Christian Saints Podcast

Easter Writings and Homilies

April 03, 2021 Darren C. Ong Season 1 Episode 24
Christian Saints Podcast
Easter Writings and Homilies
Show Notes Transcript

Christ is risen! To commemorate Easter, we deviate from our usual episode structure and instead present reflections on Easter by various saints. We will contemplate writings and sermons on Easter by saints John the Apostle, John Chrysostom, Gregory the Theologian, Dorothy Day, Oscar Romero, and the Apostle Paul.


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 Christ is Risen! And 
 God is glorious in his saints! 
 
 Welcome to the Christian Saints Podcast. My name is Darren Ong, recording from Sepang in Malaysia. In this podcast, we explore the lives of the Christian saints, from the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. This episode will come out on Easter Sunday for the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, so today, we will contemplate some writings and sermons by Christian Saints about Easter and the Resurrection of Christ.
 
 We will begin with the gospel account by St John the Apostle and Evangelist. John was one of Jesus’ closest followers, the only one of the twelve apostles to be with Jesus during the crucifixtion. The tenth episode of this podcast is about John, so please listen to that to learn more about his life. John appears himself in this gospel account, referring to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved – so this is first person eyewitness testimony of the empty tomb. This is John 20:
 
 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.



Next, we will read the Pascal Homily of Saint John Chrysostom. This Homily is read every Pascha in the Eastern Orthodox Church (they almost never use the term Easter). Saint John Chrysostom is perhaps one of the most important theologians in the history of the church. He was appointed Archbishop of Constantinople in 397. Aside from many volumes of excellent and influential theological writings, Saint John Chrysostom also wrote the Divine Liturgy of St John Chysostom, the most commonly used liturgy in Eastern churches. 
 
 If any man be devout and love God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. If any man be a wise servant, let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord. If any have labored long in fasting, let him now receive his recompense. If any have wrought from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward. If any have come at the third hour, let him with thankfulness keep the feast. If any have arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings; because he shall in nowise be deprived thereof. If any have delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near, fearing nothing. If any have tarried even until the eleventh hour, let him, also, be not alarmed at his tardiness; for the Lord, who is jealous of his honor, will accept the last even as the first; He gives rest unto him who comes at the eleventh hour, even as unto him who has wrought from the first hour.

And He shows mercy upon the last, and cares for the first; and to the one He gives, and upon the other He bestows gifts. And He both accepts the deeds, and welcomes the intention, and honors the acts and praises the offering. Wherefore, enter you all into the joy of your Lord; and receive your reward, both the first, and likewise the second. You rich and poor together, hold high festival. You sober and you heedless, honor the day. Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast. The table is full-laden; feast ye all sumptuously. The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away.

Enjoy ye all the feast of faith: Receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness. let no one bewail his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one weep for his iniquities, for pardon has shown forth from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Savior’s death has set us free. He that was held prisoner of it has annihilated it. By descending into Hell, He made Hell captive. He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh. And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry: Hell, said he, was embittered, when it encountered Thee in the lower regions. It was embittered, for it was abolished. It was embittered, for it was mocked. It was embittered, for it was slain. It was embittered, for it was overthrown. It was embittered, for it was fettered in chains. It took a body, and met God face to face. It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It took that which was seen, and fell upon the unseen.

O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory? Christ is risen, and you are overthrown. Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen. Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen, and life reigns. Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave. For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages. Amen.


Next, we turn to Saint Gregory of Naziansus, also known as Saint Gregory the Theologian. He was also an important theologian in the 4th-century Christian church, and also become Archbishop of Constantinople. John Chrysostom and Gregory the Theologian are two of the three Great Hierarchs of the Eastern Orthodox church. Here is a famous Pascal homily of his – this is an abridged version on the website of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Ameria
 
 Yesterday I was crucified with Him; today I am glorified with Him.
 Yesterday I died with Him; today I am made alive with Him.
 Yesterday I was buried with Him; today I am raised up with Him.
 Let us offer to Him Who suffered and rose again for us ... ourselves, the possession most precious to God and most proper. Let us become like Christ, since Christ became like us.
 Let us become Divine for His sake, since for us He became Man.
 He assumed the worse that He might give us the better.
 He became poor that by His poverty we might become rich.
 He accepted the form of a servant that we might win back our freedom.
 He came down that we might be lifted up.
 He was tempted that through Him we might conquer.
 He was dishonored that He might glorify us.
 He died that He might save us.
 He ascended that He might draw to Himself us, who were thrown down through the fall of sin.
 Let us give all, offer all, to Him who gave Himself a Ransom and Reconciliation for us.
 We needed an incarnate God, a God put to death, that we might live.
 We were put to death together with Him that we might be cleansed.
 We rose again with Him because we were put to death with Him.
 We were glorified with Him because we rose again with Him.
 A few drops of Blood recreate the whole of creation!




