Your Easter Sunday Sermon Notes

Was there a GOOD point or two in the sermon you heard at your Easter Sunday Mass?

Let us know what it was.

For my part, I included some liturgical catechesis about the iubilus of Gregorian chant and the Alleluia and also about the Octave.   Then I spoke about what we are going to be like after the resurrection.  Our bodies will be much like Christ’s glorious rise Body.  We shall enjoy the characteristics of

  • brightness
  • impassibility (I’m really looking forward to that)
  • agility
  • subtlety

Happy Easter!

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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13 Comments

  1. HvonBlumenthal says:

    I cannot comment on Cardinal Burke’s sermon this morning as I do not speak Italian, but the almost papal applause of the crowd outside St Gaetano in Florence was worth thousands of words.

  2. Rob83 says:

    The point that stood out was noting that we’d just been encouraged through Lent to give things up, pray, give alms and do works of charity, and go to confession, with the idea that these good works begun and maintained through Lent are intended to become habitual and should continue beyond Easter.

    Also, a daily TLM is beginning tomorrow on Easter Monday for at least a period of time, where it has until now been only Sundays and Holy Days.

  3. Henry Edwards says:

    A note of thanksgiving for our EF Holy Week observances at Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville (TN). For the first time in a half century and more here, we celebrated the complete liturgy of the Sacred Triduum in its traditional Latin form. Including the three traditional Tenebrae services in pre-dawn darkness early in the mornings of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. As well as solemn high Masses of the Last Supper and the Easter Vigil, and the solemn Good Friday liturgy (all with celebrant assisted by deacon and subdeacon).

    At our magnificent five-hour Easter Vigil—protracted by an hour of traditional baptisms and confirmations (with exorcisms of the salt and all that) we heard the finest “live” Exsultet of my personal recollection, one that brought Fr. Z’s splendid recording to mind.

    All twelve traditional Old Testament prophecies were chanted wonderfully—especially the last half dozen in special tones and melismas like those mentioned here. For perhaps the first time in my liturgical life, I heard these prophecies chanted in a way that (for me, at least) actually inspired active contemplation of the role of these sacred texts in salvation history. And in particular was blown away by the twelfth prophecy—from Daniel on the three young men thrown into the furnace—where the perhaps 150 notes of the melismatic Nabuchodonosor at the beginning seemingly took several minutes but soared and swooped. Sure, it was almost two and a half hours into the Vigil liturgy when the chanted prophecies were finished, but I heard no complaint that this veritable experience of a lifetime had not been well worth it.

    [What a wonderful bit of good news. Thank you.]

    Fr. Z's Gold Star Award

  4. iamlucky13 says:

    Father talked about the Jewish hope in the resurrection, coupled with the doubt that would have naturally been felt that it could be a realistic promise. Then they had renewed hope from experiencing Jesus’ teaching and miracles, only to see that hope dashed by the apparent finality of the Crucifixion.

    Yet even more amazing, He rose and was seen by his disciples and many others.

    So we should be joyous like the disciples who knew him personally would have been. We have a connection to that joy through our traditions, including the Easter sequence. He had asked the choir to sing the sequence in Latin to remind us of the link we had with Christians through the 900 years since that specific sequence had been written, and even all the way back to the first Christians.

  5. AliceS says:

    Father reiterated more than once that Jesus really rose from the dead. And was seen by many including his disciples. This was not just wishful thinking but something which truly happened.

    I would have also included the fact that almost all of Jesus’s disciples were martyred. They would not have done that for a lie. But they believed in the one, true Son of God!

  6. AureEntuluva says:

    Were you at St. Brendan’s in Bothell WA? This sounds like what I heard there

  7. jameeka says:

    Thank you for your sermon, Father Z.

    Father C’s Easter morning sermon (OF)
    First, he drew a parallel: Jesus was born in a cave and wrapped in swaddling cloth. When Jesus died, he was buried in a cave, wrapped in traditional Jewish burial cloths. These were left in the cave at His Resurrection.

    Second, he spoke of John going into the burial cave after Peter, but John “saw and believed.” Implied is that Peter did not quite believe yet, even though he was first to look inside. Why is that? John refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”. Father had a contrarian psychology professor in college–when someone brought up the adage “Love is blind”, this professor said, “No, Love sees things in the other person which most people don’t see”.

    Father left it at that.

  8. hwriggles4 says:

    Went to last night’s Easter Vigil. Our pastoral administrator is a former Episcopal Priest and gave a good homily highlighting that we all have seen darkness and light. Father also began his homily discussing the existence of hell. I thought that really was a good time in, since we renewed our baptismal promises, rejecting Satan and all his works.

    The Mass was well done (this is my regular parish in the Novus Ordo). Read all seven readings, all the deacons including three seminarians and our parochial vicar were present, the Roman Canon was used, and with the clergy and seminarians present, the Eucharist was covered. Music was good too, some was sung al capela, and some more traditional hymns. Had about 40 come into the Church last night.

    I was also reminded that 45 years ago yesterday I received my first communion in Los Angeles. We were kids dressed in blue pants, white shirt, tie, and knelt at an altar rail (and this was 1974). Still remember the priest’s name that I received from. Glad I was at Easter Vigil last night.

    [Pray for the priest who gave you your First Communion.]

  9. iamlucky13 says:

    AureEntuluva – yes! Great to encounter a neighbor here on the great big internet.

  10. JonPatrick says:

    At our Eastern Rite Pascha Divine Liturgy, Father spoke about how we tend to see Easter as the end of our Lenten fast (which is very strict in the Eastern Rite) and that we can now relax. Instead this is not an ending of something but a beginning, a new life in Christ.

  11. Prayerful says:

    Fr made the point that about the Prophet Jonah being swallowed in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights as prefiguring the death and Resurrection of Christ. Fr argued that the words used in Jonah / Jonas refer to death, not some distressing trip in the body of this mammal, before he was spat out alive on the shore – an example of the Old prophesising the New.

  12. e.e. says:

    Easter Vigil here. Father spoke about the Resurrection and the OT readings. It’s easy to think oh, we’ve heard all this before, and we know all about these old stories. He encouraged us to think about each of these stories and how miraculous each of them is. God created us! God delivered our ancestors from slavery in Egypt! He sent his own Son to save us from slavery to sin! And then, Jesus rose from the dead to conquer death forever!

    Father stressed — don’t let all these become just old stories that don’t seem special anymore. Revel in the miracles, let God touch your heart through these accounts of salvation history.

  13. carndt says:

    Our pastor talked about humility. Except that the first 10 MINUTES, he talked about his exploits as a master ping-pong player even as a seminarian. Even showed a 22 second video clip of those days of him playing. Then how he met a famous ex-Chinese state player and was humbled. Of course, he then spoke rather briefly of how Christ humbled Himself to become man for our salvation. Well the nail has been placed and I’m going to drive the 2 hours to go to a TLM. I’ve had enough. Prayed 3 decades of the Rosary during Easter Mass for the pastor.

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