Easter Sunday Morning
Sacred Heart Cathedral
27th March, 2016

Acts 10:34,37-43; Col 3:1-4 and Jn 20:1-9.

Still saddened after the death of Jesus, even though they didn’t fully understand yet what had happened, Mary Magdalen and the apostles went to Jesus’ tomb. The most important line in the Gospel today is when the apostle John looks into the empty tomb. The Gospel tells us: “And he saw and believed.”

This is important, because the empty tomb is the “fact” of the Resurrection. This is what Mary Magdalen and the apostles “saw.” They believed because they saw that his tomb was empty.

But what about us, here this morning; why do we believe? We did not see his empty tomb. We believe because his apostles told us what they saw and their testimony was handed down by tradition and in the New Testament through the centuries in his holy Catholic Church.

In the first reading today, St Peter stresses that the apostles are attested witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection, with the task of proclaiming to all what Jesus’ saving mission meant. Next, the Colossians text helps us to connect the wonderful good news of Easter to our lives today. When Jesus died and when he was raised, we are raised with him and orient our lives to him. The message of this second reading, is that all followers of Christ should be witnesses to the new life in Christ in a world that often has a contrary message. There is fruit for reflection in this for us today.

We know well that our Baptism joins our lives to Christ, and this is why we renew our Baptismal promises at Easter. Our Baptism makes us part of the family of God, his Catholic Church. So as his family, we gather this Sunday and every Sunday — just as his apostles used to do, just as Christians have done every Sunday since that first Easter. We gather to celebrate Christ’s Resurrection. That’s what every Eucharist is! It is a feast of the Resurrection.

And Jesus gives each of us a mission, the same mission he gave to his apostles. To be witnesses to his Resurrection, we have to tell others what we believe. That his tomb is empty! That is, because Jesus Christ is alive, we can know true joy and happiness in our lives. Let us make this Easter a new day for each one of us, a new beginning.

Let us live our lives with joy! Let’s be more grateful, every single day, for God’s tender mercies in our lives. So on this beautiful morning, let’s make a new resolution to have greater zeal, to be truly apostles of Jesus Christ. Let us make a decision to know our faith better and to be more committed to putting our faith into action in daily life.

We have to be excited about living our faith in the Resurrection! We are called to be joyful witnesses of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the joy of the Resurrection should make us to want to tell everyone the beautiful truth that Jesus Christ is alive. That’s our mission. A beautiful mission that means becoming the light of Christ in our world. And it means carrying that light to all the dark places where there is sin and injustice and poverty and suffering. It means being Christ for others.
 
So let us go forward this Easter morning with faith and confidence in the Resurrection! Let us walk with the risen Jesus — living according to his way of thinking and acting. Let us work for the good of the Church and the common good of our world — of our city, of our communities, of our families — so that we open up the door of faith to others, so that they also may want to walk in Jesus’ footsteps.

I wish all of you and your families Easter blessings! Blessed are you who believe in his Resurrection!