Sunday April 12, 2020

The Feast of Feasts

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 5: 6-8

6 Your glorying is not good. Know you not that a little leaven corrupts the whole lump? 7 Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new paste, as you are unleavened. For Christ our Passover is sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Psalm: 65/66

1 Unto the end, a canticle of a psalm of the resurrection. Shout with joy to God, all the earth, 2 sing a psalm to his name; give glory to his praise. 3 Say unto God, How terrible are Your works, O Lord! In the multitude of Your strength Your enemies shall lie to You. 4 Let all the earth adore You, and sing to You: let it sing a psalm to Your name. 5 Come and see the works of God; who is terrible in his counsels over the sons of men. 6 Who turns the sea into dry land, in the river they shall pass on foot: there shall we rejoice in him. 7 Who by his power rules for ever: his eyes behold the nations; let not them that provoke him be exalted in themselves. 8 O bless our God, you Gentiles: and make the voice of his praise to be heard. 9 Who has set my soul to live: and has not suffered my feet to be moved: 10 For You, O God, has proved us: You have tried us by fire, as silver is tried. 11 You have brought us into a net, You have laid afflictions on our back: 12 You have set men over our heads. We have passed through fire and water, and You have brought us out into a refreshment. 13 I will go into Your house with burnt offerings: I will pay You my vows, 14 which my lips have uttered, And my mouth has spoken, when I was in trouble. 15 I will offer up to You holocausts full of marrow, with burnt offerings of rams: I will offer to You bullocks with goats. 16 Come and hear, all you that fear God, and I will tell you what great things he has done for my soul. 17 I cried to him with my mouth: and I extolled him with my tongue. 18 If I have looked at iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. 19 Therefore has God heard me, and has attended to the voice of my supplication. 20 Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.

Psalm: 150

1 Alleluia. Praise the Lord in his holy places: praise him in the firmament of his power. 2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to the multitude of his greatness. 3 Praise him with sound of trumpet: praise him with psaltery and harp. 4 Praise him with timbrel and choir: praise him with strings and organs. 5 Praise him on high sounding cymbals: praise him on cymbals of joy: 6 let every spirit praise the Lord. Alleluia.

Gospel: Matthew 28: 1-20

1 And in the end of the Sabbath, when it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalen and the other Mary, to see the sepulcher. 2 And behold there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and coming, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. 3 And his countenance was as lightning, and his raiment as snow. 4 And for fear of him, the guards were struck with terror, and became as dead men. 5 And the angel answering, said to the women: Fear not; for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come, and see the place where the Lord was laid. 7 And going quickly, tell his disciples that he is risen: and behold he will go before you into Galilee; there you shall see him. Lo, I have foretold it to you. 8 And they went out quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy, running to tell his disciples. 9 And behold Jesus met them, saying: All hail. But they came up and took hold of his feet, and adored him.

10 Then Jesus said to them: Fear not. Go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, there they shall see me.

11 Who when they were departed, behold some of the guards came into the city, and told the chief priests all things that had been done. 12 And they being assembled together with the ancients, taking counsel, gave a great sum of money to the soldiers, 13 saying: Say you, His disciples came by night, and stole him away when we were asleep. 14 And if the governor shall hear this, we will persuade him, and secure you. 15 So they taking the money did as they were taught: and this word was spread abroad among the Jews even unto this day. 16 And the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

17 And seeing him they adored: but some doubted. 18 And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. 19 Going therefore, teach all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the end of the world.

My Friends,

CHRIST IS RISEN!

Beloved Brethren, Freed from the darkness of the world and elected to the promise of justice and heavenly light, let us implore the inexhaustible goodness of Almighty God the Father, through Christ His Son, that His Holy Catholic Church may be spread throughout the world, that church which He gathered unto Himself by the Passion and glorious Blood of His most beloved Son. May He guard it by the protection of His Majesty against all the insidious things of this world. May He bestow a protection and defense, and grant it a perpetual time of tranquility, through the Risen Christ, who reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God, throughout all ages of ages. R. Amen.

