READINGS FOR EASTER SUNDAY YEAR C, SUNDAY 17TH APRIL 2022.
First Reading: Acts 10:34, 37-43
Psalm: 117
Second Reading: Colossians 3:1-4
Gospel: John 20:1-9
REFLECTION BY FR CORNELIUS NWAOGWUGWU, CM
CHRIST IS TRULY RISEN, ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Happy Easter to all of you.
Today, we celebrate Easter Sunday. We ask ourselves some pertinent questions. Have we seen the Lord? Has Christ truly Risen in our lives? Are we truly renewed in the Spirit of the Risen Lord? Do we still lie buried in the tomb of our sins?
Easter celebrates the resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the dead. Resurrection is Good News, but at the same time, it is sometimes painful because it involves death. Resurrection is about seeing our world in a new way. Hence, we need to renew our lives and faith in Christ, the Risen Lord.
As we celebrate Easter 2022, I offer you and your families this sincere Easter greeting and message of hope that elicits joy. We are joyful and thankful to God as we gather again to celebrate the Easter Sunday Masses physically in our churches. Indeed, it has been hard and challenging for all of us since 2020 lockdown due to the pandemic.
However, we should not allow our individual and collective challenging experiences, be an obstacle to our joyful life giving experience of Christ’s resurrection. Please, my brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter our circumstances, we must place our trust and hope in the Risen Lord. Let us do our best to be hopeful and joyful. Christ is truly risen, alleluia, alleluia.
We are hopeful because the resurrection of Jesus Christ is at the heart of our Christian faith. It calls for great rejoicing and gratitude. This is correct because the resurrection of Jesus Christ gives meaning to our existence as Christians. This is Good News for us Christians. Christ’s story did not end with the cross. There is a dramatic twist in the unfolding of events that sets the records straight. The resurrection of Jesus Christ transcends human reasoning and yet the power of His resurrection resonates in the most perceptible and sensible ways in our daily life experiences.
In respect of this understanding of the meaning of resurrection, Mahatma Gandhi in his Spiritual Message to the World in 1931 said, “There is an indefinable, mysterious power that pervades everything. I feel it, though I do not see it. It is this unseen power that makes itself felt and yet defies all proof, because it is so unlike all that I perceive through my senses. It transcends the senses”.
Jesus prophesied special features of His Resurrection as signs of His Divinity when He said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19). The angel said to the women at the tomb of Jesus: “Why are you looking among the dead for One who is alive? He is not here but has risen”. (Luke 24:5-6). Our lives filled with the Spirit of Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit today serve as a strong proof of the Resurrection of Jesus.
The Readings of Easter Sunday encourage us to be hopeful and joyful. We are invited to use the experiences of our lives and times to proclaim the Word of God. In doing this, we bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ to the whole world.
Archbishop Dermot Farrell, in his Pastoral Letter, Easter 2022: “Living the Hope of Easter” says: “Our Lord has not left us; He is with us at every step of life’s journey. For people of faith, Easter is not just some date, but the meeting with Jesus that restores our lives, and rekindles the hope every person needs.”
In the First Reading, St. Peter shares his own experience of Christ’s Resurrection and its joy with the members of Cornelius’ family who through Baptism, received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 10:34, 37-43)
In the Second Reading, St. Paul bears witness to his conversion experience and faith in the Risen Lord. Paul reminds the Colossians, “you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God! When Christ your Life, appears, then you, too, will appear with Him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4)
The Gospel explains the empty-tomb Resurrection experience of Mary Magdalene, Peter and John. Mary Magdalene proclaims her personal experience: “I have seen the Lord.” (John 20:1-9). “He is not here for He has truly Risen!” (Luke 24: 6)
In some realistic sense, we all have our own experiences of the “valleys of darkness”. It can be ill health, suffering and loss in its many forms. As Christians, we have the power to overcome any valleys of darkness that attempt to disequilibrate us. Christ’s resurrection empowers us to roll away the stones over our hearts. This will enable us to be healed of the scales that cover our eyes. The resurrection of Christ fills our hearts with love and minds that seek to find the truth.
We have the power to walk now in the glorious freedom of the sons and daughters of God. We are filled with energy and reinvigorated to announce to those around us that: “Jesus is risen as He said He would.” Alleluia, alleluia.
For a true Christian, every day must be an Easter Day lived joyfully in the close company of the Risen Lord. Easter gives us the Good News that no tomb nor any valley of darkness can hold us down anymore or hinder our joy. Instead, we are expected to live a joyful and peaceful life, constantly experiencing the real presence of the Risen Lord in all the events of our lives.
The living presence of the Risen Lord gives us lasting peace and joy in the face of the challenges of suffering and tensions in our daily lives. “Peace be with you!”.
May the peace of the Risen Lord live in our hearts daily to make charitable and civil our thoughts, desires, words and actions with those whom we meet. May He also help us to continue to hope in God even when our hope seems unanswered. Let us deepen our faith in Jesus Christ and bear witness to his resurrection now and for ever.
Once again, Happy Easter to all of you and your families. “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad” (Psalm 118:24). Keep safe, watch and pray for better days and years ahead. God bless you all.
Fr. Cornelius Nwaogwugwu, CM