Fr. Eric: In 2006, I was hired to be special teams coordinator for Sunny Slope High School in Phoenix, home of the Vikings. My first head coach that I worked for is former NFL player, Dallas Hickman. Repeat a lot of messages for the kids. And one that he repeated all the time was, it's Viking weather. Now, it's to help get the guys ready for any kind of weather.
And he kept repeating that, and so I I'm learning to try it again how to how to be good have good teaching methods. So I would watch the body language of the kids, and this is how I interpret it. They laughed at him. Their eyes would roll. And it's almost like, can there any other message that you can give us, coach, other than that?
And so I'm thinking they're bored with it. It's going over their head. And I wanted to go up to the head coach and say, you gotta change it up because I think they're really bored, and they're laughing behind your back. Well, when the season went on, we go in at a 110 degrees, and we'd be out on the field. We went up to Coconino, my alma mater in Flagstaff, and it was freezing.
We went through some thunderstorms and dust storms as well. And do you know what these guys did who I thought were bored and rolled their eyes? The first thing out of their mouth was, it's Viking weather. I'm thinking, what is going on? And I've kind of learned that those things are planted in people.
And that when it's repeated repetition, it isn't meant to be boring. It's meant that when we deal with things, whether happy or challenging, we revert back to what we know. Think about Christians today. You are all hearing the Easter theme again. Some of you have heard this for a long time.
Christ is risen. Christ is risen. And you're all saying, that's great, but do you have any other messages besides that? Because we get tired and it becomes too familiar with us. But here's the thing about repetition of phrases.
It's not just meant to be said over and over again. Repetition of a phrase is formational. It forms who we are. And so a single phrase or a phrase becomes over times something that reshapes our lives, reshapes the view of how we see the world. So the heart of the Easter message is this, life has conquered death.
And with it, we can't grasp it just at a one moment, but rather over time, that message can seep into our lives. The first thing about repetition of a phrase, Christ is risen or even Viking weather, is that repetition trains the heart, not just the mind. Repetition of a phrase that's familiar shapes and trains the heart, not just the mind. So we repeat things that matter. Take a look at athletes.
They repeat over and over the same thing, and it can be boring to some, but that's how they sharpen. Think about our musicians and all who play an instrument. How much practice over and over and over again, and they do that because things matter. And so we are moved from hearing something to believing in something to finally living something. So in challenging times, we usually don't rise up to our better angels or our better values that we have.
Rather, we usually fall back on things that have been planted in us. It's cold. It's Viking weather. Life is difficult. Christ is risen.
So repeating the end Easter message plants hope. It plants hope even when things seem shaky or unstable. Repetition of a phrase that helps form us then becomes an anchor, an anchor during uncertain times, an anchor during uncertain times. Life, we deal with grief when we experience any kind of loss, when we fear things. That's an emotion that's very strong.
Division, illness, things that come to us, but the message doesn't change. Christ is risen. But repetition helps us to be steady. And so when we feel lost, Christ is risen. When we are dealing with suffering, Christ is risen.
When we are uncertain about the future, Christ is written. He's risen. And so out of that, it makes it's not that it makes life any easier, but rather resurrection is a stronger force than anything you and I will ever encounter. And that kind of thinking has to be planted. The next one is is that repetition souls, slowly reshapes how we see reality.
It reshapes how you and I see reality. Christ is risen sounds like it's really just about Jesus. But over time, it becomes for all of us a way of life, the way we view the world. So we are able to say Christ is risen and say words like failure isn't final. Sin is never too far away from God's mercy, and darkness is not permanent.
And so repetition helps us to plant and reinterpret our lives through the lens of resurrection. Now hope has to become a habit. Hope is not automatic. Hope has to be practiced. So repeating the Easter message every year teaches us then what?
A reflex to respond to difficulty, not with hopelessness, but with resurrection. It's cold. It's hot. It's rainy. It's Viking weather.
Life is difficult. Life is coming at me strong. I am not always happy. I'm fearful. Christ is risen.
Those things are habits that have to continue. Hope just doesn't come because you said three prayers. Hope comes through practicing and repetition then. And saying rather than saying this is the end, we simply say, god isn't finished yet. And finally, it prepares us for challenging times ahead.
We don't repeat Christ is risen because life is bright. We repeat Christ is risen because many times, life is difficult. It's hard and filled with challenges. And so, yes, all of us are hearing the message we've heard over and over, and we might roll our eyes and we might think, oh, isn't there a different message? We hear this.
What does it mean? Repetition is formational. Repetition is a practice. It just doesn't come automatic. And so today, when you're all at your Easter brunches today, when you look outside the window, the first thing I want you to remember about today's homily is it's Viking weather.
I mean, Christ is risen.
Speaker 1: This has been a Saint Patrick Catholic Community podcast. For more of our shows, go to our website and click Saint Patrick's Studio.