APRIL 26, 2020
ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASS
Groundhog Day is a 1993 American comedy-fantasy film starring Bill Murray as TV weatherman Phil Conners. During an assignment to Punxsutawny, Pennsylvania on Groundhog Day with his producer and cameraman, Phil gets caught in a time loop – where he has to live out, over and over again, the worst day of his life.
In the midst of this time loop, he wakes up in a little rural bed and breakfast to Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe,” each and every day.
Only he notices, and at first, he takes advantage of the lack of consequences doing all sorts of terrible things, and wakes up the next day back where he started.
Eventually, he uses his seemingly endless time to better himself, and in the end wins the heart of his producer, and wakes up the next day – not just back to normal, but better than normal.
Groundhog Day only had modest success at the box office, but over time has become more and more popular. The term “groundhog day” now means something like “deja vu,” and the film itself was added to the National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically, [and] aesthetically significant.”
Today is the 3rd Sunday of Easter.
But the Gospel readings for the past three weeks are all from that first Easter Day. It’s almost like we keep waking up to Easter – each time seeing it from a slightly different perspective.
Luke’s Gospel of the Emmaus Road incident is familiar to us all. Jesus “was made known to [those disciples] in the breaking of bread.” Opening their eyes, and lifting their discouraged hearts.
In the section immediately before this pericope, the evidence of the Resurrection is discovered by the women, and reported to the Apostles. In this version of the story, only Peter runs to the tomb, but still returns in amazement. In the opening of the tomb, their hearts are left perplexed.
Immediately after what we just heard, the two disciples run back to Jerusalem, and while they’re trying to explain everything, Jesus appears in their midst – bringing joy to their troubled hearts, and opening their minds to the reality of the Resurrection.
We’re on week 6 of “shelter in place,” and some days it seems like same old, same old … sort of like groundhog day over and over again.
Yet we have an opportunity to do something with all of this free time, or quality time, or alone time that we find ourselves with. And soon enough, we’ll be back to normal – whatever that is. But it will be busier, and we’ll all be wondering what happened to all of this time.
St. Peter, in his first letter, gives us guidance to grow in holiness through “faith and hope … in God.” And in the first reading from Acts, we see the Power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost directing Peter to proclaim boldly that Christ is indeed alive.
Easter Season is 50 days, and it ends on Pentecost – May 31st. We’re already we’re almost one-third of the way through it.
And while “shelter in place” might have us feeling like we’re living our own groundhog day, let’s use this time to grow in Faith, Hope, and Love … to persevere and grow in holiness, harmony, and virtue.
As we continue with this liturgy and offer to God the Father, the sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit … let us resolve to grow deeper in our daily walk with Christ … and to recognize in our own situations an opportunity – an appointed time – to live through, with, and in our risen Lord and Savior – Jesus Christ.
