April 12, 2020 – Easter Sunday

Dearest sisters and brothers, today we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord from the dead, let us rejoice and be glad!  While we rejoice at our risen Lord, our empty Church and empty pews staring at me now is still a reminder of the sadness enveloping our hearts and minds in our homes now.  As we reflect on the Gospel today, it is the same sadness that filled Mary of Magdala and Christ’s apostles as they were going to the empty tomb.  Yet, the empty tomb meant that Jesus is risen and no more there.

In the same way, our empty Church today, though sad, reminds us that the risen Lord is not restricted by the four walls of our Church.  The risen Lord wants first and foremost to reign in our hearts and souls.  Are we ready to give him a chance?  Do we want to give witness to his risen power beginning from where we are now in our homes?  The risen Jesus wants us to be people of hope allowing his risen power to reign in our society through us despite our present ordeal.  He wants to lift our despairing society through us.  He wants our neighbors to feel the impact of his resurrection through us.

Peter in the first reading was not afraid to speak about the risen Lord, proclaiming that he is anointed with the Holy Spirit and Power.  Remember, it was the same Peter that could not stand a little Jewish girl two days ago when asked whether he knew Jesus.  So, what happened to Peter?  Why the transformation?  Where did this new boldness come from?  The answer to our question is that it is the power of the risen Lord has begun to manifest itself in Peter.

Dearest ones, it is in the same way that the power of the risen Jesus wants to work now in your life.  He wants to take over your whole life so that no power, not even that of sickness, can have the last word in your life.  It is important to remember that for the power of risen Christ to work in our lives, we need to leave behind sin, signified today by the burial cloth that Christ left behind in his tomb.

Like Jesus, we must leave behind all the garments of death that has been holding us captive in our lives. May the power of our risen Lord be your protector and that of your family in this period of uncertainty.  Amen!

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