Easter Sunday The Resurrection of the Lord (Homily)
April 17, 2022 11:00 am · Sergio Muñoz Fita
Let me begin today by wishing all of you who are present at this Mass, and those not able to be with us, a very happy Easter. This is the most important day of the liturgical year because we celebrate the victory of our Lord and brother Jesus over sin and death.
Christian hope is a hope that has already been realized. That is to say, it is not the fruit of an illusory desire that we would like to see fulfilled in the future, nor a daydream about something that we would like to happen but that has not yet happened. The "material" of our hope is the flesh of a man who died and is now alive. The goal towards which we walk is not an impossible dream because in Jesus it is already a reality. As you have heard me say many times, our future is already present in the Lord.
Jesus, what would become of us if you had not risen from the tomb? If your light had not dawned on that first Sunday, in what darkness would we live now? If you had not come back for us, how lost we would be! Lord, you never fail us. You never give us up for lost. When all seems inevitably doomed to failure, You bring us out of the darkness and lift us up. You search for us and rescue us. You heal us and forgive us. And so, touched by that love which makes all things new, You open the doors to a wonderful life, a life that would be impossible for us without You.
The Lord who today emerges triumphant from the tomb and who dies no more is the same Lord who at every Mass makes himself present on the altar so that we may feed on him. We eat risen flesh. We receive Christ glorious, truly present under the appearance of bread and wine. When the soul is in the grace of God, Holy Communion immerses it in the very life of Christ. It is as if two drops of wax melt into one and we are transformed into him. Where sadness reigned, joy enters. Where there was weakness, the virtue of the Risen One is present. Where death dominated, life now rises.
Some of you will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation and the Body of the Lord for the first time today. Mark this day on the calendar of your life and write: "Today, April 17, 2022, I ate the flesh of Jesus and He came into my heart. Everything begins for me from this day. From now on, my life is His and He is mine forever." Beginning today may your life be worthy of the nourishment you are about to receive. Congratulations to you and your families. Thank you for your testimony and for the journey you have made to arrive at this day.
Dear brothers and sisters, if Christ is risen, we too must rise to a new life. We must bury sin in the death of Jesus and let the Lord live in us. May he be the one who guides our affections, our words, our decisions, our sacrifices, our lives. May we also learn how to be witnesses of his resurrection in the world. May the love of Christ reign in our families so that in our homes there may always be time to pray together and to make present the One who assured us that where two or more are gathered in his name, he is there in our midst. In our work may we obey God rather than men. May we suffer persecution courageously, misunderstanding with greatness of spirit, and reproach with a passionate love for Jesus Christ.
Let us live in such a way that when the hour comes for us to meet the Risen One we will be able to say to him with St. Paul: " I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day.” (2 Tim 4:7)
May it be so.
