Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Homily for the Second Sunday of Easter - April 12, 2015


Homily for Second Sunday of Easter

April 12, 2015

Real Resurrection

 

            A few months ago, I was popping into the fifth grade religious education class at St. Benedict’s, and we started talking about holidays and what their religious meaning is. The kids were able to tell me what Christmas was all about – the birth of Jesus – but most of them were stumped about Easter. So I re-told the story of the passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus, telling the kids about how Easter is the celebration of Jesus rising from the dead.

            One kid looked incredulous and said, “Wait. You mean to tell me that Jesus actually rose from the dead?”

            I said, “Uh, yeah, He did.”

            He looked bewildered and said, “Really? I thought that was just one of those myths that our religion teacher made up!” Meanwhile his religion teacher was mortified and looked like he wanted to melt into the floor!

            Yes, Jesus really did rise from the dead. We know this must be true for several reasons.

            First of all, the tomb is empty. If the tomb wasn’t empty, then early first-century Jews or Romans who wanted to stop this rumor about a Risen Jesus could simply point to the tomb and say, “Look! He’s still dead!” But the fact that they couldn’t find His body lends credence to the reality of the Resurrection – the enemies of Christianity couldn’t find it, archeologists couldn’t find it, no one could. The body of the most famous Man in history doesn’t just disappear – unless He is truly risen!

            But not only does an empty tomb show the Resurrection, but also, consider the large number of people who actually saw Him! It says in Scripture that not only did the Apostles see Him alive, but St. Paul tells us that over 500 people saw the risen Christ. Five hundred people couldn’t all be hallucinating! Besides, did you know that eleven out of the twelve Apostles died as martyrs? Every single one (except John) died a horrific, torturous death – Bartholmew was skinned alive, Peter was crucified upside-down, James was beheaded – all for the crime of proclaiming that Jesus is risen. If this was some sort of hoax or myth, why would they be willing to die for it?

            Consider, too, how many people believe in it today. If the Resurrection were a myth, why would over two billion people believe it? Look at the incredible transformation that happens in peoples’ lives when they believe in the Risen Christ – the first reading talks about how the early Christian community “was of one heart and mind, not possessing anything but holding everything in common, without needy people at all.” Wow! Something obviously has changed these people – even the best religious teacher can’t inspire people to live such a radical life of charity. But an earth-shaking event – like the Resurrection – can change our lives like that.

            In many ways, we are those people that Jesus refers to in the Gospel – “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” We have not seen the Resurrection. But we believe precisely because of the testimony of those who have seen it. John writes in His Gospel today that his Gospel “is written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in His Name.” We believe in the Resurrection because we believe the people who told us – people like the Gospel writers, who wrote down the biography of Jesus (and the Gospels are accurate historical documents!).  We believe because of people like Thomas, whose disbelief gave us a greater proof of Jesus’ Resurrection, because Jesus invited Thomas to touch Him to prove that He really is risen. We believe because of the Apostles, who went to the ends of the earth to tell others that He is risen, and shed their blood in defense of this fact. And, it is my hope, that we believe because we ourselves have been personally transformed by our faith in Christ, who is alive.

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