Christ is risen, Alleluia, death is defeated, sin has been overcome, all of this done by our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ through sinless life, His crucifixion, death, and resurrection. This is a glorious day for those who believe. Praise God and glorify His holy name. I pray that on this day that there is a true awakening in each and every one of us. I pray that as the Psalmist says we have been proven, that during the days leading up to this day we have been tried by fire as silver is tried, I pray that we have had afflictions laid upon our backs, and that we all have passed through fire and water, and have been brought out into a refreshment. My friends, this is how our faith grows, this is what kindles the fire within us.

Come all of you and enter into the joy of our Lord. All of you, the first and you the last, all can receive your reward; rich and poor, sober and weak, celebrate the day; those who have kept the fast and those who have not, rejoice today. The Lord says; My peace I give to you - Alleluia - my peace I leave you - Alleluia. Abundant peace is for those who are attentive to Your Law, O Lord - Aleluia - and there is no scandal in them - Alleluia. For the King of Heaven with peace - Alleluia - Who is full of the promise of life - Alleluia. Sing you a new song - Alleluia - all you holy ones come forth - Alleluia. Come, eat my Bread - Alleluia - and drink the wine which has been mixed for you - Alleluia.

St. John Chrysostom said;

Let all Pious men and all lovers of God rejoice in the splendor of this feast; let the wise servants blissfully enter into the joy of their Lord; let those who have borne the burden of Lent now receive their pay, and those who have toiled since the first hour, let them now receive their due reward; let any who came after the third hour be grateful to join in the feast, and those who may have come after the sixth, let them not be afraid of being too late, for the Lord is gracious and He receives the last even as the first. He gives rest to him who comes on the eleventh hour as well as to him who has toiled since the first: yes, He has pity on the last and He serves the first; He rewards the one and is generous to the other; he repays the deed and praises the effort.

Come you all: enter into the joy of your Lord. You the first and you the last, receive alike your reward; you rich and you poor, dance together; you sober and you weaklings, celebrate the day; you who have kept the fast and you who have not, rejoice today. The table is richly loaded: enjoy its royal banquet. The calf is a fatted one: let no one go away hungry. All of you enjoy the banquet of faith; all of you receive the riches of his goodness.

Let no one grieve over his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed; let no one weep over his sins, for pardon has shone from the grave; let no one fear death, for the death of our Savior has set us free: He has destroyed it by enduring it, He has despoiled Hades by going down into its kingdom, He has angered it by allowing it to taste of his flesh.

When Isaiah foresaw all this, he cried out: “O Hades, you have been angered by encountering Him in the nether world.” Hades is angered because frustrated, it is angered because it has been mocked, it is angered because it has been destroyed, it is angered because it has been reduced to naught, it is angered because it is now captive. It seized a body, and lo! it discovered God; it seized earth, and, behold! it encountered heaven; it seized the visible, and was overcome by the invisible.

O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? Christ is risen and life is freed, Christ is risen and the tomb is emptied of the dead: for Christ, being risen from the dead, has become the Leader and Reviver of those who had fallen asleep. To Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

From the words of Saint Gregory of Nyssa we read;

The reign of life has begun, the tyranny of death is ended. A new birth has taken place, a new life has come, a new order of existence has appeared, our very nature has been transformed! This birth is not brought about by human generation, by the will of man, or by the desire of the flesh, but by God.

If you wonder how, I will explain in clear language. Faith is the womb that conceives this new life, baptism the rebirth by which it is brought forth into the light of day. The Church is its nurse; her teachings are its milk, the bread from heaven is its food. It is brought to maturity by the practice of virtue; it is wedded to wisdom; it gives birth to hope. Its home is the kingdom; its rich inheritance the joys of paradise; its end, not death, but the blessed and everlasting life prepared for those who are worthy.

