Homily For The Solemnity Of Easter Year B.

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Acts 10:34.37-43; Psalm 118:1-2.15-17. 22-23; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9.

“BECAUSE HE LIVES; WE CAN FACE TOMORROW!”

By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide.

·      Today is Easter Sunday, we are a people of the Resurrection and Alleluia is our song. By Christ’s passion and death on the cross of Calvary, we are redeemed and sanctified. Therefore, sin is conquered and we are alive again!

·      We are a joyful people because by Christ’s rising from the dead, God has removed the mourning veil covering all faces, our uncertainty and anxiety are replaced with hope and confidence in God.

·      For many of us who participated in the dramatization of the passion of the Lord, it was a bitter and painful experience to witness the king of the universe die such a shameful death, a death reserved for criminals. By his rising from death, we now see that his death was not a defeat but a necessary path to our redemption. We know now that because he lives, we can face tomorrow. 

·      Had Jesus not broken the chains of death, our belief and faith would have become a laughing stock.

·       His death on the cross would have been the end of the road for all of us. Today, Jesus manifested his power as the Lord of the living and the dead, he showed us that he is indeed the resurrection and the life, and he who believes in him will live forever!

·      The gospel reading (John 20:1-9), sets the tone for the joy of today’s celebration. Mary Magdalene refusing to believe that that was the end for her master and savior, went to reconfirm that he was truly dead only to discover that he was no longer in the tomb.

·      She could not believe her eyes and needed the testimony of the apostolic college to confirm her discovery, she beckoned on Peter and other disciples to see what she had seen. Behold, the Lord was no longer in the tomb. The chains of death could not hold him back, he has risen as he said.

·      Dear friends in Christ, because Jesus has risen as he said, our faith is strengthened, and our courage is restored that even if we die, because of our faith in Christ Jesus, we shall surely rise with him on the last day.

·      In the second reading (Colossians 3:1-4), St. Paul encourages us that while basking in the joy of Easter, we must live a life that is befitting of the people of the resurrection. We must now turn our lives around and live a life that is heaven-conscious while focusing on the things above. Rejecting the things that focus on material possessions and earthly desires.

·      The first reading (Acts 10:34.37-43), crowns it all by telling us that Christ has risen from the dead, we as Christians must continually bear testimony to the resurrection by the way we order our lives. We must constantly exude our faith in the resurrection, knowing that for us our life here is a preparation for the life after. 

·      So, like Jesus and the people of the resurrection, we must continually go about doing good, spreading love and hope, sharing the good news that Christ has truly risen as he said he would. As a People of the resurrection, let our actions speak louder than our words.

·      The Psalmist reminds us that “this is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad (Ps. 118:24), hence we must remember that our lives have been paid for in full and he declared “it is finished” (Jn. 19:30). So, from today, the reign of sin is finished, the reign of wickedness is finished, the reign of timidity finished, the reign of luke-warmness is finished!

·      We must, therefore, stand up and own our faith in God, and continuously live it out in full as people who have been redeemed by the precious blood of the lamb who is the only begotten son of God. Because he died and has now risen from the dead, you and I can now face tomorrow with hope and passion.

·      May the good Lord bless his word in our hearts through Christ our Lord, Amen!

·      Happy Easter Sunday!!!

 

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