Homily for Tuesday, 4th Week of Easter

Homily for Tuesday
4th Week of Easter

April 24, 2018

Collect
Don Bosco Cristo Rey, Takoma Park, Md.

In the Collect we prayed that we might “merit to receive the joy of our redemption” thru our “celebrating the mysteries of the Lord’s Resurrection.”

Pope Francis’s recent exhortation that all of us are called to be saints reminded us that holiness is the work of God’s grace, not something we merit by our knowledge of the faith[1] or our good deeds.[2]

So what is this “merit” in our prayer?  It follows from our “celebrating the mysteries of the Lord’s Resurrection,” i.e., our sacramental participation in the life of the Risen Jesus.  So the “merit” isn’t what we do but what Jesus does—just as we acclaim at every Mass:  “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”  The healing word of Christ cleanses our souls and makes us worthy to receive him.

Likewise, “the joy of our redemption,” i.e., our salvation, is made possible by the grace of Christ flowing from his mysteries—his passion and resurrection, his eternal life, accessible to us in Baptism, the Eucharist, Reconciliation, and the other sacraments.  May we merit the joy of being redeemed by our being bound to our Savior in his mysteries.

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        [1] Gaudete et exsultate, nos. 35-46.

        [2] Ibid., nos. 35, 47-59.