733 James I. Harrison Jr. Parkway East - Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35405

Browsing Father Michael Deering's Sunday Homilies

Easter Sunday!

Homily originally presented on April 21, 2019

 

Easter Sunday!

 

Did you ever have a meal at Ryan’s Restaurant over by Lowes?

 

I had many good meals at the location up in Gardendale.

It’s my niece, Janay’s, favorite place ...

most every time she came out to visit me she asked to go there.

 

Well, 3 years ago ... on March 6th of 2016, Ryan’s closed ... for good.

 

The Tuscaloosa and Gardendale locations were two of 92 locations  

that closed that day ... as Ryan’s filed for bankruptcy.

 

I couldn’t believe it! Ryan’s was a nice place; they had good food at a good price.

 

I enjoyed going there and so did many others.

 

I can’t believe it when they closed ... I mean, I still had coupons to use there!

 

But sorry ... I can’t go there anymore; no one can go there anymore ... it’s closed!    

 

Ryan’s was a Smorgasbord Restaurant where you paid one price to get in ...

and then you got to enjoy an extensive variety of foods!

 

They had marvelous Soup & Salad Bar ...

they had 2 whole counters of Main Course Dishes ...

and they had a luscious Dessert Bar.

 

There were a few times where I kidded my niece that Ryan’s was a foretaste of...

the Heavenly Banquet.

 

You’ve probably heard that expression before ... the Heavenly Banquet ...

it bubbles up images of an endless array of delicious food and drink.

 

But, you know what ... once a person’s spirit is in Heaven ...

I don’t think food & drink is going to be all that important.

 

In fact, I believe that the banquet that souls enjoy in Heaven will be feasting on

the Beatific vision of God the Blessed Trinity.

 

Yes, Heaven is where God dwells ...

And Heaven is where God wants us to be

 

But there was a time when ... like Ryan’s ... Heaven was closed.

 

You see, the first human beings, Adam and Eve, originally enjoyed ...

a precious union with God living in the Garden of Eden.

 

But they misused their freedom and disobeyed God which resulted in them

being sent out of the Garden ... and the Gates to Heaven were closed.

 

So, throughout the ages no one was ever able to go in.     And that’s because   …

no one was ever able to put man back into a right relationship with God.

 

Until ... in the fullness of time ... God sent His Son to accomplish this task.

 

Jesus, the 2nd Person of the Blessed Trinity, who is fully God, became fully man. 

He was the only one capable of returning us to a graced relationship with the Father.

 

And that’s what we celebrate today ... the re-opening of Heaven!

 

How wonderful that day was for each and every one of us!   

How exactly did this happen?

 

Well, Jesus, came among as a man and then out of Divine Love ... freely chose ...

to suffer and die ... to atone for our sins and those of the whole world.

 

In doing this, he took us out of bankruptcy ...

and paid the price to reopen the Gates of Heaven.

 

Just as paying one price got you into Ryan’s ...

 

The Death and Resurrection of Jesus is the one price that gets us into Heaven.

 

St. Paul says today: For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.”  

 

So, the Heavenly Banquet is re-opened ... and it is available to everyone!

 

Jesus paid the price of entry for you ... so it’s available ... if you choose to go.

 

Happy Easter! What a huge deal this is for us! It’s way better than having a coupon ... Jesus paid the full price of our admission to the Eternal Banquet!

 

And Jesus did even more than that ...

He gave us everything we need to find our way to get to this Banquet.

 

Here, in the Church He established, we have access to ... His supernatural help ...

in the Sacraments of Baptism ... Confession ... Confirmation & Holy Communion.

 

St. Peter tells us today in our First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles:

“To him (Christ) all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him

will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”

 

Wow!... how wonderful ... a new beginning ... Newness of life

who doesn’t want that ... especially as we get older?

 

Well, it’s through Baptism that we begin to live in newness of life ...

with the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit in us ...

          made possible by the Death and Resurrection of Christ.

 

And it’s through the other Sacraments that we get to repair and strengthen our

          relationship with God throughout our lives ...

so that we stay on the road to the Heavenly Banquet

 

Well, last night, at Holy Spirit, 27 more people, were there to profess this.

 

Yes, after many weeks of prayer and study, these people came to see that

the fullness of what Jesus wants them to have on their journey to Heaven

is here in the Catholic Church.

 

7 of them were baptized.

 

And 20 of them, being already baptized, made a Profession of Faith

and were confirmed in the Catholic Church.

 

What a special Easter this was for them ...

with grace upon grace being poured out upon them

so they can continue to grow ...  in newness of life.   

 

And for many others, including some of you here today ... this Easter is an Anniversary of the day  ... 1 year, 5 years, 10 years or more ago ...

when you chose to enter the Catholic Church.     Happy Anniversary!

 

May this Easter be a day when you and all people who’ve been baptized into Christ Jesus ... will be filled with the joy of God’s Great Love for us.

                                                                        

With all this talk about food, I’ll bet you’re hungry.

Well Ryan’s is closed ... never to open again.

 

But Heaven ... the home of the Eternal Banquet ... has reopened ...

thanks to the Love and Work of Jesus.

 

So, let’s keep our reservation ... since He’s paid our price in full.    Happy Easter!

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