April 20, 2025
Easter Sunday
Acts 10:34a, 37-43
Col 3:1-4
Jn 20:1-9
By Abbot Patrick Moore, OSB
“He is not here; see the place where they laid him.” The words of this invitation take a close look at the place where Jesus had been buried quicken the imagination. We think of that tomb; and then we think of others in which Jesus has been buried. From all he has burst forth. We have laid him away times without number in tombs so strong, so heavily sealed, that it looked as though he could never again emerge as a disturbing force. Yet once more, in the language of the Easter hymn, “Christ has burst his prison.
Come, let’s look at some of the places “where they laid him.” At times he has been interred in the church. Christianity, in its official presentation, has sometimes smothered faith. The face of the Master has frequently been wrapped around with layers of philosophy and metaphysics that it has been hard to recognize him. Theological statements have been substituted for a lived experience. Jesus has even been imprisoned in stain-glassed windows, a beautiful figure but so removed from life.
This Jesus breaks out of every tomb made by us. Christ breaks free when the gospel says, “Go tell his disciples . . .” These words have been a propelling power behind the movement of spreading the Gospel. The real meaning of “he is risen” never gets into a person until it gets into his or her feet. One fascinating thing about the gospel account of the Resurrection is the way in which it puts the disciples in motion. Good news simply cannot walk, it runs. The compelling necessity to go and tell is inherent in the good news itself.
Every year our terrified world hears of some new disaster. But the most powerful force ever known is the news of the resurrection of Jesus. It has hurled men and women to the farthest limits of the globe for twenty centuries. It stirs; it has real power that leaves us with a question: Has the Easter message gotten into me yet?
April 13, 2025
Palm Sunday
Is 50:4-7
Phil 2:6-11
Lk 22:14 to 23:56
By Abbot Valerian Odermann, OSB
We’ve all heard of that crowd-pleasing, carnival activity: palm reading. Today let’s engage in another kind of reading — crowd reading. There are three crowds in today’s liturgy.
* * * * *
And, implicit in the liturgy, there is a fourth crowd— that’s us. Will it be exuberant hosanna-like cheering? Or vengeful hate-speech? Or laments which seem to fall on deaf ears?
Each of us has to read the crowds. Then it’s up to me to make my move. I could defer to one of them. Or I could open my heart to the one who cries in a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit" … and ask what he wants of me.
Of course, that’s risky business.
April 6, 2025
5th Sunday of Lent
Is 43:16-21
Phil 3:8-14
Jn 8:1-11
By Fr. Gerald Ruelle, OSB
On Ash Wednesday, we were signed with ashes on our foreheads with the words: “Remember, you are dust and unto dust you shall return, or “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.” Both reflect our life as Christians.
Father Mark Ling, SJ, tells the story of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Russsian writer. He was a winner of the Nobel Prize for literature. His most famous work is the The Gulag Archipelago. His story begins in 1945 when he was falsely accused of a political crime and condemned to 8 years of hard labor in Soviet prison camps. Out of this ordeal he wrote his book which describes the terrorism in the Soviet Union, especially in communist prisons and work camps. The Soviet Union responded by stripping him of his citizenship and deporting him in 1974 for slandering his country. He came to the United States.
In chapter four of his novel, Solzhenitsyn describes a friendship he had with a fellow Russian officer during World War II before he was arrested. He says that he and his friend were as alike as any two people could ever be. After the war, Solzhenitsyn became a fighter for freedom. His friend became a cruel interrogator in the Soviet political system.
Sometimes we, the same person, are both sinner and saint. We are accused woman and Pharisee, and we can also imitate Jesus. Throughout life, we are in such a great need to “turn away from sin and faithful to the Gospel.” We are in need of our forgiving Lord, Jesus.
March 30, 2025
4th Sunday of Lent
Jos 5:9a, 10-12
2Cor 5:17-21
Lk 15:1-3, 11-32
By Br. Michael Taffe, OSB
Reflection, penance, sorrow, patience: words associated with our Lenten practices each year. One or the other often takes precedence in our Lenten journey, but our focus is to remain on continuing conversion and opening ourselves toward a greater unity with Christ.
The readings point to change and the difficulty we have in embracing it. We are aware that many of these changes we hope to undertake come from God and not our own desires. We also know often do not happen in a nice linear progression. As the old saying goes, God writes straight with crooked lines.
Joshua tells us of the Israelites coming to the Promised Land. God has spent 40 years forming them into His people, and though God is still with them to guide them, they are to rely on themselves in a different way now that the manna has ceased. Saint Paul reminds the Christians that they are “a new creation.” We are ambassadors who are to proclaim the Gospel of Christ and in this way become truly members of his body.
Luke gives us the story of the Prodigal Son, where the younger son asks for his inheritance and then squanders it in a most unimaginable manner. He is reduced to feeding pigs (Israelites would never raise pigs!). Then he “comes to himself,” experiences true sorrow and repentance, and returns to his father who greets him with open arms. However, the elder son becomes furious with his father, resenting his welcoming back of the younger son. Some see this elder son as the real prodigal since he is the one who remains lost, refusing to change and see the joy of love.
Thus, it may encourage us to learn where we are called to change. These changes will continue even after Easter, for our ultimate goal is to become like Christ.