Easter Sunday – Year A
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: April 5, 2026
Some saw and recognized the mystery of the Resurrection, others did not see, some were hidden in fear, some did not understand this mystery. Why? Hugo St. Victor used to say, “Love is the eye!” When we look through the eyes of love, we are able to see correctly, to understand and embrace the mystery. But, when our eyes are jaded, cynical, or bitter, we will not see, not understand and be unable to embrace the mystery.
In this Easter Gospel, the first one who was able to see and understand the mystery of the Resurrection was Mary Magdalene. She was driven by love to go and search for Jesus. The others remained locked away in fear. Love overcame fear in Mary and so she saw with the eyes of love and encountered the mystery of the Resurrection of Jesus. It is the eyes of love that allow us to see, to understand with faith.
In the first creation of humanity, we are told that they were created in the image and likeness of God. The Resurrection of Jesus is like a second creation. We rediscover our original face, the image and likeness of God. The eye of love allows us to see with an imagination to embrace our true selves.
Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge” We need an imagination that is rooted in love and faith.
U.S. Army Chief of Staff Omar Bradley in 1948 said, “Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we do about peace, more about killing than we know about living.” Looking at our world today that statement seems as true.
When Einstein realized how his work was used to bomb Hiroshima, he declared, “If I had known they were going to do this, I would have become a shoemaker.”
We need love to be our eyes. We need imagination that allows us to work for a new world, one of peace instead of war. We need to eyes of faith that allow us to see the Risen Lord Jesus. Then we can imagine and hope and work for that new world revealed in the Kingdom of God.
The Resurrection was a great surprise and unexpected. It was love that allowed some of them to see and believe. It allowed the first believers to see with new eyes, the eyes of love. The Resurrection opened their imaginations to see a new way to love, to see a new way for the world.
We need to see with the eyes of love, with faith, to open our imagination to believe that it is possible for a new way of life, a new world. A world of peace rather than war. A world of unity instead of division. A world with enough for all rather than so many with not enough.
As we celebrate the Resurrection, we need to ask ourselves, do we see with the eyes of love?
