrection in your life?

Is it in the miracle of children? In how quickly they grow? In the shocking speed by which they are suddenly running and talking, dating and graduating, marrying and moving?

Is it in the process of being uprooted? Starting a new job? Moving into a new neighborhood? Branching out into a new group of friends?

Is it in the moments of conversion when we hit rock bottom? When we realize we can’t continue living like we have been. When we decide we need to change. When we face the handcuffs or the AA meeting room with a mixture of desperation and hope. For maybe this moment will be the moment when we break free.

Is it found in the miracle that is love? The love of spouses as they start new chapters together. The love of friends as they keep standing by us despite our numerous missteps and failures. The love of family, both the family we are born into and the family we are baptized into. The family that surrounds us.

Do you look around and see Resurrection?

​Do you see potential?

​Do you see the possibility for change?

​Do you see God doing something new?

Or are we still blinded . . .

​By our own perspectives and prejudices.

​By our own fears and anxieties.

​By the past

​By our own grief and sense of loss.

The beauty of this Gospel my friends is that these questions remain unanswered.

For they must be answered by each of us.

What do we see when we look into the tomb?

​Are we still assuming we are in Holy Saturday or do we see the miracle of Easter Sunday?

Are we witnesses to the miraculous things that we have seen and heard?

Happy Easter my friends. Be the miracle that you see this day!

May God be Praised.