JESUS IS RISEN! DEATH WHERE IS YIUR VICTORY?(Acts 10:34,37-43/Psalm 118:1-2,15-17,22-23/Colossians 3:1-4/John 20:1-9)

JESUS IS RISEN! DEATH WHERE IS YIUR VICTORY?(Acts 10:34,37-43/Psalm 118:1-2,15-17,22-23/Colossians 3:1-4/John 20:1-9)


HE HAS RISEN, DEATH WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY?

(Sunday, April 20 2019 Easter Sunday)

Today is the long-awaited day in the history of our salvation. The great day Christ finally won the battle over death and defeated the devil who always thinks that he is too smart. The devil met with the power of Christ and bowed to His control and decree. Oh, death where is your power, oh death where is your sting! His resurrection symbolizes the eternal life that is granted to all who believe in Him. The meaning of Easter also symbolizes the complete verification of all that Jesus preached and taught during His three-year ministry. If He had not risen from the dead, if He had merely died and not been resurrected, He would have been considered as one of the great teachers that existed in human history like Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, etc. and the story will just end there.

However, His resurrection changed the entire human history not just as a great man who existed on earth but the Saviour of the World. His Resurrection is an irrefutable proof that He was really the Son of God and that He had conquered death once and for all. No wonder the Church exults in the opening words of the Easter Proclamation which we heard last night during the Easter Vigil: "Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels! Exult, all creation around God’s throne! Jesus Christ our King, is risen!" The Easter Good News is, in fact, the core or center of the Gospel: Jesus Christ has died and now lives.

The Easter Triduum —Holy Thursday and Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil/the Resurrection of Christ form together the central mystery of our faith: The Death and Resurrection of Jesus. We see so clearly revealed before us the love Christ has for each of us — for each member of the human family, a love forever faithful and enduring, truly "love to the end;" not only to the end of Christ’s earthly life, but love continuing on, because today we proclaim that Christ is the Risen Lord, and, therefore, His love remains to the end of time into eternity. Christ’s "love to the end" in the end has triumphed. Because He has triumphed over sin and death, He gives us newness of life. The celebration of Easter is the Mother and Queen of all celebrations. It is indeed a precious gift God has ever given to humanity. what would have been our fate and faith if Christ has not risen? Where do we start and where do we end? We have all sinned and deserved God's judgment. God, the Father, sent His Only Son to satisfy that judgment for those who believe in Him. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, who lived a sinless life, loves us so much that He died for our sins, taking the punishment that we deserve.

No wonder then St. Paul says “Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on things that are on the earth because you have died and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. (Col 3:1-3). With the gift of Christ's Resurrection, there is a radical newness! Nothing is the same again! Sin will never have the final victory nor will human death! As we pray over and over throughout the Easter season and indeed throughout the year: "Dying, You destroyed our death, rising You restored our life, Lord Jesus, come in glory!" This "newness of life," the result of Christ’s "love to the end," is made visible for us through symbols.

We see the newly blessed Paschal Candle, whose flame symbolizes Christ the Light. Yes, Christ is our Light, going before us to lead us in our pilgrimage through life, dispelling the darkness of sin and death, warming us in our loneliness and difficulties, guiding us in our uncertainty and fears. This "newness of life," the result of Christ’s "love to the end," is likewise made visible through the symbol of water. The water blessed during the Easter Vigil symbolizes Christ our Life, who strengthens us to live daily according to His Gospel and the teachings of the Church His Body of which we are members.

Today, as we renew our commitment to live in close union with the Risen Lord Jesus, let us ask the Lord to deepen His life within us and to make us His witnesses of Easter joy and hope. Let us promise our Risen Saviour and Lord that we will follow Him, our Light and our Life, every day and invite others to come to Him by the witness of our lives — our family, our neighbours, our co-workers, our friends — everyone we meet! With Christ the Risen One, let us make all things new — with the joy and hope He gives! With Christ the Risen One, let us be Easter People! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Let Us Pray: Lord Jesus, let the power of your resurrection do great things in. My life and help me to rise to new life in you. Amen.