Not too long ago, some students from Montclair State University were discussing television shows they love to watch, which they labeled “Classic TV,” one of their favorites being the sit-com “Friends.” After some unprovoked and unnecessary remarks about my age when it was established I remember watching the show when it first aired in college, the conversation turned to “favorite episodes.” While Friends doesn’t rank on my list of all-time favorites and I don’t even remember the last time I watched it, there is one episode that I vividly remembered.
Thank you for taking the time to read this homily for THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST – EASTER SUNDAY – APRIL 5, 2026 – Your support means a great deal to me, and I’m deeply grateful for the many who share these messages with their friends, families and social media followers. If you’ve found meaning in these words, I’d be grateful if you’d share them with others who might benefit.
And for those who prefer listening, you can find the audio version on SoundCloud HERE or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes HERE. Your comments, messages, and the way you’ve embraced these homilies continue to inspire me. Sincerely in Christ -Father Jim
Phoebe, one of the main characters walks in as her friends are watching the movie “Old Yeller.” They’re already anxious and near tears when Phoebe comes in all smiles saying she loves this movie, which she describes as happy family gets a dog, frontier fun. They look at her like she’s lost it and say “yeah but what about the end” to which Phoebe explains “When Yeller saves the family from the wolf and everyone’s happy!” Ross looks at her like she’s nuts saying “That’s not the end of the movie…” Which Phoebe insists “Yuhuh that’s when my mom would shut off the TV and say ‘The End!’” Monica chimes in, “What about the part where he has rabies?” To which Phoebe answers He doesn’t have rabies, he has babies. That’s what my mom said. Meanwhile she’s now watching with the others asking what is this next scene – which she has never seen. Why does the boy have a gun… only to discover that her mother had been shielding her from every sad movie ending her whole childhood. ET – cut before the goodbye. Charlotte’s Web – the spider never died. All the happy endings she had grown up with are obliterated as she rents every single one of those movies and watches the real endings back-to-back. By the time Monica tries to cheer her up with “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Phoebe is so wrecked that she turns it off before it actually gets to the happy part.
It’s funny because I think most of us appreciate that impulse. The desire to shield ourselves and the people we love from the painful parts. The temptation to hit “stop” before the heartbreak. But life doesn’t let us. We know how the story usually goes. We already know how the world works. Things fall apart. People get sick. Relationships fracture. Dreams don’t pan out. And in the end death wins. At least that’s what we’ve come to expect.
Which is why Easter is not comforting. Easter is disruptive. Because Easter doesn’t just give us a “happy ending.” Easter claims something far more dangerous: That the ending we thought was final… isn’t actually the end.
In this Gospel, Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb early in the morning. She comes alone in the dark, before sunrise – out of pure love, with nowhere else to go. She expects a tomb – A dead body. The finality of it all. That’s it. That’s the expectation. That’s the assumption. Because that’s how the story goes…
Death wins.
Rome wins.
The cross was the final word.
Then she sees the stone rolled away. And her heart doesn’t leap with joy – it sinks even lower. Her first thought is not, “He’s risen!” It’s another humiliation after an already traumatic and devastating few days. She’s thinking Good Friday was awful enough, they couldn’t leave Him alone as she cries to Simon Peter and John “They have taken the Lord.” Because even the most faithful among them… were still living inside the logic of Good Friday.
Peter and John run to the tomb. They see the burial cloths. The Gospel tells us that John “saw and believed.” But believed what exactly? Not the full resurrection yet. He didn’t understand it fully. He just knew… something had changed. Something was different. He knew… this wasn’t over.
That’s what Easter is meant to do for us too. Not understanding everything… Not having it all figured out. But embracing that something has changed. Something is different. Something unsettling: Maybe the story isn’t over.
We heard in the second reading, St. Paul telling us: “If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above… not what is on earth.” Now that can sound abstract. “Seek what is above.” But Paul is not saying: ignore the world. He’s saying: stop living as if death is the ultimate reality. Because if Christ is risen… then death is not the final word.
