Homily For The Mass Of Easter Sunday, YEAR C

 

Acts 10:34. 37-43; Psalm 117:1-2. 16-17. 22-23; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9.

“HE HAS RISEN AND WE ARE HALLELUYAH PEOPLE!”

                                            By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide

·       Jesus is alive! Our Lord has risen, “because death couldn't keep its hold on him” (Acts 2:24). Adam’s rebellion is reversed, and communion with God is restored. Through the victory of Christ, we have achieved divinization – become sharers in the divine nature.

·       What a great paradox we have been so immeasurably rewarded for our sinfulness, through the merits of Christ. That is the amazing depth of God’s love, the unfathomable wonder of divine madness.

·       Christ’s resurrection means everything to us. It confirms everything he said and did: his claim to be the Son of God, to have the power to forgive sin and renew mankind’s fellowship with God; his universal call to holiness; his model for us to abandon self-centeredness for the love of God and neighbour as the path to true happiness; his plan to give grace through a Church that will endure forever; and his promise to ultimately lead us into the eternal banquet of heaven.

·       All these would have come to naught if Christ had not risen. He would have ended up as one more good man who did not get far enough – another dreamer who fell by the way. As St. Paul teaches, if Christ had not been raised, then our faith is useless, and we are to be most pitied of all humanity (1 Cor. 15:17-19). This, his resurrection, is our blessed assurance that all his promises will be accomplished in the end. The resurrection is the surest guarantee of our eternal life in God.

·       Christ is risen and we are alleluia people! This early proclamation of the truth about Jesus astounded the people.  You and I are perhaps too accustomed to the knowledge that Jesus rose from the dead after he was killed by crucifixion.  Yet even today, it is incredible that a man like us was killed, especially by crucifixion, and then rose from the dead, became alive again, was seen by others and touched by others, and ate with others.  He was truly alive after he was killed! Christ is risen!

·       The first reading today is from the Acts of the Apostles, which gives us the testimony of Saint Peter and ends with a very clear statement of faith:  To him, all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.

·       These early believers, despite all their doubts about and rejections of Jesus, finally acknowledge that Jesus is the one chosen by God, that Jesus is the Saviour, and that, finally, Jesus is God.

·       The second reading at this Day Mass is from the Letter to the Colossians and begins with this affirmation:  If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Once again, this is a clear affirmation that the early followers of Jesus have arrived at this clear expression that Jesus is Lord and Saviour.

·       In the Gospel of John today, we encounter Mary of Magdala going to the tomb of Jesus, finding it empty, and then running to tell the disciples.  Peter and an unidentified disciple, almost certainly John, get to the tomb.  Peter goes in and sees that the body is not there.  There is no comment about the faith of Peter.  The other disciple, probably John, goes in, and the Gospel says this:  Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed.

·       You and I are called to believe, and we receive our faith through these early witnesses.  This faith must become our own, and it must become so powerful that our lives are transformed.  We know from the Scriptures that faith may not take away all our defects or even keep us from all sin, but it does show us the path on which we are to walk: complete trust in the Lord Jesus and a faithful following of His teachings.  Christ is risen!  Let us walk together with Him into the Kingdom.

·       The resurrection of Christ has conquered sin; he has triumphed victoriously and triumphantly. Our lives, too, have been transformed. He has taken our burdens, making us a victorious people. Hence, we are alleluia people, and alleluia is our song of victory!

·       May the victory of Christ over sin and death be continuously felt in our lives both now and forever, Amen!

·       Happy Easter Sunday!!!