Last Sunday, I gave a homily where I asked the congregation, “will you be there?”… to put themselves into the story of Jesus’ Passion. We know what happens to Jesus after His crucifixion and burial, so I challenged them not to look ahead to Easter, but focus on, and journey with, Jesus from the Last Supper to his Crucifixion. I said, if we skip right to Easter, we forget all that Jesus endured and won for us. 

I suggested to the people that while on this journey, if they asked Jesus why this is happening, he would say, “because I love you”. 

Tonight, we hear the next part of Jesus’ story. We also reflect on the story of mankind and the world in which we live. It’s a story of happiness and joy, sadness, trial, failure, success, persecution, and redemption.

If I had to define the meaning of this story, I would say it is a story about the gift of love. Not the romantic love that we often think about, but a love that I think we can’t fully comprehend. 

The story starts with, “In the beginning.” That’s our beginning, not God’s because He has no beginning or end. Out of love, God creates the world and everything in it, including men and women.  He created us in His image… the image of love.

It is this gift of love that has no bounds, and all God ever wants from us is to love him in return: to love him above everything and everyone else. But he wants us to love him freely, so he gives us the option to accept this gift of love or reject it. 

Like Abraham, we are given opportunities to decide how much we love him. Will we follow our will or His will? Abraham, out of love for God, was willing to give up his only son. What are we willing to give up to show our love to God?

We see God’s loving and saving hand as Moses leads the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and they will eventually reach the promised land.  

God’s love continues as He assures his people of his covenant with them, as we heard in Isaiah: “Though the mountains fall away and the hills be shaken, My love shall never fall away from you, nor my covenant of peace be shaken” (Isaiah 54:10). That should give us confidence to withstand any trial, knowing that God is always with us.

God’s ultimate gift of love for us is his Son, Jesus. Jesus came into this world to show us how to really live as God intended from the beginning. During his life on earth, Jesus showed us how to care for one another and how to put the needs of others before our own. Jesus modeled for us mercy, forgiveness, patience, meekness, and of course love. The type of love that is so great that He gave up his life to save us from sin and death. Jesus is the true light that came into the world to overcome the darkness.

In the Exultet, which we heard this evening, are words that sums up the love of God for us. It states: “Our birth would have been no gain, had we not been redeemed. O wonder of your humble care for us! O love, O charity beyond all telling, to ransom a slave, you gave away your Son!”

That’s why we need to exult and rejoice. Because we have been rescued from slavery to sin and death. Not because of anything we did, but for one reason: the inexplainable and unlimited love God has for the people he created. When I meditate on that, I think: how can I ever repay God for such an incredible gift?

In that past homily, I asked: did you lose all hope when you saw Jesus dead on the cross? Today, I pray you are full of hope now that you have heard that Jesus has been raised just as he promised. So, as St. Paul tells us, you must think of yourselves as being dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.

Throughout the fifty days of Easter, we should rejoice and give glory to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We have been given the most precious gift we could ever receive. It’s a gift so precious that we can’t keep it to ourselves. Share the story of the good news with everyone in your words and actions. The news that we have been saved, that Jesus lives, and that the tomb is empty.  We can never totally repay God for this gift, but we are called to share it. It’s a gift we receive every minute of every day. Recognize it, receive it and then, find a way to give this gift of love away.