We have a special guest to assist with today’s Easter Sunday homily, so you may want to watch the entire homily first before continuing…
Video Version Available – Click To View
“Sooner” is the dog of one of our office staff and today he is going to assist with today’s homily by yes, playing fetch. As you’ll see, Sooner is an expert at the fun and endless game of fetching the ball… but then there always comes the “fake”. Fake throwing the ball and “Sooner” runs in a circle and comes back to you confused and persistent. At some point, he may even give up and walk away.
This is kind of an analogy that Mary Magdala might have felt when she went to the empty tomb early in the morning and discovered Jesus’ body wasn’t there. She became confused and insistent that someone must have stolen His Body.
God can do things we not only don’t expect, but believe are impossible … like Sooner fetching and returning the ball.
But what if the ball were a bigger size than a tennis ball, like a volleyball, soccer ball, or basket ball? Would you think that a little dog can retrieve a ball this big? Maybe, just maybe, he can do what we don’t believe he can do. Can he surprise us? Let’s see. Ready?”
“Maybe, just maybe, God can do what we don’t believe He can do. Maybe He’ll surprise you by doing what you don’t believe is possible. Ours is a loving God, a saving God. Ours is a surprising God, if we just let Him.”
In life we are all sometimes thrown for a loop. Sometimes our expectations aren’t meant, were disappointed or worse, we are even hurt. Maybe you feel like God’s done some “fake out” with you.
Over and over again the disciples missed the point of Jesus. They didn’t really get it at first when He told them who He really was. They didn’t get it when Jesus told them that He would die. And they didn’t really get it when He told them he would rise.
Maybe you have been disappointed by God before. Maybe you’ve been disillusioned by the Church. Maybe a priest has hurt you. Maybe you’ve come to Mass and felt “nothing”, like an empty tomb. Maybe you have been away for while and your heart aches to play fetch with God again?
Maybe, just maybe, God has a surprise for you – something you never thought He could do. Maybe God has something wonderful in store for you? If we trust Him.
When Mary Magdala came to the empty tomb early in the morning, she felt nothing, she saw nothing, she thought his body must have been stolen. She didn’t realize the deeper reality that “He has risen” Just as He has promised.
I’m sure there are sometimes when you go to God or to Church and you feel nothing, see nothing and therefore doubt.
But, just because you don’t see Him or feel Him, doesn’t mean that Jesus is not here! He is here! He is Risen and because of that reality He can come to us in ways we can’t even comprehend.
He is with us in the Word of God that is spoken at every Mass, He is here in the gathered assembly of believers, He is in here in the person of the priest, and in just a while He will be here in the the bread and wine which become His Body and Blood.
It wasn’t until Mary brought Peter and the beloved Disciples to come to the tomb that “they saw and believed.”
On Easter we celebrate the reality of the Resurrection of our Lord. We can not physically experience when He rose from the dead over 2,000 years ago, but we can live out His resurrection. It’s a different way of relating, actually a much more intimate and profound way of relating. Just as “Sooner” started out with the small ball and I surprised him into returning the Big Ball. God is so much more than we can ever imagine.
The question is: Are you willing to play fetch again with the Master?
If you’ve been away from the Church for a while, or away from the Sacraments, or away from Jesus, or have stopped praying. No matter what the reason is, no matter what the hurt or disappointment is, maybe this is the time to come back.
I invite you to do so in three different ways:
- Many of our parishioners have been experiencing a prayer program called Pray40Days – The Personal Relationship with God You’ve Always Wanted. You might consider this. You can start tomorrow. Go to TheProdigalFather.org/Pray40Days and start tomorrow – it’s 40 Days from Easter to Ascension. If you have not been able to connect with God, this will help Him be real to you!
- Return with Confession: The only way we can experience the Resurrection is by being free from our own sins that blind us to the reality of it. We are celebrating the Year of Mercy.
- Join us at 3pm on Divine Mercy Sunday. If you can’t receive the Eucharist today because you haven’t been to Confession receive the Eucharist on Divine Mercy Sunday and be forgiven. Jesus told St. Faustina, “Tell the whole world about My Inconceivable Mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls who approach the Fount of My Mercy. On that day all the Divine Floodgates through which graces flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet.” (Diary of St. Faustina: Divine Mercy in My Soul #699)
Click here for more information on the Year of Mercy
Click here for more information on Divine Mercy
Click here for more resources for returning Catholics
So here’s the question.
Are you willing to play fetch again with God using the little ball..
-or-
maybe this Easter, He’s got something even better in store for you with the bigger ball?
