“The Day the Lord Has Made” by Rev. Paul Berghout

“The Day the Lord Has Made” by Rev. Paul Berghout

Easter Sunday The Resurrection of the Lord

The Mass of Easter Day 

Piety

“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.” Acts 10:40-43

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.” Psalm 118:24 

Seek what is above. Think of what is above.  Colossians 3:1B,2A

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So, she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”  John 20:1-2

Study

Some Christian educational toys for Ages 4-9 like Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand; Daniel and the Lion’s Den; Jesus Walks on Water; Moses and the Ten Plagues. Each Play-set features full-color, child-safe action figures paired with its own book, which neatly explains each Bible story.

The Easter Story, Calvary Hill, has a plastic stone that really rolls away in a slot and three removable crosses. However, with this Play-set, there is no available storybook, and the set comes with no action figures, but one is encouraged to “Collect them All.” 

First, you need to insert the big cross on Calvary Hill.

The Easter story begins with a man hanging on a cross dead who they lay in a freshly hewn grave with a 5,000-pound stone sealing the entrance.

St. Paul knows how scandalous his preaching is about a crucified Messiah. He calls it a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. Still, he refuses to present it more acceptably because one must embrace the cross’s scandal to experience God’s saving righteousness. 

Paul says, ‘I die daily’ in 1 Corinthians 15:31. He is defending the historical, physical Resurrection of Jesus in this chapter, saying in verse 14, “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”

The Easter story continues by going to the tomb. 

The Desert Fathers spoke of the First Resurrection in this life of the soul that happens when we have overcome the passions and aligned our will to love God above all things.

The more we die in our hearts to sinful desires and embrace where Jesus leads us, the more we will experience the power of the Resurrection in our interior life and our reception of the Eucharist because our feeling of hope increases. 

In the Easter play-set, after you buy the Jesus Son of God action figure, Mary Magdalen is the second most important one. 

Then you can reenact the most extraordinary recognition scene in the history of the world: “Mary! Rabbouni!”

It wasn’t until Jesus called her name did she recognize him, and that is what broke through her grief, panic, and misunderstanding. 

The breakthrough will happen. Don’t give up 10 minutes before the miracle. Easter is about eternal life made possible by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that brings hope.

A poet wrote that “hope springs eternal.”  Hope is another way in which God whispers your name. 

Three other women also came to the tomb that first Easter morning: Mary, the mother of James, Joanna, and Salome. But, in Luke 24:11, when they told the disciples that Jesus was alive because they had seen him, Luke writes, “their story seemed like nonsense.”

Nevertheless, as the Catechism in # 641 says, “Jesus himself upbraided [the disciples] for their unbelief and lack of faith for not believing the witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus. 

Action

The women at the tomb did not think they were in charge of Easter. But they were. Like Mary Magdalen in John 20:18, they all could say, “I have seen the Lord, and this is what he said to me” in a see-tell messaging which is how testimony works, and to which Jesus assures: “That’ll preach!”

Like Keith’s testimony, he quietly resigned himself to a life of addiction and felt sorry for himself. He had been going fruitlessly to 12 step meetings. Demoralized, he would think to himself, “And now look where I have ended up, with you all.” He would not shake hands with anybody at meetings, and he let the members know that, too. He said that maybe he thought he would catch something from them.   

Then, God gave him the grace of a new life.

He was able to say, “I did catch something from them: Recovery. Thank God. I got sober.” He says, “Today I get access to this flowing power of recovery by working on myself, the Steps, and reaching out to help others. I discovered that healing is like a lake that needs an inflow and an outflow. The inflow is attending meetings, phone calls, literature, and working the Steps. The outflow is trying to help, reaching out to others, and service in the fellowship. Too much outflow, the lake runs dry, too little, and the lake goes stagnant, shallow, and lifeless. 

I mentioned that there was not an accompanying storybook to the Easter Playset.  Maybe it does not come with a book because the very language of Easter—Pascal-- tells us we have to experience it -- personally. Pasch means “Passing through.”  Exodus Chapter 12 refers to the Israelites’ passing through the Red Sea (which we share sacramentally in baptism).  Baptism of water is the beginning of our passing from death to new life. The Eucharist (received with the proper dispositions) gives the promise of being resurrected to eternal life.

Educational toys engage one’s senses, spark one’s imaginations, and encourage one to interact with others to share what we learned and did. 

It’s the same with Easter. Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad.” We know that this day is not just twenty-four hours. The day the Lord has made is a way of looking at my life, mission, and family, of hearing and speaking to them. 

“This is the day the LORD has made.” 

“This is what the Lord did for me and to me.”   

That is more than just a rhetorical strategy.  It is a way of living and witness aimed at bearing to audiences of all times and places the saving power of Jesus so that others will know for themselves the hopeful way of living risen life.

Amen.