This is the day the Lord has made – a day far different from those made when the world was first created and which are measured by the passage of time. This is the beginning of a new creation. On this day, as the prophet says, God makes a new heaven and a new earth. What is this new heaven? you may ask. It is the firmament of our faith in Christ. What is the new earth? A good heart, a heart like the earth, which drinks up the rain that falls on it and yields a rich harvest.

In this new creation, purity of life is the sun, the virtues are the stars, transparent goodness is the air, and the depths of the riches of wisdom and knowledge, the sea. Sound doctrine, the divine teachings are the grass and plants that feed God’s flock, the people whom he shepherds; the keeping of the commandments is the fruit borne by the trees.

On this day is created the true man, the man made in the image and likeness of God. For this day the Lord has made is the beginning of this new world. Of this day the prophet says that it is not like other days, nor is this night like other nights. But still we have not spoken of the greatest gift it has brought us. This day destroyed the pangs of death and brought to birth the firstborn of the dead.

I ascend to my Father and to your Father, to my God and to your God. O what wonderful good news! He who for our sake became like us in order to make us his brothers, now presents to his true Father his own humanity in order to draw all his kindred up after him.

St. Maximus of Turin

Christ is risen! He has burst open the gates of hell and let the dead go free; he has renewed the earth through the members of his Church now born again in baptism, and has made it blossom afresh with men brought back to life. His Holy Spirit has unlocked the doors of heaven, which stand wide open to receive those who rise up from the earth.

CHRIST IS RISEN!

Because of Christ’s resurrection the thief ascends to paradise, the bodies of the blessed enter the holy city, and the dead are restored to the company of the living. There is an upward movement in the whole of creation, each element raising itself to something higher. We see hell restoring its victims to the upper regions, earth sending its buried dead to heaven, and heaven presenting the new arrivals to the Lord. In one and the same movement, our Savior’s passion raises men from the depths, lifts them up from the earth, and sets them in the heights.

Christ is risen! His rising brings life to the dead, forgiveness to sinners, and glory to the saints. And so David the prophet summons all creation to join in celebrating the Easter festival: Rejoice and be glad, he cries, on this day which the Lord has made!

THE LIGHT OF CHRIST – ENDLESS DAY

The light of Christ is an endless day that knows no night. Christ is this day, says the Apostle; such is the meaning of his words: Night is almost over; day is at hand.

He tells us that night is almost over, not that it is about to fall. By this we are meant to understand that the coming of Christ’s light puts Satan’s darkness to flight, leaving no place for any shadow of sin. His everlasting radiance dispels the dark clouds of the past and checks the hidden growth of vice. The Son is that day to whom the day, which is the Father, communicates the mystery of his divinity. He is the day who says through the mouth of Solomon: I have caused an unfailing light to rise in heaven. And as in heaven no night can follow day, so no sin can overshadow the justice of Christ. The celestial day is perpetually bright and shining with brilliant light; clouds can never darken its skies. In the same way, the light of Christ is eternally glowing with luminous radiance and can never be extinguished by the darkness of sin. This is why John the evangelist says: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never been able to overpower it.

REJOICE IN THIS HOLY DAY

And so, my brothers, each of us ought surely to rejoice on this holy day. Let no one, conscious of his sinfulness, withdraw from our common celebration, nor let anyone be kept away from our public prayer by the burden of his guilt. Sinner he may indeed be, but he must not despair of pardon on this day which is so highly privileged; for if a thief could receive the grace of paradise, how could a Christian be refused forgiveness?

My friends,

By overcoming we gain wisdom and knowledge. So today praise Him that has tried us through fire, glorify the name of the one who teaches us and purifies us and has by His crucifixion, death, and resurrection, given us the ability to attain this new life through His blood. He is our strength; He is our High Priest and Mediator between us and the Father. Jesus the Christ unites us to the Father.

May the peace of our Lord Jesus the Christ be with you throughout this day and the rest of your life. May the Holy Spirit fill us all to overflowing so that everyone in whose path we cross may receive a blessing from our Lord Jesus the Christ.

Blessings

In Christ.