Now we turn to something more modern. Dorothy Day was a 20th century American Roman Catholic journalist and social activist, responsible for co-founding the catholic worker movement. She is commemorated in November 29 in the Episcopal church, but her canonization process is still ongoing in the Roman Catholic church. Here is an editorial she wrote in her newspaper, the Catholic Worker, for Easter 1964
 
 It is most surely an exercise of faith for us to see Christ in each other. But it is through such exercise that we grow and the joy of our vocation assures us we are on the right path.

On Easter Day, on awakening late after the long midnight services in our parish church, I read over the last chapter of the four Gospels and felt that I received great light and understanding with the reading of them. “They have taken the Lord out of His tomb and we do not know where they have laid Him,” Mary Magdalene said, and we can say this with her in times of doubt and questioning. How do we know we believe? How do we know we indeed have faith? Because we have seen His hands and His feet in the poor around us. He has shown Himself to us in them. We start by loving them for Him, and we soon love them for themselves, each one a unique person, most special!

In that last glorious chapter of St. Luke, Jesus told his followers, “Why are you so perturbed? Why do questions arise in your minds? Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself. Touch Me and see. No ghost has flesh and bones as you can see I have.” They were still unconvinced, for it seemed too good to be true. “So He asked them, ‘Have you anything to eat?’ They offered Him a piece of fish they had cooked which He took and ate before their eyes.”

How can I help but think of these things every time I sit down at Chrystie Street or Peter Maurin Farm and look around at the tables filled with the unutterably poor who are going through their long-continuing crucifixion. It is most surely an exercise of faith for us to see Christ in each other. But it is through such exercise that we grow and the joy of our vocation assures us we are on the right path.

Most certainly, it is easier to believe now that the sun warms us, and we know that buds will appear on the sycamore trees in the wasteland across from the Catholic Worker office, that life will spring out of the dull clods of that littered park across the way. There are wars and rumors of war, poverty and plague, hunger and pain. Still, the sap is rising, again there is the resurrection of spring, God’s continuing promise to us that He is with us always, with His comfort and joy, if we only ask.

The mystery of the poor is this: That they are Jesus, and what you do for them you do for Him. It is the only way we have of knowing and believing in our love. The mystery of poverty is that by sharing in it, making ourselves poor in giving to others, we increase our knowledge of and belief in love.


 We very recently did a podcast episode on Saint Oscar Romero,a 20th century Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Salvador, and martyr for his faith. He wrote a wonderful pastoral letter entitled “the Easter church”, which describes a vision of what Easter should mean for the Christian church and its mission in this world. If you have a chance, please try to find and read the whole letter, it is wonderful. I will read here only its conclusion,


 Beloved brothers, sisters, friends. We have together lived through a Lent that was a way of the cross, and a Good Friday that has come to full flower in this bright and hopeful hour of the Easter of resurrection. Those of us—bishops, priests, religious, and laity—who are aware of what it means to be a church, the depository of all the energies working for the salvation of humanity in Christ, also understand the challenges and the risks of these difficult times. The major challenge arises from the hope placed in the church by the world. Let us be worthy of this hour. Let us know how to give reason for this hope by the witness of unity, of communion, of Christian authenticity, and of apostolic work. While carefully honoring the supremacy of the gospel message, and the demands that the religious and eternal spheres make upon history. Our divine Savior will not cheat us of our hope. Let us appeal to the queen of peace, the heavenly patroness of our people, to intercede with him for us. May the mother of the Risen One defend our church, the sacrament of Easter. Like Mary, may the church live out this happy balance of the Easter of Jesus, which ought to characterize the true salvation of men and women in Christ—namely, to feel oneself already glorified in heaven as the image and first flowering of the future life, and at the same time to be, here on earth, the light for God's pilgrim people “as a sign of sure hope and solace until the day of the Lord come.”

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Christian saints podcast. Look for the Christian Saints podcast page on Facebook or Instagram, or look for us on Twitter at podcast_saints. All music in this episode was composed by my good friend, James John Marks of Generative sounds. Please check out his music at https://generativesoundsjjm.bandcamp.com/
 
Easter commemorates not just the ressurection of Christ, but the hope for our resurreciton in the future. So let us end with this beautiful passage from Saint Paul the Apsotle, in his first letter to the Corinthians:
 
he body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

 If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.

 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory?
     Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.