The 2024 Easter Sunday Homily

REJOICE AND BE GLAD!
Easter Sunday Homily
​St. Vincent de Paul Church, Albany, NY

Acts 10:24, 27-43; Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23; 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8; John 20:1-9

    This church this morning is an Easter basket full of glorious gifts — gifts that are holy because you are holy. And, like the psalm we sang: “This is the day God has made let us rejoice and be glad.” Yes, it is a difficult psalm to sing in a world filled with bad news. And, it is a good song of praise because we are people of hope. But not everybody is in church today.
    Recent surveys suggest that many organized religions are in decline; that a growing number of people of different generations claim to be spiritual but have no interest in religion. One study reported last week that attendance in churches and synagogues is down by as much as 50% in this country.
    How wonderful it is, then, for us to gather this morning to hear the Easter stories, to renew our lives as Christians, to share the sacramental bread of life and the cup of salvation, to think of ways to bring the good news to others.
    In addition to the psalm we heard three biblical stories this morning. In the first one the disciple Peter summed up the life of Jesus of Nazareth. That letter was not written to a large crowd but to Cornelius, a leader in the Roman army. He was a good man who had converted to Christianity. 
    In many ways Peter wrote that letter to inspire first century Gentiles to believe that God is impartial; that there is room for everyone in God’s house. Peter was encouraging them to commit themselves to the mission and message of Jesus.
    The second reading this morning, attributed to Paul, was an admonition to the people of Corinth caught up in a culture of immorality. The text is rather contemporary in that it suggests that you and I are needed like a “fresh batch of dough” in order to rise up to overthrow the malice and wickedness in the world. 
    But, as Paul writes, we first must remove the old yeast from our lives because old yeast can go bad. We are charged with renewing, reinventing what it means to be a follower of Christ in these difficult times.
    We Christians believe that these biblical texts sustain our faith in a God who, throughout the history of salvation, is a demanding but just God. We Catholic Christians, along with other people of faith, can remedy what is wrong in the world with sincerity, truth and acts of loving kindness.
    That is why we renew our covenant with God and each other throughout this Easter season. Sprinkling ourselves with water from the baptismal font reminds us to refresh our identity in the world, to discover ways to bring hope to those who live in distress, those who doubt, those who live in fear.    
    That’s what may have happened on that first Easter morning when it was still dark outside. Contrary to those who disparage her Mary of Magdala was not only a prominent supporter of Jesus, she was an enlightened woman, a wise woman, who brought light into the mysterious sides of life.
    Mary of Magdala, the first apostle among apostles, found the tomb empty. But her heart was not empty. She ran to tell the other disciples who, huddled together, were afraid of what might happen to anyone who followed Jesus. They doubted Mary at first but after she talked to them they followed her to go see for themselves. 
    The remainder of the resurrection story does not rest with the early Christians who came to believe that the wonder working Jesus was raised from the dead. No, it rests with all of us, each of us, not to question the presence of Christ in our lives but to illuminate and energize others with new hope. In the lyrics of our final Easter song this morning we will sing: “In this feast we share the story — love’s new birth for all to see.”
    This Easter we join some 2.6 billion Christians throughout the world who gather today and on Orthodox Easter Sunday on May 5th, to remember Jesus’s proactive promise that suffering and death can be defeated.                       
    Imagine what one-third of the world’s population could do to eradicate greed, corruption, racism, war, prejudice, hunger and homelessness. If we would only work together to accomplish that overwhelming mission we too can sing without doubt “This is the day God has made let us rejoice and be glad.”