Day 64: Christ is Risen

Hi, I'm Fr. Mark Mary with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast, but through prayer and meditation, the Rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes the source of grace for the whole world.
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No matter what app you're listening in, remember to tap follow or subscribe for your daily notifications. The first glorious mystery is the resurrection.
Matthew chapter 28 verses 1 through 10. Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn or the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow.
And for fear of him, the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him.
Behold, I have told you. So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples.
And behold, Jesus met them and said, Hail. And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.
Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.
So friends, we're going to look at the resurrection, and I'm going to do two things I don't really like to do. The first is I'm going to point out kind of a place where we're not doing so great,

where there's room for improvement.

And secondly, offer a challenge.

I would say one of the great areas for improvement and kind of popular Catholic piety

is our way of celebrating the resurrection. We do like really good with Lent, but Lent is a time of preparation towards the resurrection towards Easter when we really kick butt in Lent.
But then for Easter and then the 50 day Easter season, which is even longer, we don't do a whole lot. I think my eyes began to open to this in my own life.
When I was in my very first year of vows, I was living in the South Bronx and I was on the team that worked at the Padre Pio Homeless Shelter and it was Holy Saturday. And that night, of course, we were having the Easter vigil and the community was having an Easter vigil, but I wasn't going to be able to attend.
Myself and my other brother, we were on duty at the homeless shelter. And so he, who was a priest, we were going to have an Easter vigil, the two of us with the men in the shelter who wanted to come.
So it was about two o'clock on Holy Saturday, and I went into the big sacristy of the church, where the community mass was going to be. And inside is our sacristan who had been hard at work for a couple of days.
And so I said to him, hey, where are those little pins that you put into the Paschal candle? And he kind of looks at me and says, why? Why are you asking? So I explained, you know, I'm on duty at Padre Peel Shelter tonight and we're going to have an Easter vigil there. And so I was going to make a Paschal candle.
And so he looks at me again, quizzically. It's two o'clock on only Saturday and you're starting to prepare for the Easter vigil and you're going to make the Paschal candle? I said, yes, sir.
That is exactly what my plan is. And so he goes to the missal, which has an explanation of the Paschal candle.
And he begins to read about how the Paschal symbol is the liturgical symbol par excellence of the entire liturgical year. And he's reading on and on about how important it is.
And he turns to me, he says, and you're just going to make this. I said, yeah, that was the plan, but maybe I'll call and ask to borrow different friaries.
He says, you know what? That sounds like a better plan. And so that is, in fact, what I did.
I called one of the friaries and said, hey, can we borrow your Paschal candle for the Padre Pio shelter tonight? And so this is when, if you will, the lights went on that this is really, really important and not just really, really important, but Easter and the symbols that go along with Easter are the most important of the entire year. Like the Paschal candle, it's so important because it is the symbol of the risen Christ.
It's the symbol of the conquering of light over darkness. It's the symbol of the resurrection of Jesus's victory.
And this is the most important mystery of our faith. And therefore the symbol linked with it is the most important symbol.
The light of the risen Christ has conquered darkness forever. Okay.
And now the second thing I don't love to do is I'm going to offer you a challenge. And the challenge is this.
Make it a personal mission in your life. And don't give up until you have found the answer to why the resurrection is so important.
And what does it mean for your life? And now, my brothers and sisters, to help you along the way on this journey, I just want to share a little bit of how I started to receive this grace. I don't think I've received it in its fullness, but where I really started to, I think, get it.
And now I was in my first year of seminary. So this is about six years later from when I was trying to make that Paschal candle in the South Bronx.
And it was Easter morning. And the priest who was preaching, who was giving the homily, quite simply said, Christ is risen.
Christ is risen. These words, they need to always be on our lips.
These are the most important words. And he went on to explain, in all of the struggles, in all of the darkness, in all that's happening with our own personal sin, struggles in our family, in the world,

we need to shine into the darkness, like the Paschal candle.

Like the light has victory.

Christ is risen.

Life has conquered death.

Sin has been conquered.

They crucified him, but he rose. This is connected for me to, you know, Romans 8, 28 says along these lines, God is at work in the good and all things for those who love him, that there is no darkness that the light cannot conquer.
And so in my own life, again, in my own sin and my own struggle, Christ has conquered death and he can conquer this too if I give it to him, if I remain with him. Whatever relationship, sickness, struggle, there's nothing that we can't continue to journey with Christ and where he cannot be victorious because he is at work in the good and all things like darkness will never have the final word.
If we remain with him, Christ is risen, Christ is risen.

And so it allows me to go about life and all the events of life with the

supernatural hope, which flows from Christ risen from the dead.

And so my brothers and sisters,

I believe this is a foundational grace offered to us by the resurrection of

Jesus Christ, which we pray with and meditate on today. It's the gift of a hope that conquers everything.
It's not easy, but we have hope in all things because Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and light will always conquer the darkness if we continue to remain with him. So as we pray today, we ask for the Lord to give us the grace of supernatural hope, the hope that flows from his resurrection.
And my encouragement is in our hearts, like whatever the darkness is, to present the Paschal candle to that darkness, to speak this truth of life into the darkness. Christ is risen.
I have hope in this relationship. I have hope in this area of my life because Christ is risen.
And so my brothers and sisters, let us pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Amen. The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen. All right, friends.

Thanks for joining me and praying with me again today.

I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow.

Poco a poco, friends.

All right.

God bless y'all.