And if death is not the final word…
then neither is failure.
Neither is sin.
Neither is shame.
Neither is that thing in your life you think is too far gone.
And this is where things get really interesting right now this Easter in 2026. Because there were two major international stories that went viral the last few weeks. The good news – the great news is a record number of people entering the Catholic Church this Easter all around the world. Including right here in our own Archdiocese of Newark where 1,700 people are becoming Catholic this Easter season – adding to the number of Catholic Christians around the world surpassing 1.4 billion for the first time ever.
People who have tried everything else… and are still hungry for something real.
Still searching for truth.
Still searching for meaning.
Still searching for life that actually lasts.
But the bad news… at the same time… there was another trend. A group of exorcists met with Pope Leo XIV. Our new Holy Father, not even a year into the job was already meeting with the world’s senior exorcists at the Vatican. All to report this growing fascination with the occult. With “spirituality” detached from truth. With things that promise power… or control… or hidden knowledge.
It’s like our world is saying two things at once:
“I want something more than this life…”
but also
“I don’t trust where to find it.”
On the surface that seems so strange and unsettling. How can those two things both be true? But to people of faith, it’s not surprising at all. That tension, that battle has been real since the Garden of Eden. Both groups are starving. Both groups know something is missing. The difference is where they go looking.
Easter is the answer to both.
Not with an idea.
Not with a philosophy.
But with an event.
As St. Peter says in this reading from the Acts of the Apostles: “They put Him to death… but God raised Him on the third day.”
Not symbolically.
Not metaphorically.
Not spiritually. But really. A dead man, rose again, body and soul in a glorified body.
And here’s why that matters.
Every other “spiritual path” ultimately leaves you in the same place:
You still have to face death.
Maybe with coping.
Maybe with distractions.
Maybe with explanations.
But not with victory.
Only Christianity dares to say, death has already been defeated.
That Jesus didn’t just teach about life— He passed through death… and came out the other side.
Alive.
Which means this: The worst thing in your life… is never the last thing.
Let me say that again: The worst thing in your life is never the last thing.
Not because everything magically gets fixed.
Not because we get fairy-tale endings.
But because Christ has rewritten the ending.
And that’s the difference between Easter and Phoebe’s movies. Phoebe’s mom changed the ending to make the story feel better. God doesn’t do that. He doesn’t pretend suffering isn’t real. He doesn’t erase the cross. He goes straight through it. And then—changes what comes after.
So the question for us this Easter isn’t just: “Do I believe Jesus rose from the dead?” The real question is: Am I still living like He didn’t? Am I still stuck in Good Friday thinking? Still assuming that my past defines me? Still believing that certain wounds will never heal? Still convinced that some situations are just… dead and buried?
Because if Christ is risen…then something new is possible. Right now. Not just at the end of your life—but in the middle of it.
Here’s the challenge— We are incredibly realistic people. Almost to a fault. We pride ourselves on not being naïve. Not getting our hopes up. Not believing in something unless we can see it, prove it, control it. Especially those of us born in Jersey…
But the resurrection doesn’t fit inside that mindset.
Because it’s not something you can control.
It’s something you have to encounter.
John runs to the tomb. He sees. And he believes.
Not everything at first. But enough to know: Something has happened here that changes everything.
And that’s where faith begins.
Not with having all the answers.
But with being willing to step into the possibility that the story is bigger than you thought.
So today—Easter Sunday—here’s the invitation: Bring whatever feels “dead” in your life.
That relationship that seems finished.
That addiction you keep losing to.
That sin you keep falling into.
That open wound that still hurts.
That part of you you’ve already written off. Bring it.
Bring it to the empty tomb.
Because the resurrection is not just something that happened to Jesus.
It’s something He wants to do in you – right now – in the middle of your story.
And maybe—just maybe—the ending you’ve been bracing yourself for…isn’t the ending at all.
Christ is Risen!
He is Truly Risen!
Happy Easter!
