Easter Homily from Msgr. Jack 

Jeremy was born with a twisted body, a slow mind and a chronic terminal illness that had been slowly killing him all his young life. Still, his parents had tried to give him as normal a life as possible and had sent him to St. Theresa’s Grade School. At the age of 12, Jeremy was only in second grade, seemingly unable to learn. His teacher, Doris Miller, often became exasperated with him. He would squirm in his seat, drool and make grunting noises. At other times, he spoke clearly and distinctly, as if a spot of light had penetrated the darkness of his brain. Most of the time, however, Jeremy irritated his teacher. One day, she called his parents and asked them to come to St. Theresa’s for a consultation. 

As the Forresters sat quietly in the empty classroom, Doris said to them, “Jeremy really belongs in a special school. It isn’t fair to him to be with younger children who don’t have learning problems. Why, there is a five year gap between his age and that of the other students!” Mrs. Forrester cried softly into a tissue while her husband spoke. “Miss Miller, there is no school of that kind nearby. It would be a terrible shock for Jeremy if we had to take him out of this school. It is all he knows and he really likes it here.” 

Doris sat for a long time after they left, staring at the snow outside the window. Its coldness seemed to seep into her soul. After all, their only child had a terminal illness. But it wasn’t fair to keep him in her class. She had 18 other youngsters to teach, and Jeremy was a distraction. He would never learn to read and write! As she pondered the situation, guilt washed over her. “Oh God,” she said aloud, “here I am complaining, when, my problems are nothing compared with that poor family! Please help me to be more patient with Jeremy.” 

From that day on, she tried hard to ignore Jeremy’s noises and his blank stares. Then one day he limped to her desk, dragging his bad leg behind him. “I love you, Miss Miller,” he exclaimed, loud enough for the whole class to hear. The other students snickered, and Doris’ face turned red. She stammered, “Wh....why, that’s very nice, Jeremy. Now please take your seat.” 

Spring came, and the children talked excitedly about the coming of Easter. Doris told them the story of Jesus, and then to emphasize the idea of new life springing forth, she gave each of the children a large plastic egg. “Now,” she said to them, “I want you to take this home and bring it back tomorrow with something inside that shows new life. Do you understand?” “Yes, Miss Miller!” The children responded enthusiastically, all except Jeremy. He just listened intently; his eyes never left her face. He did not even make his usual noises. Had he understood what she had said about Jesus’ death and resurrection? Did he understand the assignment? Perhaps she should call his parents and explain the project to them. 

That evening, Doris’ kitchen sink stopped up. She called the landlord and waited an hour for him to come by and unclog it. After that, she still had to shop for groceries, iron a blouse and prepare for a vocabulary test for the next day. She completely forgot about phoning Jeremy’s parents. The next morning, 19 children came to school, laughing and talking as they placed their eggs in the large wicker basket on Miss Miller’s desk. After they completed their math lesson, it was time to open the eggs. 

In the first egg, Doris found a flower, “Oh, yes, a flower is certainly a sign of new life,” she said. “When plants peek through the ground, we know that spring is here.” A small girl in the first row waved her arm. “That’s my egg, Miss Miller,” she called out. The next egg contained a plastic butterfly, which looked very real. Doris held it up. “We all know that a caterpillar changes and grows into a beautiful butterfly. Yes, that is new life, too.” Little Judy smiled proudly and said, “Miss Miller, that one is mine!” Next Doris found a rock with moss on it. She explained that moss, too, showed life. Billy spoke up from the back of the classroom. “My daddy helped me!” he beamed. 

Then Doris opened the fourth egg. She gasped. The egg was empty! Surely it must be Jeremy’s, she thought, and, of course, he did not understand her instructions. If only she had not forgotten to phone his parents. Because she did not want to embarrass him, she quietly set the egg aside and reached for another. Suddenly Jeremy spoke up. “Miss Miller, aren’t you going to talk about my egg?” Flustered, Doris replied, “But Jeremy, your egg is empty! He looked into her eyes and said softly, “Yes, but Jesus’ tomb was empty, too!” Time stopped. When she could speak again, Doris asked him, “Do you know why the tomb was empty?” “Oh, yes!” Jeremy exclaimed. “Jesus was killed and put in there. Then his father raised him up!” The recess bell rang. While the children excitedly ran out to the school yard, Doris cried. The cold inside her melted completely away. 

Three months later, Jeremy died. Those who paid their respects at the funeral home were surprised to see 19 empty eggs on top of his casket - all of them empty. 

Easter is about an empty tomb, an empty tomb that trumpets the ultimate Alleluia, that love, compassion, generosity, humility, and selflessness will ultimately triumph over hatred, despair, greed, and death. 

And the story goes: 

The women of Jesus' company, whose compassion outweighs common sense, got up early the day after the Passover Sabbath to finish the job of burying Jesus. There they find the stone rolled away from the entrance to the tomb. (Did they really think through how they were going to roll that stone away?) The tomb is empty! Two angels greet them. “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” It’s the question of the morning to these terrified women. “He is not here! He is Risen! So go to the streets to look for him and to the prisons and the soup kitchens and ghettos and little towns. Go home to your families. He is there among your spouse and children, your co-workers and friends, your classmates and teammates. So go, the best is yet to come!” 

Easter pushes us out of the tombs in which we bury ourselves, tombs of fear and distrust and cynicism and hopelessness and challenges us to discover fulfillment in living a life beyond ourselves. 

It is about an empty tomb alright that trumpets the ultimate Alleluia that good will overcome evil and life will overcome death. Easter is about a Jesus who said, ”Seek first the Kingdom of God,” which he described as feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty. In short, being concerned about others. He told us disturbing stories about the rich man who ate gourmet food every night while the hungry beggar Lazarus fought for scraps with the dogs under the rich man’s table; a story about the man who built bigger and bigger barns only to die that night without having kissed his children. He spoke about forgiving one’s enemies as a condition for being forgiven ourselves. He spoke of treating women with respect and not even lusting after them in one’s heart. He spoke of compassion and he gave everyone he met a second chance. 

And what’s more, this is the clincher for which he was killed by the culture, he actually did these things!!! He fed the poor, healed the sick, took time with friends and prayed, threw money-changers out of the temple, hugged children, had little patience with hypocrites, religious or otherwise, forgave 7 X 70 X’s; loved his enemies. Oh, He was counter-cultural all right, and His tomb is empty, because God turned around and set him free. 

He is not about Easter bunnies, chocolate candies, butterflies, caterpillars or Hallmark cards about Spring. 

He is about happiness and a way of life. 

He is about decisions we make at home and at work every day. 

He is about honesty and caring and concern. 

He is about chastity and fidelity in marriage. 

He is about making relationships work, and unity, not division politically and especially ecclesial. 

He is about keeping one’s word. 

He is about life, joy, fulfillment and commitment. 

He is about 30 fold, 60 fold, and 100 fold and abundance for his true disciples. 

He is about the empty plastic egg. Jeremy was so right. 

He is about the tomb, which is empty on this feast, trumpeting the ultimate Alleluia. Love, compassion, generosity, humility and selflessness will ultimately triumph over hatred, despair, greed, and death. 

Jeremy was right! The plastic egg was empty because the tomb was empty and His Father raised him up! Jesus is no longer in the tomb, so why are we? 

This week's bulletin is attached below. Hard copies of this weekend’s bulletin are available on the shelf in the vestibule of the rectory office.