Easter Sunday Homily

Click here for Easter Sunday readings

Remember those without hope, who do not know that you have risen

I recently came across these words in the intercessory prayers of Holy Saturday evening prayer. These words got me thinking about who it is that does not know the story of the resurrection. Certainly none of those who come to Easter Mass are surprised by the story.Those who do not share our Christian faith have certainly heard what it is that we are celebrating today. And while it is true that there are still places in our world that have not heard the Gospel, I have a feeling that someone more than them is implied.I believe that this prayer acknowledges a universal truth -- many have heard of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but many do not know, the resurrection. We may know the facts but have yet to experience, through faith, what resurrection is. The prayer speaks for those who may have heard the facts but are yet to know the transformative power of Christ resurrection and are still without hope.

In this morning’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles we hear Peter delivering a speech in the house of Cornelius, a faithful Roman centurion. Peter gives them brief history of what he has witnessed in the public ministry of Jesus Christ and his resurrection.The people to whom he speaks know the facts that Peter is sharing with them, as the story has already been told for ten years. Peter speaks not to just give them facts but to encourage them to believe, to seek Christ and to receive his merciful love as he has. In the same way, Saint Paul, in his letter to the Colossians written approximately 30 years after the events of the resurrection, tells the people to seek what is above, to look with eyes of faith for the risen Christ and not simply be focused on the earthly things around us. Paul writes these words from prison sharing with others the hope that sustains him.

Knowing resurrection is an active pursuit, even as it is revealed in the Gospel today. Mary of Magdala goes to the tomb and finds the stone removed from the tomb, she runs to Peter and the other disciple, and they run to the tomb.There is much confusion and as the Gospel says they had yet to understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. There is much confusion and much running around and still the Gospel tells us that in the midst of that chaotic pursuit the one disciple saw and believed. He did not have facts; he had not yet seen the resurrected Christ but he believed and was among the first to know he had risen, he was among the first to have hope.

We see ourselves in this morning’s Gospel account. Our lives are filled with moments of running here and there. Our obligations are great and so are our longings. We seek and we search and sometimes we give up. We know lots of things and yet we still struggle to know the one thing that truly gives us hope – that death has no power over us. You may have seen the cover of Newsweek last week which proclaimed the decline and fall of the Christian America. That was followed by a statement made by the President in which he said that one of the greatest strengths of the United States is that we do not consider ourselves a Christian, Jewish or Muslim nation but, “a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.” The Newsweek issue and the president’s statement reflect a truth about the culture in which we live; in many ways the pursuit of faith is secondary to other ideals. We don’t know the resurrection because sometimes we stop seeking it. This is not to say that we are bad people or that we are deliberately opposing God in our lives. It is simply because of the nature of human life that we sometimes stop looking.

Sometimes we stop looking because for the moment we are satisfied. It is so easy for us to find comfort in the things we buy, the company we keep, achievement at work and at school and the leisure activities we enjoy. We know that none of these are bad in themselves and can in fact be understood as blessings. We must also know, however, that they are temporary. When we do not listen to the encouragement of St. Paul and focus simply on the earthly things and not what is above, we can not know resurrection, we can not know hope. When our satisfaction is found only in the here and now and not in an eternal life in heaven awaiting us -- we stop looking for the resurrection and we can not therefore know it.

Sometimes we stop looking because we meet Good Friday. Tragedy, sorrow, disappointment and betrayal are devastating. We can not make sense of these things. Suffering is unbearable and confusing. Moving beyond Good Friday, pain and all its sorrow comes with grace. Each one of us moves at our own pace, and sometimes we need to linger at the cross or the tomb. Ironically, though, Good Friday is necessary in order for us to know resurrection. We can not know resurrection without first knowing suffering and death. Good Friday is a stumbling block to knowing resurrection and it is also a necessary stepping stone. We pray for the grace to move when we are ready, to seek the resurrected Christ beyond our sorrow.

Lastly we sometimes stop looking for the resurrection when we find emptiness. In the Gospel they find the tomb empty and nothing more but they do not stop at the emptiness. Many, who come to church, who are faithful to the sacraments, who pray on a regular basis and who do good things still profess emptiness in their spiritual life. Their experience is no different than the experience of those we recognize as saints. St. John of the Cross is known famously for his description of the Dark Night of the Soul and more recently we have come to know of the doubt and dryness of spirit experienced by Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta. Empty tombs and empty souls are realities we encounter in the spiritual journey and in our life of faith. Yet they too are necessary to knowing resurrection. How can one define faith without being able to compare it to doubt? How can one appreciate hope without first knowing empty despair?

Who is this Easter prayer for? It is for each of us. It is for our friends, neighbors and family members, who like us may know facts but have yet to experience resurrection. Our lives are continuation of the paschal mystery. We each experience passion and death and we all seek to know resurrection. We celebrate Easter today not just because we know the fact that Christ is risen, but we seek to know the power of resurrection in our lives. We seek to move past earthly satisfaction, sorrow and emptiness. We seek the hope that is known only when we realize that death does in fact have no power over us. May each of us have hope and know that he is risen.

Happy Easter!