Homily for Holy Saturday 2024 by Fr. Joe Tedesco

It is Easter! We just heard the whole of our salvation’s story. The creation of the Universe and of humankind out of love, God’s love in the image and likeness of God.

Redeemed by the Beloved Son who shows us who God our Father is for us, show us his images and invites us to enter into his likeness by love, total love, total surrender, the way Jesus did it. Giving everything of himself out of love.

From that obedience to love came new life for Jesus and for us. We know something about love – we know love. Imagine what Jesus’ love must be – if he was so unswerving in his mission to show us God’s love – that cost him his life in such a brutal death.

But he triumphed – all his teachings came to completion in HIS life and death. The one who wants to be exalted must be the servant of all. This deep humility is what gives us life in God.

Jesus demonstrates this humility and became our bridegroom in love with humankind. A love that redeems us – saved us from ourselves and showed us what true love is – offering oneself for the beloved.

We read in John 10:10, I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly. This abundant life is life in God and with God. Full of grace and truth.

Fr. Simeon in his book says it. Christ’s life poured out all at once as a cosmic transfusion of love and grace. So St Paul can say in Acts. It is in Him that we live and move and have our being.

Easter is truly the fulfillment of Sacrificial Love. So here we are. Especially for us monks this year, we enter into solidarity with sacrifice. As Michael Sanem wrote in his reflection: “We contemplate the disorienting stillness of the garden, the unnerving sense of absence, the pain of a future denied. Before the world-shaking irruption of the resurrection. There is only the earth-shattering reality of grief, of knowing some wounds may not be healed this side of eternity.”

Perhaps this season of our lives feels like a long Lent, and Easter seems a bit premature. Perhaps there is a dissonance between Easter joy and our own experience of life, of the brokenness we encounter in ourselves, in others and in the world today. It feels that way for sure these days. But it is Easter. So we look at the Risen Christ.

And we see when Jesus is risen, he still has his wounds: his pierced hands, pierced side and heart. The horrible torture he endured, the trauma inflicted upon him by callous people,
remains imprinted upon his gloried body. The wounds of Jesus remain, and yet they become a source of healing.

In the famous prayer of St. Ignatius, the Anima Christi, he prays Soul of Christ sanctify me, body of Christ heal me, blood of Christ, inebriate me, water from the side of Christ wash me,
passion of Christ, strengthen me. O good Jesus, hear me, within your wounds hide me.

What a powerful faith-filled understanding of the source of healing the glorified Jesus is for us. The true source of new life for our wounded human condition.

When those who love him, see his wounds they recognize him. We’ll hear the gospel stories in the Easter season that renew our faith. These wounds now are sources of healing, conversion, and joy. This is the Christ – He is present in the wounded, that we are called to love and serve.

These mysteries remind us that where there is great love, there is often great suffering. We learn from Christ’s resurrection that God holds Christ crucified in his suffering and so also holds us in our suffering. Can we hold one another in our suffering? This changes us and the world into the place of compassion and love. So, we struggle with our grief and loss of our beloved brother this Easter, we struggle with the tragic situations around the globe. Where destruction and man’s utter inhumanity to man continues.

Thank God it’s Easter – Christ is Risen – He is truly Risen. We look at the Risen Christ and all He means for us in faith and hope. A way forward – the answer to all of our realities. That is so clear – not easy for sure, this surrender to total love – but that we know in our hearts is right. Thanks be to God for the gift of our faith that truly gives us hope. Knowing our God is a God of love and faithfulness. And we are the beloved of God. The Father gives us the gift of Himself in Jesus our Christ Risen to Glory.

Let’s receive this gift and live this gift. Happy Easter everyone.