Sunday, March 31 : A homily attributed to Saint John Chrysostom

SC 187, 321 “This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.” (Ps 118:24) Why? Because the sun is no longer darkened and everything is illuminated; the curtain in the Temple is no longer torn, the Church is revealed; we are no longer holding palm branches, we are surrounding the newly baptized. “This is the day the Lord has made”… This now is the day in the real sense of the word, the triumphant day, the day consecrated to celebrating the resurrection, the day when we adorn ourselves with grace, the day when we share the spiritual Lamb, the day when we give milk to those who have just been born, the day when the plan of Providence for the poor is realized. “Let us rejoice and be glad in this day.” This is the day when Adam was freed, when Eve was delivered from her pain, when savage death shuddered, when the power of rocks was broken, when the bars of the tomb were torn away…, when the unchangeable laws of the powers of hell were abrogated, when the heavens were opened because Christ, our Master, rose. This is the day when, for the good of humankind, the green and fertile plant of the resurrection multiplied its offshoots all over the world as in a garden, when the lilies of the newly enlightened opened…, when the crowd of believers rejoices, when the martyrs’ crowns again grow green. “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team