Sermon by Father Alex McAllister SDS        Index

Easter Sunday, Year A—2005 Homily

Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. We have accompanied Jesus during these forty days of Lent. In particular through our devotional celebration of the Way of the Cross we have accompanied him in his last three hours and stood with him as he died on Calvary and was laid in the tomb.

This journey through Lent ends in a graveyard. When Joseph of Arimathea and his companions roll the stone to block the entrance to the tomb we, like Jesus’ closest followers, leave the tomb in silence and sadness.

But that was not the end. Christ rose from the dead! He burst through the chains of death and appeared to the disciples!

So used are we humans to the finality of death, that it took the disciples some time to realise who Jesus was and what had happened. Some, like Thomas, refused to believe until they saw Jesus in the flesh—and we certainly understand their hesitation.

The significance of the resurrection of Jesus, of course, goes far beyond the mere resuscitation of a body. The implications are far reaching and life changing.

Christ’s resurrection proves definitively his claim that he is the Son of God. Christ’s resurrection means that there is no finality to death. Christ’s resurrection opens for us the way to eternal life.

Furthermore his resurrection means that through Baptism we can begin to live this new life now. We are no longer slaves to sin because we have risen with him in Baptism. We live as members of his Church and as his ambassadors here on earth.

And we gather here each week around the Table of the Lord to celebrate the astounding events that happened on that first Easter all those years ago. Each Sunday we strengthen our faith through reading the scriptures together and through sharing Christ’s body and blood as he told us to. In this way we grow closer to one other and to God each Sunday.

It is important to understand that our Sunday mass is not some mere weekly spiritual routine we carry out on a rest day from work. It is the very source of our life as Christians. It is our weekly celebration of the resurrection and the very reason for calling ourselves Christians.

Catholics have always been very strong about the need to attend mass on Sundays. Perhaps it was the threat of committing a mortal sin if we did not attend that kept us quite rigorous in our weekly observance down through the years.

But in recent times there has been a noticeable slackening off in the regularity of attendance by many people. This was observable in our parish when we did the census last year and also in the annual mass count in October when our weekly numbers were somewhat down on previous years.

I am not the sort of priest who is into haranguing my congregation. But perhaps a gentle reminder might be in order of the importance of Sunday mass.

There is great value in regularity and routine especially in matters of faith. When we allow the pressure of all our other activities to encroach on our Sunday mass attendance it is easy to let things slip. Weekly becomes fortnightly, fortnightly becomes monthly, and monthly becomes all too soon annually—and then where has our faith gone?

However, let us not be despondent for today is a day of celebration. Today is day of joy and feasting.

We celebrate the victory Christ has won for us—a victory over sin and death. It is a day when we rejoice that Christ has chosen to reveal to us his plan for the world and has singled us out for a particular role in it. It is day when we rejoice in the new hope given to the world.

So let us enjoy this feast day when we commemorate the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Let us rejoice and be glad. Let us praise God and thank him for all he has done for us.

Let us renew now our Baptismal promises and ask God for the strength to remain faithful in the year ahead.