Homily for Easter 2008

Happy Easter!

The discovery of HMAS Sydney sunk in 1941 with the loss of 645 crew closes a chapter in Australian naval and military history that for so long had been a mystery. It will bring closure for many relatives of the dead. It will now be a memorial to those who were lost. Their bodies might be long gone. Tonight we recall another empty tomb as we celebrate Jesus resurrection and our own.

It is a responsibility we all share to ensure that the Catholic Church is a Church worth joining. I feel that responsibility each time we welcome people, particularly, as we will do at the Easter Vigil. There are all kinds of reasons given for not being a Catholic. A history of scandals and violence is often quoted. The failures of Christians are pretty obvious. However, it has all been said before in the vivid stories of sin and failure of the Hebrew and Jewish people of the Old Testament. The scriptures are not a record of holiness so much as a record of human failing. Our reason for being here recognise those failures but is based on our faith in God who does not give up on us inspite of them! That is the good news of the Old Testament and the New. Living with that faith in God, people may see in us reasons for becoming one with us.

We hear in the Gospel of Matthew (28:1-10) that an angel came and rolled back the stone from the tomb where Jesus had been laid. The word "angel" simply means a messenger in Greek. The message to the two Mary's was, first of all, "do not be afraid." Then they are told, "Jesus is not here, has been raised, come and see where he was laid." Lastly, they are to go and tell the other disciples the good news. The angel sends them as "angels", messengers. Then they meet Jesus on the way. He also sends them as angels to his brothers asking them to meet him in Galilee.

We have all met those kinds of angels. People who have helped us come to meet Jesus and put out trust in him. They can be parents, teachers, friends. We continue to grow in our faith because of our experience shows us that without someone to put our hope in we can easily be lost in our world. The risen Lord can be our best friend if we let him enter our lives and become his disciple.

We make some big claims when we celebrate Easter. Duning Lent and Holy Week we read how God separated light from darkness in Genesis and created this universe from nothing. God is within and without above and below, so to speak, of the whole coming into being and evolution of the universe and ourselves. If God can do that he certainly can renew you and I.

We hear how God delivered the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt throught the trials of the 40 years journey through the desert. We have recalled those 40 years by the 40 days of Lent. If God did that for the Hebrew people God can certainly free me from my fears, disappointments and failures. He will not do away with all my fears, disappointments and failures but we will not be enslaved to them and we will have a path to follow.

The resurrection of Jesus assures us that we can have a present and a future where our hopes for life and love are fulfilled. Any stones that entomb us will be rolled away. The evidence and proof of that is the way we Christians love one another. That is our responsibility to those who seek to join us.

Our memorial to Jesus is not his empty tomb even though the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is a well loved shrine. Our memorial is a living one. It is the Eucharist. Here then at the Lord's Table is where we meet the risen Lord Jesus in a special way as we become the Body of Christ for the world. We are witnesses of the resurrection as surely as the apostles: "we have eaten and drunk with him after his resurrection for the dead" (Acts 10:41).

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad."