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            Today we have the answer to the question that many people ask: Why do we need faith? Why is it so hard to live in the world without it? Why is it that faith in the Resurrected Jesus Christ is the only real answer?           

         Why do we need faith? Because the world is much bigger than we are. We encounter mysteries and joys and sorrows and challenges every day. We keep trying to make sense of it all though it does not seem to fit together.           

          The truth of our human life is that we need faith to truly live. We have come to discover that behind this big, mysterious world there is a God who loves us into being. To love something is to give it life. God loves us, so we live. We live in his heart. We live in this world. We have been given tremendous opportunities to share in life and thus make it known to others. Faith in God, by its very nature makes us witnesses to life, goodness, beauty and truth.           

          We see things as they really are. We see ourselves as we really are. We see God for who He truly is. We see creation as a gift given to us to enjoy and protect. We see ourselves as sinners, broken and unable to find lasting joy without the intervention of God in our lives. Lastly, we see God as real, true and visible in Jesus Christ, the Son of God who is raised form the dead. This is as real as it gets.         

            If faith gives us life, why is faith so difficult at times? Faith is not something like a beating heart. Faith is not something that works in us without our awareness. To have faith means to be consciously aware that we are not alone. Faith is not just about me. It is about a total surrender of all that we are to a God who loves us. Jesus makes that very clear in his preaching. God loves his people and seeks to be intimately involved in the lives of his people every day. In Jesus Christ, we see that the Father has sent his Son who is so close to us that he truly experiences our deepest fear, death. By the power of God, Father Son and Holy Spirit, we recognize that Jesus is truly and physically raised today.           

          Many in our world, which is broken and devastated by sin, tell us that Jesus Christ is not life. He is an illusion or quaint legend or even a fairy tale. Jesus is in the past. He is not real now. They want us to accept that real life is power, money, sex, pleasure or celebrity. It is about my enjoyment. We must compromise and accept these things if we want to get along on the world.           

          In faith, we know this to be a bold-faced lie! Jesus Christ is alive. He is real and present to us right now. We see his love in our friends, our families, and even strangers. We see his personal love present especially in his Church, through the preaching of the Word of God and most importantly in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood, the Holy  Eucharist.                

         The Risen Lord answers our prayers. He reaches out to us in love through the Holy Spirit. He suffered for us so that we could know peace. He died for us so that we could really live and love. He holds us in life as the most cherished possessions of his Sacred Heart.          

           The Church is full of life this morning with the beautiful flowers and the lush plants, the bright colors, Easter bonnets and children who cannot wait to get home and get some Easter candy. But all of these pale in front of the real LIVING ONE we see and hear and will soon touch and taste, Jesus Christ.            

          We are a people of life because we are a people who belong to Jesus Christ and live through him. We are a people who know deep in our hearts, that the Baptism we have received has brought us to life. We come as the Church to stand as witnesses to one another to the love and life given to us by God to share. As we receive that living bred of our Resurrected Lord,  let us go forth as the Apostles, living witnesses with a living faith in our Risen Lord. Alleluia.

Easter Vigil                                                                                  

           If there is one word that we could use to sum up the celebration tonight, the word would be LIFE. It is life that makes all things possible. In death, possibilities stop. We know that death for us can bring darkness, fear and despair. There is nothing to look forward to.  Everything we are doing tonight speaks of LIFE. Blessing the Easter fire, we recognize the gift that fire is which makes life possible. Fire purifies, warms and brightens. It is that light which we carried into Church tonight. It is that light which has illumines for us the beautiful flowers and vestments. It makes it possible for us to sing hymns that bring beauty into the air. When Christ died, the world became dark, but tonight, with the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, the world is flooded with life and light.                

          In the readings from Sacred Scripture, we hear that God speaks and things happen. Every word from God is a blessing, not a curse. Every Word of God brings LIFE. We believe that the Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ, who died on Good Friday is now alive. HE is real, true, living, loving and saving. We do not say that Jesus was, rather we affirm with faith that Jesus IS ALIVE.              

           We human beings are by nature seekers. We do not look for ends, but beginnings; we do not want to give up, but try again. We do not seek death, we seek life. Several men and women here tonight have growing on knowing and living their faith in Jesus Christ. It is true that we are mortals and that we will suffer. It is true that our lives will have crosses and it will seem unfair at times. We can never deny the cross, but we come in faith to fully proclaim that if we face our crosses with courage and are led with the love that God desires to pour into our hearts through prayer, we will truly live.                  

