(Acts 10, 34. 37-43; Psalm 118; Col 3, 1-4; John 20, 1-9)
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Resurrexit sicut dixit! Alleluia! He is risen as he said! Alleluia!
This day is the Sunday of Sundays. On this and every Sunday we identify
ourselves as members of the one Body of the risen Lord, the Church, by
worshipping as one people in the Eucharistic sacrifice.
The early Christians called this day "the Day of the Sun" as did everyone
else in the Roman Empire. What they meant by that was much more than could
be said for the typical Roman, for whom the day marked merely one more
rising and setting of the fiery orb that coursed through the skies. For
Christians this was the day on which the rising of the "Sun" ever reminded
them of the glorious rising of the "Son" of God. Many today habitually
profane the Lord's Day, going about their business with no thought of the
Lord's Resurrection.
If we desire to live forever in light and love we must share now in
the new dawn of the Lord's Resurrection. We do so when we learn to celebrate
the Lord's Day in a worthy way, and according to the ancient discipline
of the Christian communio, or communion, and the law of Christ.
In the Eucharistic Sacrifice we offer the perfect prayer of Christ,
the perfect means of keeping the Lord's Day holy. Our indifference to the
Mass condemns us as indifferent to Christ Himself. Worship with the Christian
communio is not an option among options. It expresses and makes present
the core reality of our identity as Christians. Without the Lord, as he
manifests Himself in Word and Sacrament, it is impossible for us to look
forward to heaven and eternal joy. "Without me," he warns, "you can do
nothing."
The Catechism teaches that the day of the Resurrection is the beginning
of the new creation.
Jesus rose from the dead 'on the first day of the week.' (Jn 20:1) Because
it is the 'first day,' the day of Christ's Resurrection recalls the first
creation. Because it is the 'eighth day' following the Sabbath, (Mk 16:1)
it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by Christ's Resurrection. For
Christians it has become the first of all days, the first of all feasts,
the Lord's Day (he kuriaka hemera, dies dominica) - Sunday:
We all gather on the day of the sun, for it is the first day [after
the Jewish Sabbath, but also the first day] when God, separating matter
from darkness, made the world; on this same day Jesus Christ our Savior
rose from the dead." (St. Justin, Apology) (CCC 2174)
I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we
"meet Christ in the liturgy" -Father Cusick
Used by permission from Fr. Cusick. See www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/
