Sermon/Homily for Easter Sunday Year B celebration of the Risen Christ 31st march 2024

Sermon/Homily for Easter Sunday Year B celebration of the Risen Christ 31st march 2024 

Acts 10:34a,37-43. Psalm 118:1-2,15c-17,22-23. Colossians 3:1-4. John 20:1-9.

Today, we celebrate the central fact of history, namely the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Easter is the greatest feast of the Christian year. There is none like it. The birth of Jesus at Christmas is incredibly magnificent. But Christmas is only "mission begun," while Easter is "mission accomplished."

"Therefore Easter  is not only one feast among others, but the "Feast of feasts," the "Solemnity of solemnities," just as the Eucharist is the "Sacrament of sacraments" (The Great Sacrament)). St. Athanasius calls Easter "the Great Sunday," and the Eastern Churches call Holy Week the "Great Week." The mystery of the Resurrection, in which Christ crush death, permeates with its powerful energy our old time foe, until all is subjected to him" (CCC 1169).

The passage from the Acts of the Apostles from which our first reading is taken has been selected not only because the resurrection is mentioned in it but especially because St. Peter, in his first discourse to the Gentiles, makes the Resurrection the basic doctrine and the crowning proof of the truth of the Christian faith. As St. Paul says, "If Christ has not risen, vain is our preaching, vain too is your faith" (1 Cor.15:14). And like St. Paul, St. Peter stresses the truth of the Resurrection by citing witnesses, including himself, who had not only seen Christ Jesus but ate and drank with him.

St. Paul tells us in the second reading that we must "seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God" (Col.3:1-2), not the things that are earthly. We must never allow the things of the earth like pleasure, power, and possession which we could have in this life, block our journey upward. Does it mean we must do away with earthly things? No, we are not forbidden to have the lawful pleasures of life. All we are forbidden is the unlawful use of the things of this world.

In today's Gospel, we are told that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb to anoint the body of our Lord with spices to preserve it. This anointing has to be done hastily on Friday because of the Sabbath, which began at 6 pm in the evening. The tomb was found empty. The first thought on Mary's mind was that somebody had stolen the corpse. This shows how far the resurrection was far from their minds. She went in haste to tell the Apostles. Peter and John ran to the tomb. Later that day, our Lord appeared to Mary Magdalene, to ten of his Apostles, to Peter separately (cf.1 Cor.15:5), to two disciples on the road to Emmaus (cf.Luke 24:13); and later on, He appeared often to the Apostles and disciples in Galilee for a period of days.

The evidence of our Lord's resurrection is quite compelling. The clothes that were used to wrap his body were all there, but his body had risen. Peter and John confirmed this good news brought by Mary Magdalene. The happiness was boundless just as our own joy soars higher today.

We become an Alleluia people. Christ Jesus did not just resurrect in the past. No, He rose today, and we have become the Mary Magdalene of our time who have been commissioned to announce the good news. It is a message that is life-giving. It is a fresh hope and a new mandate given to humanity. Human deception has given way to divine confirmation. Their lies have ended, and truth has risen.

The Resurrection of our Lord brings positive transformation. It transformed Peter into a mighty orator, who on the day of Pentecost stood up to profess his faith in Christ Jesus and his resurrection. He would turn out to be a source of strength for sick people so that his shadow would fall on them and heal them.

The Resurrection should strengthen our faith in the Holy Mass because we celebrate the resurrection at every Mass on Sunday.

The risen Lord is an active, living reality. Today, we carry power of the Risen Lord with us wherever we find ourselves. Where there is despair, we bring hope; in trouble times, lasting peace; where there is sorrow, we bring joy. This is the essence of Easter, particularly for us as Nigerians.

May the joy of the resurrection lead us to enjoy our own resurrection at the end of time through Christ our Lord. Amen.