Easter Sunday Homily
We’ve reached the glorious day of Easter after forty days of Lent. Although, Lent seemed to have gone by fairly quickly. Hopefully, most of us took advantage of the penitential aspect of Lent and didn’t let that time go to waste. Lent is a time of grace meant to draw people away from focusing too much on themselves and their own desires; and to draw us closer in a relationship with God and our final destination. If we focus on Jesus and what He has to teach us, He will lead us toward the ultimate goal of our faith, which is the salvation of our souls.
Of course, Jesus taught by His words, but He also taught by His actions. Jesus was definitely somebody who practiced what He preached. Jesus told His disciples, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life, nobody comes to the Father except through me.” He was speaking the truth. God’s truth is eternal. Jesus is the way and the life that leads people to the Father.
After Jesus died on the cross on Good Friday, did you ever wonder where His soul went? Where did Jesus’ soul go before the resurrection? In the Apostles’ Creed, we pray that Jesus “was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell.” Wow, that’s quite a statement – “Jesus descended into hell.” It was Jewish tradition that the souls of those who died went down into the netherworld, which was thought to be on the earth. In the Hebrew language, this is called Sheol. In Greek, it is called Hades. In English, we call it hell. However, the Jews also believed that the souls that went into Sheol were separated, the good from the bad. The good, or the righteous, rested in the bosom of Abraham. The bad were cast into fire to be punished for their wickedness. Jesus descended into hell to bring the good news to the righteous that their time of waiting had come to an end. He would now lead them out of the netherworld to heaven and to their heavenly Father. Jesus had conquered the evil one, sin, and death. The victory was His. Jesus was going to lead the righteous who were held in captivity to freedom.
It is important to believe with all our hearts that Jesus has won the victory and that He has opened the gates of heaven so that God’s faithful may enter in and enjoy God’s rest. But there is more to the victory than opening the gates of heaven. Jesus’ victory also points to the fact that Jesus came to set us free while we were still here on earth. Jesus came to break the bonds of sin for those suffering its effects here and now. In the book Deliverance Ministry it states, “Jesus came to wage war against the ancient enemy of humankind, the devil. His mission was to win the definitive victory over Satan by His cross and resurrection and to free all those who were under the dominion of darkness because of sin (Col 1:13-14). The First Letter of John sums it up succinctly: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1Jn 3:8). . . . “Before he ascended in heaven, Christ commissioned His disciples to extend His victory over Satan to peoples of every time and place. They were to do so through the proclamation of the Gospel, leading to faith and baptism, by which people are rescued from Satan’s domain and incorporated into the Church (Mk 16:15-16).” (p. 21)
Jesus assured His people, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” We do not face this struggle alone. Jesus is with us to give us the grace that we need in our struggles with temptation and sin. The devil knows that he has lost, but he is still trying to trip up as many people as possible. Look at our society today. There are many people that have rejected God and have embraced the occult. However, Jesus wants us to be confident in His presence and assistance in our lives. He walks the journey of faith with us. He guides and protects us. He doesn’t want us to live in fear or fall into despair if we keep making mistakes. Life is a long journey, a marathon. We need endurance and perseverance to complete the race. This is why we have the sacraments. The Sacrament of Reconciliation forgives sins and strengthens us against those temptations. The Sacrament of the Eucharist is spiritual nourishment to keep us close to Jesus and give us the strength to continue the journey. God’s Word, the Scriptures, enlightens our minds to show us how to live a virtuous life. We need all this spiritual aid to help us grow in holiness and keep us on the path of salvation.
The pandemic that we recently experienced reminds us of the fragility of life. Even so, there are many people that take life for granted. The attitude of some people may be, “We survived the pandemic. We are starting to get back to some sense of normal. We can start to live our lives the way that we want to again.” Hopefully, the pandemic awakened many people to the fact that we aren’t really in control of much and that we need to turn back to God. Remembering how the churches were shut down for a while and not being able to receive the sacraments hopefully caused many people to have a greater appreciation for what God has to offer through His Church. If we seriously ponder the fragility of life, the statement by Jesus that He is the way, the truth, and the life should have a greater impact on our plans for the future. Because our former plans may not have been sufficient enough to help us achieve the goal of our faith. We really don’t know what awaits us in the future.
Jesus won the victory. That is what we celebrate with great joy this Easter Sunday. Jesus’ victory can extend into our daily lives if we allow that to happen. And Jesus’ victory will lead us to salvation and eternal life if we remain close to Him throughout our lives. As we heard in the sequence just before the Gospel reading. “Christians, to the Paschal Victim, offer your thankful praises! . . . Christ, who only is sinless, reconciles sinners to the Father. Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous. Christ indeed, from death, is risen, and our new life is obtained. Have mercy, Victor King, ever reigning! Amen. Alleluia.”
