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This Fr. Gerry Creedon homily was delivered at St. Charles on April 20, 2003
On Easter Saturday 17 years ago I received a long distance phone call and the words I heard were, "He's gone. He's gone away." It was my mother on the line, and she was telling me that my father had died suddenly of a heart attack on Easter Saturday morning. It was as though the whole foundation of our lives was taken away. He had been so vibrant and full of life. You wonder will the family hang together? How do you go on? How do you survive?
It is only years later that I recognized that my father hadn't gone away at all. His spirit, his values, and his life touched all of us in ways that we only gradually came to see. I feel his influence in my life more and more with each passing year. The same story of death and separation is something we are all familiar with, and somehow in the story of our own lives the mystery of Easter is revealed.
The disciples were at a loss. The hope of Israel was crushed. They were confused by this strange and cruel death. They weren't sure about preaching this message so they went back fishing. They came to the seashore in the morning and they saw Him on the shore cooking breakfast of fish and bread on a charcoal fire. Their eyes were opened. They knew it was the Lord because he was doing what he had always done. He was feeding and nourishing them.
We all come together on this Easter morning to break the bread of life so that our eyes might be open to the reality of His spirit in our lives so that we may witness again His presence among us. The resurrection of Jesus is hope rising out of death. Beyond death comes healing.
He identified with the deaths within families and the hurt and suffering of all human kind. The cross identified Jesus with all the victims of violence.
We are familiar with the name Jessica Lynch, the young American soldier who survived and is recovering from her wounds in Iraq. We are probably not as familiar with the 12-year old Iraqi boy whose house was destroyed by a not-so-smart bomb. He not only lost his family but he was left without legs and arms and was badly burned. His name is Ali Ismail Abbas. Both Jessica and Ali stand for all of the victims of war not only in Iraq but wherever.
We call on the resurrection of the Lord to bring healing to them and their families and to our very destructive world. We need healing. We need reconciliation. We need peace.
The words of Martin Luther King come to me especially this Easter: "I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."
Let us believe the resurrection of Jesus and His risen life will transcend all of our deaths and make us a people of hope. Let us pray that His healing will come to reconcile our torn world and bring health and peace to each of our families.
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