23rd March 2008 - EASTER SUNDAY 2008
It is not hard for us to imagine the emotions of Mary Magdalene who went to the tomb on that first Easter Sunday morning to anoint the body of Jesus. Her steps must have been heavy and hesitant, her heart full of pain, her eyes sore from crying. How could she look at his body again, the body that was scourged and crucified, the limbs that bore the nails, and the face that was bruised and disfigured by the three falls on the way to Calvary?
However what is hard for us to imagine is the scene that greeted her as she reached the tomb. The stone had been rolled away, and Jesus body was gone. She went in haste to tell Peter and John and they ran back with her. It is John who gets there first but it is Peter who goes into the tomb. Today in Rome Pope Benedict XVI the 265th Successor of St Peter, has once more declared the truth of the Resurrection. Peter continues to guide the Church and exhorts her to follow the example of the Beloved Disciple St John, 'to see and to continue to believe'. Belief in the Resurrection is the bedrock of the Christian faith, if you don't believe it you are not a Christian. Without it life is truly meaningless and absurd. If Christ is not risen, our hope is in vain proclaims St Paul. The Resurrection is above all God's judgment and approval of his Son and everything he stood for. It is the victory of good over evil, of life over death, of love over hate. The world needs this good news to be repeated not only today but everyday especially in parts of the world that continue to be marked by hostility and destruction. Modern Ireland needs this good news in the face of so much crass materialism and life sapping indifference; in the face of the ever increasing spiral of violence that continues to shock many of us. We need this good news especially those of us who continue to mourn our beloved dead. Easter assures us that God has been victorious.
Easter is above all about not being afraid to witness to our faith and to be proud of it, to have on our faces the look of those who are redeemed. As Pope John Paul II once said 'we are an Easter People and Alleluia is our Song'. Happy Easter. Beannacht ná Cásca dhuibh go léir. Amen.
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Homilies Archive
2009 HOMILIES
25th December 2008
Christmas
21st December 2008
14th December 2008
8th December 2008
Immaculate Conception
7th December 2008
2nd Sunday of Advent
30th November 2008
1st Sunday of Advent
23rd November 2008
Christ the King
16th November 2008
2nd November 2008
All Souls
1st November 2008
All Saints
26th October 2008
12th October 2008
5th October 2008
28th September 2008
21st September 2008
14th September 2008
7th September 2008
31st August 2008
24th August 2008
17th August 2008
15th August 2008
Assumption
10th August 2008
3rd August 2008
20th July 2008
13th July 2008
29th June 2008
22nd June 2008
1st June 2008
23rd March 2008
Easter Sunday
22nd March 2008
Easter Vigil
2nd March 2008
24th February 2008
17th February 2008
10th February 2008
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