          Dear Elect and Candidates, the life which you enter into tonight through the living waters of baptism and your profession of faith offer you more hope than you can ever imagine. Jesus Christ conquered sin and death through the power of his self-giving love on the cross. He held nothing back for us so that we will know that we do not have to hold anything back from him. When we give everything to him, then we receive graces beyond measure. The light of faith which is consecrated in Baptism produces in us the courage to hope and ultimately leads to the fire of love present in the Holy Eucharist, the Bread of Life.                      Jesus Christ still teaches us today that life is about living. It is about being present ad paying attention to the presence of God in the world and in the hearts of each other. That is why the two men at the tomb asked the women that question: Why do you seek the living among the dead?             The resurrected and glorified life that Christ offers us is too much for the world to handle or even imagine. That is why much of the world today does not believe in Christ or his resurrection. Tonight, we celebrate in faith that the Resurrection is not only possible, it is historically and  truly real. It is all that we have and it is truly all that we need.                      I congratulate all of you who are entering this new life in Christ tonight and I give thanks to God for his goodness that still moves in the world. As our Risen Lord once said, “You have chosen the better part and you will not be denied it.” You have chosen Jesus Christ, who is life. May the Lord who has begun this good work in you bring it to completion in the joy of Heaven.

Good Friday                                                                                                        

            One of the more popular television shows is the series “CSI.” It is about investigating crimes to determine the culprits and the motives. The investigators look at all the evidence, and then beneath the surface of things to discover the truth. One of the things that makes the series so popular are the many mysterious twists and turns the investigations take before the truth is found. 

            What would happen is the CSI detectives and forensic experts showed up on Calvary that Good Friday? At first glance, there is no crime. It is an open and shut case. Jesus of Nazareth was accused and found guilty of claiming to be God and making himself king. This execution was carried out by the Romans at the requests of the Jewish authorities and the mob gathered around the so-called trial. But is that the whole truth? Does it all add up? If someone were a thorough investigator, he or she would soon discover that there is more there than what meets the eye.         

        When the records are examined, it is true that Jesus does not defend himself against the charges. He does not appear bitter or defensive. He does not blame anyone else. He simply speaks the simple truth. It is this: God has sent his Son into the world to show his love for it and for his desire that the world be healed from all that afflicts it, namely sin, hatred, division and death. Jesus is a witness to this by what he says and does. There are no ulterior motives or secret conspiracies. There is no fomenting of political revolution. He has come to bring an abundant life to a world devastated by sin and death.

             When the people demanded justice, Jesus preached mercy. When some people demanded special treatment, he treated all people, rich and poor alike with respect and dignity. When the people thought they knew all they needed to know about God, He came to reveal the truth about a loving God. The angrier they became, the more he loved; the more they attacked, the more he forgave; the more they shouted, the quieter he became.          

       While it appears that the physical cause of Jesus’ death was crucifixion and asphyxiation, deeper investigation reveals that the real cause was love. Jesus came to show us that the only true answer to the mystery of suffering and death is love. It came to be that the only way he could teach this to people was to die out of love for the people to whom he was sent, the entire human race.    

          The death of Jesus was not something to done to please God the Father or settle the score for human sin. The Father says time and time again that “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. The Father loves the Son deeply.          

          The death of Christ was for us and by us. We are ultimately responsible for Calvary. When we face suffering, our first response is often to lash out, seek vengeance and cause pain to others. Some of us may even believe the statement, “If I am unhappy, then EVERYONE is going to be unhappy!” That response never works. It never brings peace and in the end it will destroy us.            

           On this Good Friday, the Son of God is who became man, has seen the suffering with his own eyes, the woman caught in adultery, the death of his friend Lazarus, the crippled man at the pool of Bethsaida. He heard with his own ears the human shouts, “Son of David have pity on me!”             If one were to ask Jesus what he would do about this, he would not speak in word but in action. His answer is to suffer in love for us. It was our anger over our sins and suffering that drove us to nail him to the cross. Jesus responded not just by suffering for them and with them, but to love them until his final breath. That Spirit he gave up on Calvary is destined to descend upon usso that we too may follow his example. The answer to evil is love- a self-emptying, agonizing, life-giving love.           

            The evidence of this is our faith and the faith of all who have come before us, down to Mary and John and the other women at the foot of the cross. We cannot escape the cross. All our anger, indignation, shouting and violence will not lighten our burden one bit. It will only increase it.             The cross shows us the true divinity of Christ. Only God will suffer innocently unto death for the guilty. Only God would patiently endure injustice to show his mercy. Only God can destroy hatred by love.         

              Jesus has given us the true path and if we honestly investigate the case, the evidence is overwhelming. St. Paul said it clearly: Jesus died for sinners, you and me because he loved us and desired everlasting life for us. We must die to ourselves, not simply because we are guilty or because it is a matter of justice. We must do it because we love God before all else and we recognize him alone as the true path to life and freedom in this world and the next. Case Closed.