04/10/2026
HOMILY
Rev. Kevin V. Madigan
Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel, NYC
April 5, 2026, 9:00 a.m.
Church of St. Thomas More, NYC
April 5, 2026, noon
Easter Vigil 2026 Matthew 28:1-10
Some of you may be familiar with the name of Jimmy Breslin. Before his death, some 10 years ago, he was a columnist for various tabloids here in New York City, assuming the persona of a “man of the people/” One of his lines that I have always remembered was this, “For many, life is just a mad dash from high school graduation to the funeral parlor.” That sums up all the hassles we have to endure just in getting through the grind, the seeming futility, at times, of everyday life. Shakespeare said something pretty much the same, but, of course, much more poetically in Macbeth. “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow/ creeps in this petty pace from day to day/ to the last syllable of recorded time;/ and all our yesterdays have lighted fools/ the way to dusty death. Out, out brief candle!/ Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player/ who struts and frets his hour upon the stage/ and then is heard no more. It is a tale/ told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/ signifying nothing.” Those words express a despair that is total—for Macbeth, it was hearing of the death of his wife and seeing his whole world collapse. It might also have expressed the feelings of Jesus’ disciples on Good Friday, when all their hopes that Jesus was the Messiah, the Promised One for Israel, seemed dashed irretrievably.
The link between Good Friday and Easter Sunday invites us to reflect on how we view the passing of time in our own lives. The ancient Greeks had two words for time—one was “chronos,” from which we have the word chronology” and the other was “chairos.” “Chronos” is the ticking of the clock that we measure with watches, calendars, schedules and deadlines. It can be boring, it can be distracting, it can be stressful, it can even be pleasurable, but still we are always aware that even our greatest achievements will one day be taken from us. You may be familiar with Francesco de Goya’s painting of the Greek god, Saturn, (Chronos) devouring his son. Chronos” is time that drags on relentlessly, indifferent to human hopes or suffering. Time (Chronos) gobbles us up, one and all.
Kairos,” on the other hand, is the time marked by unique, privileged moments, moments pregnant with possibility, which if we seize and use well can open our lives to whole new dimensions of life. A “Kairos” moment occurs when one catches a deeper sense of what is going on in one’s life. It could be a breakthrough after months of frustration, joy at the birth of one’s child, a crisis that becomes a turning point in one’s life, the moment that divides one’s life into “before” and “after.” “Kairos” has been compared to that split second, with two trapeze artists hurtling through the air just about to catch each other, just before they grasp hands. Will they make it, or not? “Kairos” is a risk taken at precisely the right moment. It is a moment of decision, pregnant with possibility, committing to another in a relationship, undertaking a new career, saying yes to an opportunity that may never be offered again.
Easter is the moment when “Kairos” crashes into “Chronos,” causing shockwaves that have given a new direction to human history, providing a hope beyond all expectations. When God raises Jesus from the dead, it is eternity breaking into the very ordinariness of our lives, offering a vision and a renewed sense of purpose for one’s life. In the words of the poet, ‘William Butller Yeats, “All is changed, changed utterly and a terrible beauty is born.” This is the moment when sorrow gives way to joy, when the Church proclaims with one voice: Christ is risen! This is a day of hope—hope that does not disappoint, hope that rises from an empty tomb, hope that carries from the ashes of despair into the eternal light of God’s love. Today, we dare to believe that no darkness is final, no wound is beyond healing, no death is the end. Christ is risen, and in Him, hope is alive. This is the spark of hope that no darkness can extinguish, a promise that God is always at work, bringing life where we are accustomed to see only death.
In the Gospel, we stand with the women at the tomb, their hearts heavy with grief, expecting only death. But the stone had been rolled away, the tomb is empty, and the angel’s words shattered their despair, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus, the crucified. He is not here, for He has been raised, just as He said.” This is the promise of the Resurrection, the cornerstone of our faith. Christ’s victory over death is God’s loudest “Yes” to humanity—a yes that echoes in every moment of loss, every tear, every fear, saying “I am with you, and I will raise you up.”
The world may tell us that hope is fragile and that dreams fade, but today God says otherwise. Living as a people of hope means refusing to let despair have the last word. In a world shadowed by war, poverty, and division, hope dares to act—to forgive when resentment feels more tempting, to serve when selfishness calls, to love when fear surrounds us. Hope is not wishful thinking; it is the courage to believe that God is still creating, still liberating, still renewing. When we visit the sick, feed the hungry, welcome he stranger or stand with the broken, we embody the hope of Easter. Hope is not blind optimism. It does not ignore the Cross. Yet, it promises that every Good Friday leads to an Easter morning, that every darkness carries the seeds of dawn.
As we approach the Eucharist, the risen Christ comes to us, not as a memory, but as a living presence. In this sacred meal, we taste the promise of life eternal, the pledge that God will never abandon us. As we welcome Him, let us ask for the grace that we become what we eat: vessels of hope, apostles of the Resurrection, sent to proclaim that Christ is alive. Let us live as Easter people, unafraid of the darkness, unshaken by the storms of life, because we know the truth: the tomb is empty, death is defeated and Christ is risen. Let hope be our song, our strength, our mission, until we see the risen Christ face to face in the glory of the eternal Easter.
Art: Annibale Carracci -Holy Women at Christ's Tomb c 1600