Easter Sunday
The resurrection of Jesus is a truth that radically changes how we see the world, just as major discoveries in history reshaped human perspective. Like the first disciples, encountering the risen Christ transforms fear into courage and despair into hope. When truly believed, the resurrection calls us to live differently, allowing Christ’s victory to shape every part of our lives.
Listen to homily here:
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Have you been following the journey of the Artemis spacecraft? Maybe just a few of you, but it really is incredible. The world has once again sent people toward the moon. Just a few days ago, an image was released as Artemis made its way from the earth to the moon. Looking back, we see that iconic image of the earth in the distance, small and fragile.
Many have compared this to the images taken in the early 1970s. When you see the earth from that distance, it changes your perspective. It makes you see things differently. Questions that seem so important begin to shift. Do national borders matter in the same way? Do conflicts and divisions look the same? Even our care for the environment takes on a new urgency. Simply seeing the earth from afar changes how we understand our place in the world.
There was a similar shift in perspective in the 1600s with Galileo Galilei. He was not the first to propose it, but through his observations he helped demonstrate that the earth is not the center of the universe. Until then, it was widely assumed that everything revolved around us. That belief shaped not only science, but also how people understood their place in creation.
When that truth became known, it changed everything. People began to see the vastness of the universe, the countless stars and planets, and the grandeur of creation. Humanity was no longer at the center in the way it once imagined. A new perspective reshaped how people understood reality itself.
There are truths that, once we see them, we cannot unsee. They change how we live.
Today we celebrate the most important truth of all: the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If we truly believe that Jesus has risen from the dead, then nothing in our lives should remain the same.
We see this transformation clearly in the Gospel. Think of Peter, John, and Mary Magdalene. Peter, in particular, had left everything to follow Jesus. He placed all his hope in him. And yet, when Jesus was arrested, Peter denied even knowing him. Then he watched as Jesus was condemned, tortured, and crucified.
When Peter went to the tomb that morning, he did not go expecting the resurrection. He went with grief, with regret, and with confusion about his future. But everything changed when he encountered the empty tomb.
Imagine the transformation. From mourning to hope. From fear to courage.
We see this change most clearly in the Acts of the Apostles. Peter, who once denied Jesus, now boldly proclaims him. He is no longer afraid. He is willing even to give his life for Christ.
The resurrection changed everything for the first disciples. And it should change everything for us.
We celebrate with joy today, but it must go deeper than that. The resurrection must change how we think, how we act, how we see others, and how we live each day.
C. S. Lewis once posed a powerful question: what would change in your life if you truly believed in the resurrection and in eternal life? What if you truly believed that every person you encounter is destined to live forever?
It might even change how we drive or how we speak to others. But more seriously, it would change how we love, how we forgive, and how we carry hope.
What would it change in how we grieve those who have died? What would it change when we face struggles, bad habits, or discouragement? What would it change if we truly believed that Christ has conquered sin and death?
The resurrection tells us that Christ is victorious, that he is king, and that his kingdom will endure forever. This is not just a belief to celebrate once a year. It is a truth meant to transform our entire lives.
And yet, it is easy to forget. We become busy. We get caught up in daily concerns. For this reason, we are given the gift of Easter each year, to return to this central truth and allow it to renew us.
Before us stands the Easter candle, blessed at the Vigil. It is the sign that Christ is the light of the world, the sign of his victory over death. In baptism, we received that same light and were called to carry it into the world.
Today, we will renew our baptismal promises. Many of us had these promises made for us as children. Now we renew them ourselves.
We will also be sprinkled with blessed water, a reminder of our baptism and the new life we received in Christ.
As we do this, let us ask ourselves a simple but important question: what do I want the light of the resurrection to change in my life today?
Perhaps it is an area of discouragement or hopelessness. Perhaps it is a struggle to forgive or to move forward. Perhaps it is a call to deeper faith.
Let us ask Christ to bring the light of his resurrection into those places.
Some truths, once we truly see them, must change everything.
Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. And because of that, our lives can never be the same.
