FranciscanMedia.org | Sunday Soundbites | Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord

Sunday Soundbites

Sunday Soundbites is a weekly, 90-second radio homily based on the Sunday readings, written and read by Fr. Greg Friedman, O.F.M. Sunday Soundbites is also heard on Catholic radio stations around the country.

Program for Sunday, April 08, 2012
(Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord)

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Sunday Soundbites Archive

Transcript

“There is no tale ever told,” author J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote in an essay on storytelling, that people “would rather find was true.” Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, with the Sunday Soundbite for Easter Sunday.

The Catholic author of The Lord of the Rings was speaking of the story of Jesus. Today, as we accompany Peter and the Beloved Disciple making their way to the tomb, we might echo Professor Tolkien’s comment.

Our faith, as St. Paul tells the Corinthians, rests on the reality of Jesus’ Resurrection. We base everything on the truth of the story. But establishing that truth is not a matter of science, history or archaeology. It’s a matter of faith. We must call upon the Holy Spirit, who is present to the Church, to assist us.

In the Easter Gospels, we hear the witness of the first followers of Jesus: Jesus was risen; they had experienced him, alive in their midst. Their testimony in the Spirit moves us to a faith-filled “Alleluia.”

We live in a skeptical age. And yet in his essay, J.R.R. Tolkien pays tribute to the power of the Christian proclamation. He notes that there is no other story which so many skeptics “have accepted as true on its own merits.”

Our Easter Gospel is a story of living faith in which we are participants, and to which we are now witnesses.

I’m Father Greg Friedman with the Sunday Soundbite for St. Anthony Messenger Press, on the web at FranciscanRadio.org.

Meet Father Greg Friedman

Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M., is creative director with the Media Production Team at Franciscan Media. He also hosts American Catholic Radio each week, and produces videos for www.AmericanCatholic.org, including the "Two-Minute Take." Father Greg wrote and directed Assisi Pilgrimage: Walking in Faith with Francis and Clare, which appeared on ABC-TV stations nationwide. He also produced the popular faith-formation series Catholic Update Video, used in parishes around the U.S. He currently serves as pastor of St. Francis Seraph Parish, located in the inner-city neighborhood of "Over-the-Rhine" in Cincinnati, Ohio. You can contact him at letters@franciscanradio.org.

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