Sunday Homily 4-8-12, Easter
Readings: Acts 10, 34, 37-43, This man God raised; Psalm 118, This day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad; 1 Corinthians 5, 6-8, A little yeast leavens all the dough; John 20, 1-9, Mary of Magdal came to the tomb early.
Acts:
Author: Most likely Luke, who wrote the Gospel with his name and who followed and copied some of Mark's material.
Date: ca. 70-100 A.D., therefore ca. 40 years after the death of Jesus.
Subject: the ministry of Paul & the 12 Apostles after the death of Jesus.
Chapters 1-8 deal with the Resurrection, Ascension, & Pentecost (Holy Spirit)
Chapters 8- 28 deal with Paul's conversion & ministry.
Today's selection: Two visions/dreams have just occurred:
1. Cornelius, a captain in the Roman army and a Gentile, has a vision in which he is instructed to go to a town called Joppa and talk with a man named Peter.
2. Peter has a vision in which a sheet held by its 4 corners comes down and is full of all kinds of animals. A voice says, "Eat." Peter refuses because of the law of ritual impurity, i.e., some animals are ritually impure and it is prohibited to eat them. But the voice insists. At this point three of Cornelius' people arrive and invite him to come to Cornelius' house. This vision symbolizes that even Gentiles who are ritually impure are invited to the new Christian community.
Our selection takes up just after Peter arrives at Cornelius' house, finds a group of Cornelius' friends, is invited to speak to them, and he begins. The following is what he says to the group of Gentiles gathered in Cornelius' house.
Meaning of the Word Easter: the origin of the use of Easter seems lost in history. Probably not from Latin, which uses pasqua. Probably not coming from a German goddess of spring, which some have suggested. May have emerged from early Celtic converts (British Isles), who wanted to use their own words for Christian feasts, rather than Latin words.
The Resurection Today
Last Satuday there was a picnic. This was not your ordinary picnic. It took place in Flower Mound on the west side of town, the Circle R Ranch. It went from about 10:30 to 2:30 on one of our recent beautiful days.
The picnic was for kids handicapped in some way.
There was another picnic before Christmas, this one for underprivileged kids. 3,000 younger kids poured in and ran all over the place for about 5 hours.
This past picnic the kids were not running around. Many of them came in wheel chairs or prams. They were often physically misshapen. They frequently could not speak. But they could smile and they did.
I volunteered to work at the photo area. This was really well run by two black guys with their camera, lap top, and printer, as well as another guy who arranged the families, and two girls who provided decoration. The families could choose their decorations or get ups from 4 themes represented in pictures, like Easter, cowboy, fireman, and so forth. They hardly needed me for crowd control like the December picnic I worked.
What I did mostly was watch and touch, and be touched. I was close to tears with so many of these kids and with their families. I shared this with some of the team and they, too, said they were likewise moved. I wanted to hug the kids and hug the parents.
Because I was not greatly needed I moved to the welcome post. Here I was touched again. People were trickling in, so I began talking with a lady who was also welcoming kids and families. It was her first time to volunteer. Eventually she talked about her son, about 40 years old and slightly handicapped. He had been shot a month or so ago at the downtown Dart train stop.
I did not know what to say. She was in tears and I too, especially because of her attitude. She was grateful. She was thankful for the long life her impaired son had had.
I talk about these simple events because for me they are Easter events, Resurrection events. The characteristics of this type of an event: more life, more peace, and gratitude.
The kids were not so unusual. The talk with the lady, Terry, was pretty routine in the beginning. Similar things happen all the time. I went to touch these people. But I was touched. I came away with more life, more peace, and so much more gratitude for so much.
What is the Easter event in your life today?