Cycle C - Year II:

27 March 2016: Easter Sunday of the Lord's Resurrection

(Liturgical color: White)

Gospel: Please read John 20:1-9

The Lord is risen!

On Easter Sunday the Universal Church declares: Jesus our Lord is risen! Alleluia! Let us rejoice with the Psalmist with shouts of joy: "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad!" (Ps 118) For today we proclaim the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead.

The 40 days of Lenten journey was our preparation for this great day, with penance, fasting, and confessions. But now it is time to celebrate the risen Christ. The sanctuary, no longer barren, is filled with the festive color of flowers in full bloom. He is risen!

The evangelist John brings the Good News this Sunday. The gist of his Gospel narratives:

When Mary of Magdala came to visit the tomb of Jesus early morning on the third day, she saw the stone cover already removed from the entrance of the tomb, and the tomb empty. Hurriedly she went back to the other disciples and reported what she saw. Simon Peter and John went with Mary again to the empty tomb. They saw the burial clothes there, and the cloth that covered Jesus' head neatly rolled up in a separate place. They saw and believed that the Lord is risen, even when they did not yet understand what is written in the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.

By the account and personal testimonies of his closest disciples, Jesus is risen and wins over sin and

deal for all of us. The Resurrection of Jesus is the very cornerstone of our Christian faith. For if Jesus did not rise to redeem us from sin, then everything we did during the Holy Week, and everything we do now, is going to be all meaningless.

In the Catholic faith, Easter is the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year. That is why it is called the greatest feast (festum festorum). The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a concrete and historical event which is the strength and foundation of Christianity. It is a day of celebration because it represents the fulfillment of our faith as Christians.

In our time, we believe that the Lord is indeed risen! Alleluia! Alleluiah! That is why in every Eucharistic celebration of the Mass we share in Jesus' Paschal Mystery, meaning to say, in our Lord's Passion, Death and Resurrection. In other words, we truly encounter the risen Christ in the Holy Eucharist at Mass.

Easter invites us to be witnesses to the world that our Lord Jesus Christ is truly risen from the dead. But to behold the Resurrection, the stone of disbelief must first be rolled away from our heart, just like the massive stone covering the entrance to our Lord's burial place, which was rolled away on the first Easter to testify that the Lord is indeed risen.

We do our personal witnessing of the Lord's Resurrection through our authentic Christian living. That is to say, we must live like liberated and joyful people in every situation of our life from here on, repentant yet full of hope and happiness. For united with our risen Lord, we become children again of our loving Father in heaven.

Happy Easter Sunday to all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!