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| The Resurrection, From a Rosary window at St Joseph's |
Fr Richard's homily for Easter Monday
Homily: Witnesses to the Resurrection
“The Resurrection of Jesus is the crowning truth of our faith in Christ…” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 638) We know and believe this truth firstly because of the empty tomb and crucially because of the testimony of many witnesses.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. They fall down before him and clasp his feet, a detail that proves the Resurrection is of the glorified body of Christ. In the First Reading, Peter, addressing the apostles after Pentecost, declares: “God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witnesses to that.” In another part of the New Testament, St Paul says the Risen Lord appeared to him, and James, and more than 500 other people (1 Cor 15:4-8).
We would not be celebrating this Easter day as believers but for the testimony of these witnesses. The apostles, known as the “primary” witnesses of the Resurrection, along with the others, set out to announce this Good News to all peoples, inspired by the Gift of the Holy Spirit. St Peter, for instance, who three days ago we heard cowardly denying the Lord three times, is today boldly speaking in public, without fear, about God raising Jesus to life. The Resurrection, proclaimed by its Spirit-filled witnesses, is truly the “catalyst” for the spread of faith in Christ to all corners of the earth.
In these days of the Easter Octave, we hear about the first acts of these “primary witnesses” to the Resurrection. It’s important that we venerate these saints, many of who witnessed to the Risen Christ by the shedding of their blood. If we grow in our devotion to them, they will help us come ever closer to Jesus and to rejoice at His saving victory in both the good times and the challenging times of our life.
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