Homily Easter Sunday Year A He is Risen.
Homily
Easter Sunday Year A
Reading 1:
Our reading today is taken from the Acts of the Apostles and not from the Old
Testament. This is the proclamation of the Good News which Peter preached to
Cornelius, a Gentile, who was seeking the truth. Peter gives a summation of the
public ministry of Jesus beginning with his baptism in the Jordan by John. Very
quickly, Peter says: Jesus was “sent by God”, “anointed with the power of the
Holy Spirit”, healed “all those oppressed by the devil”, crucified but raised
from the dead by God.
Peter
verifies his proclamation by saying three times: We are eye witnesses of all this. For Peter
and the other disciples ate and drank with Jesus after he rose from the dead. He continued by saying that now they have been
commissioned by Jesus to preach the truth that he is the Messiah and Lord.
Everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through the name
of Jesus.
While
Peter is preaching the Holy Spirit falls upon Cornelius and his family and they
began to praise God in tongues. They truth of Peter’s testimony is confirmed by
the gift of the Holy Spirit. As a result, Cornelius ask to be baptized along
with his whole family.
Even
though we have not seen the risen Jesus with our physical eyes, we have seen
him in faith. We too have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to be his witnesses
of the saving power of Jesus Christ.
Reading
2: Paul reminds the Corinthians and us that in baptism we have been freed from
the bondage of sin and raised up with Jesus, sharing his divine life. Our
future is to be with the risen Christ in heaven for all eternity. Our new life is now hidden in Christ but one
day the full revelation will be made known, when we too “will appear with him
glory.” Our life should be one of witnessing to others.
Gospel:
Our reading is taken from the Gospel of Matthew. Mary Magdalene and the other
Mary had gone to the tomb where Jesus had been buried quickly on the eve of the
Sabbath. They are amazed by the appearance of an angel who announces that
Jesus, whom they are seeking, is risen from the dead, as he had prophesied.
They
were shown the empty tomb, then told to go and witness his resurrection to the
Apostles. On their way, Jesus appears to them and confirms that he is truly
risen. But their mission was to witness to others what they had seen and heard.
Are
we Alleluia Christians? Is our faith alive and real? Are we witnesses of the
truth of the Gospel message which we heard? We are called to proclaim the Good
News of God’s love to others. Jesus died to take away our sins; he rose to
share his life with us; he now sends us, as he did the women, to proclaim the
truth to others, to share our faith in the risen Lord. It is not enough to know
and believe that Jesus has died and has risen but to complete the cycle by
going and telling others.
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