Easter Sunday - Resurrection of the Lord
17 April 2022, St. Lambert Parish
Acts
10:34a, 37-43
Col
3:1-4
Jn
20:1-9
Christ is Risen!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Yes, He
is truly Risen even as He said! Alleluia! Alleluia!
St.
Lambert Parish follows the custom approved for the United States of using the
formula from the Easter Vigil at all the Masses on Easter Sunday to enable the
faithful to renew their Baptismal Promises. I like that! I think it makes just
the right statement in terms of the significance of the good news of Christ’s Resurrection
for each and every one of us baptized into His Grace. It is important to see
that Easter is also truly a call to action, a call to go forth and conquer in
the Name of the Risen One. As we heard from the Acts of the Apostles this
morning:
“This
man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible, not to all the
people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank
with him after he rose from the dead. He commissioned
us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as
judge of the living and the dead.”
Easter
in our day and time has a message which is countercultural. Its message is that
because of our baptism into Christ we are somebody, we are privileged, that we
are favored by God. Correctly understanding the favor of God which we enjoy as
His Chosen People is essential, it flies right in the face of all this equity
business we hear repeated ad nauseam these days by the so-called legacy
media and a lot of big business. In the glorious light of the Resurrection, the
truth about God and about life in this world of ours is very different from the
common social narrative. As Christ’s followers we have something to proclaim. “He
commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one
appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead.” There are no
alternatives, no options, no other ways, but only Jesus. He is the one, the
Risen One in Whom is our life, our light, and our salvation.
How
do we fulfill our commission to testify to Christ? Are we supposed to be the
type of preachers who stand up on their soapbox in the middle of the town
square? No! Rather we are called very simply to give testimony by the joy and
sanctity of our lives to the hope which is ours in Jesus Christ. Our
well-ordered and happily lived daily lives point people to Jesus now Risen and
Glorious in His Might. The joyful authenticity of our approach to life is more
than sufficient and reassuring for our family, our relatives and friends, for all
those whose lives we touch.
It
is of absolute importance for us to remember that we have been blessed with the
good news of Christ’s victory over sin and death not so that we can enjoy any
kind of esoteric advantage, but that we might be the Lord’s witnesses, just as
the first disciples were, for the sake of the life, for the sake of the
salvation of the world. Our witness should have the intention of bringing
others to the joy of knowing the Risen One. It is for this we have been chosen,
for this we have been set apart. Alleluia!
Some
people tend to describe Easter as being less appealing, more distant from our
hearts and our joy than the other great feast of the Church year, Christmas. I
guess superficially it is understandable, but probably misses the point when it
comes to the common object of both of these great mysteries. For either one, Christmas or Easter, the feast is there, on the one hand, yes, to commemorate
the birth of God in time to save our humanity, and on the other, to remember
and celebrate His saving death upon the Cross. Be mindful though that most
centrally and significantly both of these sacred feasts celebrate mysteries which
are there to empower us in Jesus Christ to announce glad tidings. Both feasts
are about What and Who Jesus is for the sake of our salvation and for the joy
of the world.
In
the Christmas mystery the Lord Jesus wins the victory over darkness and draws
us out of the shadow of death. That is part of the symbolism of the Star of
Bethlehem. God’s true light comes back to our world for the first time since
Adam, and we are personally enlightened as He takes on our humanity. The Son of
God born into our world saves us by Himself becoming the Perfect Man. Then in His
adult perfection, in His prime He nails that humanity to the Cross and raises
it up for us to the fulness of life and grace. Regardless of all those things
which weigh upon us day in and day out and either make us sad sometimes or make
us wonder whether He has effectively parted the clouds and fog overshadowing
our daily lives, by His Birth and by His Holy Resurrection we have been claimed
for Heaven.
I
guess I am thinking about all of those who might feel a bit weary. I wish that
you or they would take heart in Christ offered up for our salvation, as we
heard in the reading: “… seek what is above, where Christ is seated
at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.”
We’re
going to move into our renewal of Baptismal Promises now. It is a profession of
faith, but no less a call for action. May we give the world the reason for our
hope!
Christ is Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Yes,
He is truly Risen even as He said! Alleluia! Alleluia!
PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI
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