Easter Saturday

posted in: Easter, Homilies | 0

Today’s readings

Every year about Easter time, there are news reports of archeological findings that point to the fact that Jesus did not rise from the dead. I personally think those are specifically timed to detract from the solemnity and the joy that Easter brings us. This year was no exception, with the claim that someone found the tomb of Jesus. Then the reaction from Evangelical preachers was that it didn’t matter if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, we’d all still believe anyway. That’s nonsense too.

If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, as St. Paul tells us, our faith is in vain. So the Resurrection is absolutely essential to our belief, and if someone really did find the tomb of Jesus with his bones in it, we’d be heartbroken. But they never have, and they never will. Even this recent so-called discovery has been disproved and exposed for the lie that it is. We still believe that Jesus rose from the dead.

Even if you don’t believe much of the other evidence, we can believe in the Resurrection, I think, because the disciples were willing to give their lives for it. They were slow to believe themselves, as today’s Gospel clearly shows us. But as the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us, they did eventually believe and were willing to suffer the scorn of the Jews, mistreatment and torture, and for most of them, even a tortuous death. They wouldn’t do that for a lie. The Resurrection of Jesus is a fact that we can base our joy on, and we rejoice in that today, and every day as we celebrate the salvation that comes from our Lord Jesus Christ.