April 20, 2025
Easter
FOCUS: Live each day with a focus on what is above.
Today we rejoice in the Lord’s resurrection, his victory over death. Through this victory, the Lord has opened the gates of heaven for us and offered us forgiveness of sins and eternal joy in his presence. This eternal destiny calls us to live always with a focus on what is above – to orient our earthly activities and concerns toward what is most conducive to a life of faith in the Lord.
What's in Your Heart
Today we begin our journey in discovering who Jesus truly is.
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Peter in the reading from Acts tells us Jesus is judging the living and the dead, and it is through him that our sins will be forgiven. What good and bad judgments could Jesus make about you? Do you sense that such judgments are being made?
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Saint Paul calls Jesus the Paschal lamb, sacrificed for us. How can you best celebrate Jesus’ saving sacrifice? Where could you do with a little more sincerity and truth? In what areas of your life should you demand it of others?
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In the gospel we discover that, true to his word, Jesus has risen from the dead. How does Jesus’ triumph over death affect your everyday life? Think of ways you rise over the little deaths you experience each day.
Homily Stories
Think of the incredible stories you've heard or read about remarkable physical and mental accomplishments: climbing Mount Everest, landing on the moon, cracking the Enigma Code. Or miraculous survival stories, like that of Juliane Koepcke, the only survivor of a commercial flight struck by lightning over a rainforest in Peru in 1971.
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At just 17 years old, Koepcke fell 10,000 feet still strapped to her seat. The thick forest canopy helped cushion her fall. Despite suffering a broken collarbone, concussion, and deep lacerations on her arm, she survived for 11 days in the rainforest. The daughter of scientists, she had learned survival skills from an early age and used them to her advantage. She wisely followed a waterway downstream until it led her to a river, which brought her to a lumberjack camp. There, she was discovered and rescued. Though she endured severe insect bites and an infected arm, she fully recovered. Grateful for the forest that saved her life, she later became a biologist, dedicating her career to preserving the world’s rainforests.
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This is a truly remarkable story, and like all amazing stories it actually serves as a reminder of the greatest story ever told—the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. He died for our sins and rose again so that we all might live. Grateful for this new life, how will we respond?
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First Reading
Second Reading
Gospel
Quotes
The greatest of all is Easter Day, the day of the Lord’s Resurrection, because today assurance was given to us to obtain eternal and immortal life in soul and body.
—Saint Vincent Ferrer
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Easter reminds us that God's love is stronger than any suffering or darkness we may encounter.
—Saint Padre Pio