Monday within the Octave of Easter

Fr Dominic’s Homily

On this this morning we exult. We exult as we recall how Christ rose from the dead, we exult as we witness the emptiness of the tomb; and we exult in the knowledge that he appeared to Mary Magdalen and the other disciples.

Of course, we also realise the consequences of his resurrection. We know that by his death and resurrection Christ has wiped clean the slate for us. He has washed away our sins; and, once our earthly existence is over, he invites us to join him in his heavenly Kingdom. This is a wonderful gift by a mightily loving Saviour, and is something that fills our hearts with joy and thanksgiving today.

And so this is a time of celebration, of joy; of thanksgiving. After 40 days of Lent we can now exult; exult that the victory over sin has been won and rejoice that the promises of God have been honoured.

That first Easter morning was the most definitive intervention of God into the physical world. We know that there was a long lead-up taking very many centuries, depicted to us in the Old Testament. We know too that God sent a good number of Prophets to teach his people, even if most of them were ignored by the people.

But eventually he sent his own Son into the world to bring us the Good News of the Gospel. Having ignored the Prophets, our ancestors went on to do the most dreadful thing that has ever happened: they put to death God’s own son.

And how does God respond?

Instead of unleashing his anger, he wipes out our sins and opens for us the road to heaven. We do have an amazing God, we have a God who breaks the rules, and we have a God who in the face of catastrophe turns it into something good for humankind. This is the reason we rejoice; this is the reason we celebrate.

We exult in the fact that God loves us despite everything. We glory in the fact that God loves us in the face of humanity’s complete rejection of him. As we mark this great feast of Easter, we realise that God loves us because we are in fact his creation; and he wants to share his life with us.

We praise and thank him for what was achieved on that first Easter Day, and we carry this Good News to the people around us as we celebrate and delight in that fact that we have such a great and loving God.