I am so happy to be celebrating with all of you this Easter morning. There is no more glorious time in the Church. The church is filled with beautiful flowers bursting with life, and we are able to sing ‘Alleluia’ once again. It is a great day! As many of you know, my family is very musical. So as we have been coming up on this Easter season, the song ‘Because He Lives,’ by Matt Maher, has been on my mind and heart. The chorus goes like this:
Amen, Amen
I’m alive, I’m alive
Because He lives
Amen, Amen
Let my song join the one that never ends
Because He lives
I love this song so much and it speaks to the joy we should feel as Christians during the season of Easter and all throughout our lives. We gather here in church not just for a yearly ritual where we get to do something special with our family. We gather here because Jesus is risen, because He lives!
Don’t get me wrong, all the other things about today are great: the time with family, the great food, the Easter Egg hunts with the kids. These are good, but they wouldn’t exist unless we had a great reason to celebrate. And we do! All over the world, we gather to rejoice and draw near to God because Jesus Christ is risen and alive, here to save each and every one of us!
In the Gospel reading we just heard, we see the women and the disciples flabbergasted by the empty tomb. They went in thinking maybe someone had taken Jesus’ body, but the details didn’t fit that explanation. If Jesus had been taken by robbers, the burial cloths would’ve been in disarray, but John, the author of today’s Gospel, reminds us that the cloth that covered Jesus’ head was rolled up neatly. This little detail is a hint of the unbelievable experiences that they were about to have. Their lives were about to change profoundly because of their encounter with the risen Christ, the one who left his burial cloths neatly and walked risen and alive out of that tomb.
Even today, millions of pilgrims every year visit the church of the Holy Sepulchre, built over the site of Jesus’ tomb. I had the great privilege of visiting this church in my last year of seminary. It was a powerful experience. There is a little chapel built around the remains of Jesus’ tomb, sheltering a small chamber where Jesus’ body once laid. When you celebrate Mass there, the priest goes into that little chamber and consecrates the Eucharist right there. Then, he brings out Jesus in the Eucharist from the tomb to the outer chamber where those participating in Mass can receive Him! I remember being completely awestruck at what was happening in front of my eyes. I got to experience the Risen Jesus coming forth from the tomb and then got to receive Him into myself! What a gift!
And today, in this church, we have that same privilege, brothers and sisters. Why do we gather? Because He lives! When we come up to receive Communion, we are privileged to encounter the risen Jesus who is still gloriously and powerfully risen! Jesus didn’t just rise from the dead all those years ago, Jesus continues to live and reign today. His resurrection is just as real today in 2022 as it was around the year 33, when He rose from the tomb and appeared to the Apostles, the women and many others to show them that He was triumphant over sin and death.
The power of His glorious resurrection is still here for us today, undimmed by the passing of the centuries. Just last night, we welcomed four people into the fullness of the new life that Jesus offers. Three were baptized, confirmed and received first Communion and one received Confirmation to complete his initiation as a Catholic. On the outside, it was very simple. We poured water over them, anointed them with oil and fed them with what appeared to be bread and wine. But we know more was at play than what met the eye. These were powerful moments of God filling people with new life, cleansing away their sins, strengthening them with the power of the Holy Spirit within them and feeding them with the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Himself. Why do we know this? Because He lives! Jesus, in His risen glory, has made those simple exterior signs channels of His grace to completely transform the lives of those who are touched by them.
Brothers and sisters, we gather today because Jesus lives. Regardless of what may have brought you to church this morning, know that Jesus wants to touch you personally today. He wants to remind you of His overwhelming love for you that led Him to die for the forgiveness of your sins and to rise again so that you can truly live! I pray that right now, the glory of the risen Jesus touches each of your hearts. If you are hurting, His grace is there to lighten your load. If you have sin weighing you down, His grace and mercy are there to heal you in Reconciliation. If you are longing for direction and purpose, the risen Jesus wants to show you the path that He has marked out for your life. If you have questions, the risen Lord wants to help you find the answers in Him because He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Brothers and sisters, we are alive because He lives. He wants to give us abundant life now and the fullness of life in Heaven.
Remember and take to heart the inspired words of St. Paul which we heard in the second reading: “Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Our celebration of Jesus risen and alive is meant to be the pattern of our whole lives. Everything we do as a parish is an opportunity to leave behind our old life of sin in order to celebrate this new life that Jesus offers us; to live it with joy, by following Jesus together and seeing how each day He can change our lives and the lives of others. Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity! Thank you for making us alive because you live!
+ Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your only Son to die and rise so that we might have new lives. Jesus, thank you for rising from the grave so that we might all experience new life through you. Holy Spirit, help us long more and more for the grace of Jesus so that every part of our life will be transformed by Him. We ask this in the name of Jesus, our risen Lord. Amen. +