Gospel-Homily for Easter Sunday (2026)

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Check it out. The disciple entered the tomb, and he saw and believed. That means believing is an experience of something amazing. If that is what belief feels like, then how can we believe all the time? Here is how. Believing is enjoying life with this one detail: five minutes at a time. Once when I visited my mother in the nursing home, I asked her what she wanted to do. She said, “I want to get a pocketbook.” I thought to myself, “How hard can that be?” It is sort of like buying a wallet. Go to the section of the store that sells wallets, find the cheapest one, grab it, take it to the cash register, and buy it. What I didn’t know is that inside pocketbooks, you find pockets and compartments. You have to take out the paper stuffing to see the details, and that is what we did. So, I asked her, “So which one do you want. She responded, “None of them. Can we go to another store?” We went to three locations. She finally picked one. When we returned to the nursing home, my aunt stopped by, so my mother was quick to show her the pocketbook. My aunt was impressed and said to me, “Peter, this is a very nice pocket book.” I could not understand what the excitement was all about.”  Then she said.  “If I could only have Ma back for five minutes, just five more minutes, I would mortgage the house and sell the car and buy her the most beautiful necklace. Just to see her face one more time. Peter, you keep doing what you are doing, while you still have her.” Ten days later, my mother died. Now I know why she wanted a pocketbook. She was going on a very special trip. From that moment, my aunt’s words are now my words. “If I could only have her back for five minutes. It is amazing what can happen in five minutes, the great opportunities, or the joy you can squeeze out of five minutes.

Since my mother died, it has been my mission to tell people to love now, to be kind now, be generous now, and forgive now because you will never have this moment again. So enjoy life, and you will live like you believe.