DAILY- HOMILY

March 31, 2018 - HOLY SATURDAY

Vigil of Easter Sunday

White. 

Gn 1: 1 - 2: 2 / Gn 22: 1 - 18 / Ex 14: 15 - 15: 1 / Rom 6: 3 – 11 / Cycle B: Mk 16: 1- 7

FROM THE EASTER PROCLAMATION (EXSULTET)

This is the night when Christ broke the prison-bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld...

0 truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the Death of Christ! O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer! O truly blessed night, worthy alone to know the time and hour when Christ rose from the underworld.

FROM THE MASS READING:         Rom 6: 3- 4

You know that in baptism which unites us to Christ we are all baptized and plunged into his death. By this baptism in his death, we were buried with Christ and, as Christ was raised from among the dead by the glory of the Father, so we begin walking in new life.

FROM THE GOSPEL READING:     Mk 16: 1, 5-7

When the sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint the body....

As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man in a white robe seated on the right, and they were amazed. But he said to them, "Don't be alarmed: you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified; he has been raised and is not here. This is, however, the place where they laid him. Now go and tell his disciples and Peter; Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there just as he told you."

REFLECTION

In the Gospel reading we find the first episode of the Resurrection narrative. The women came upon the empty tomb and were told by an angel that Jesus is risen: the man Jesus whom the apostles saw scourged, tortured and killed on the cross is now alive. Because Jesus is risen, St.. Paul can exclaim, "Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?" ( 1 Cor 15: 55)

Death, the ultimate evil, stands for everything that destroys life. The meaning of the resurrection, then, is the vanquishing of all evil, of all that is anti-life. This has tremendous implications in our daily lives.

Life as we experience it, while truly a wonderful gift, is still marred by so many negativities - so many vile elements that poison our positive experience of life- not only in ourselves but also in others and in society itself. In ourselves we experience dishonesty, selfishness, greed, pride. In others, we see the same, betrayal, inequity, violence, abuse. In society, we see corruption, injustice, discrimination, prejudice, oppression.

The message of the Resurrection is that death and all its cohorts are not only vanquished in a radical way but have become the occasion for even greater blessings: "0 truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the Death of Christ! 0 happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!"

How do we experience this victory over death in our lives?

A person can live his life as a lie. But when he begins to accept himself as he is, gradually dismantling all masks and pretenses with which he deludes himself and others, there is a growing sense of liberation, of freedom, and of peace: a vital part of one's self that was dead and in darkness has come to life and into the light. And when this inner conversion, in its authenticity, carries over to action and into one's relationships with others, there occurs a transformation in one's dealings with others which, in turn, inspires a transformation in them. Personal conversions, great and small, continually happen, and that is the grace of Jesus' resurrection at work in our lives and in our world.

In the end, it is not you or I who save the world: it is the risen Christ who is the Head of his Body, the Church. The transformation of creation from death to life is the cooperative and cumulative work of all "men of good will." (Lk 2: 14) We take solace in the words and imagery of Jesus that depict the transformation of this world into the kingdom of God to the action of yeast or to a mustard seed or to a field of wheat and weeds. (Mt 13: 24- 34)

The resurrection of Christ is the warranty that evil will not triumph, but that all things will be restored in Christ. (Coil: 20)

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER INTENTIONS:

BIRTHDAY 

     Br. Alex Arvin T. Diaz FSC

     Linus Emmanuel (Noynoy) Taa 

     Milton Villafuerte

THANKSGIVING 

     Jeffrey, Gloria, Justin, Quennie & Jhay Lord

IN MEMORIAM (+)

     Leticia A. Tung

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most. 

Have a good day!

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   |  The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the

   |  priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish

   |  distributed free and for personal use only.  

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