ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

“This is the day the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad.” Alleluia!

Dear Friends in the Risen Christ,

During the whole period of Lent, and especially during Holy Week, the Church has followed Jesus through all His suffering. We have reflected on His Passion and His Death. We have stood with Mary His Mother at the foot of the Cross. And we were with Jesus when He died. We accompanied Him to His burial place and then we withdrew waiting for something more.

This morning, Easter Sunday, we return to the tomb. Here we join Mary of Magdala and the other women of the Gospel. We come with Peter and John and, like them, we find the tomb empty. We see “the burial cloths there and the cloth that had covered his head not with the burial cloths, but rolled up in a separate place.” We see and we believe.

And then we hear those words that the angel spoke to the women—words that come thundering down the ages: “I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.”

Like the women and the Apostles, we too believe. And Jesus speaks to us as He spoke then, saying: “Do not be afraid.” In the midst of the problems and challenges of the world and of our own Archdiocese of Philadelphia, despite our weaknesses and sins, Jesus says to us: “Do not be afraid.” And we begin to understand that Jesus is alive and that the destiny of the world is in His hands. We listen also to Saint Peter speaking to the Christians of his day saying: “You know what has happened…. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree. This man God raised up on the third day…. To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Dear friends: this is what the Resurrection brings to you and me, to all of us: the forgiveness of our sins. Christ’s Resurrection is a victory over sin and death, but it is a victory, a triumph that Jesus shares with us. Jesus takes away our sins. His victory, though, is also a challenge for us. Jesus beckons us to turn to Him, to make the effort necessary to embrace His forgiveness and to live in newness of life.

Saint Paul summarizes this for us when he states, as we heard proclaimed this morning: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above.” In our personal lives, in our dealings with one another, in the family, in the community, in society, we are challenged to put into practice the meaning of our Baptism: to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Last night, at the Easter Vigil, I spoke about the need for the power of Christ’s Resurrection to touch the hearts of all. There is no other power that can change people’s hearts and bring peace to the world.

Today, at this Easter Mass, I wish to emphasize how each one of us must turn to the Risen Christ, to the One who lives, the One who has conquered death, the One who is merciful and wishes to forgive our sins. You and I must personally accept the pardon won for us by Christ, through His Death on the Cross.

Today, Easter Sunday, God the Father, by raising Christ from the dead, ratifies the value of Christ's redeeming death and confirms before all the world His plan of mercy for humanity.

Dear friends, Christ’s love for us and the Father’s mercy require a response of love and action on our part. This is the hour for us to turn to God, to open our hearts to Him and to be made new by the power of Christ’s Resurrection.

Nine years ago Pope John Paul II came to the United States and pronounced some very special words, words that in one way or another apply to each one of us. He said: “In the name of Jesus, the Good Shepherd I wish to make an appeal—an appeal to Catholics throughout the United States and wherever my voice or words may reach—especially to those who for one reason or another are separated from the practice of their faith.... Christ is seeking you out and inviting you back to the community of faith. Is this not the moment for you to experience the joy of returning to the Father’s house?”

The return to the Father’s house challenges us at various levels and in different degrees. Christ wishes all of us to be fully His, to share abundantly His risen life through the sacraments, through prayer, by good works, by an authentic Christian life of service to one another. Christ wants His mercy to envelop us and His Easter joy to fill our hearts today and throughout our lives. The Holy Father concluded his appeal invoking Mary the Mother of Mercy, the Mother of Jesus. This was his final prayer: “Mary, Mother of Mercy, teach the people of ... the United States to say yes to your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ!”

Is this not the meaning of our Easter celebration: to say yes to Jesus in newness of life, to let the power of His Resurrection challenge us to live always according to His Gospel?

Dear friends: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.”

For Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. Alleluia!