Rev. Fr. Emmanuel ADEBISI

 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I welcome you with joy on this Easter Sunday of Year A. Today, the whole creation sings: Christ is risen! He is truly risen! Alleluia!

For forty long days of Lent we kept a sacred silence. No Alleluia echoed in our liturgies; some of us couldn’t joined the social media “Alleluia challenge,” holding back that joyful word as a sign of penance and waiting. But now, my dear people, the real Alleluia challenge can begin not in withholding, but in shouting it from the rooftops! Why now? Because the tomb is empty, death has lost its sting, and the risen Lord has turned our mourning into dancing.

The readings of this glorious day invite us to reflect on four points. Let us begin from the Gospel reading of today, John 20:1-9, we learn our first lesson: resurrection hope is real and personal. Mary, Peter, and the beloved disciple saw the empty tomb and believed, even before they fully understood the Scriptures. In our own lives when illness, loss, or failure buries us, we must remember that Jesus fell into the grave, yet He rose. So we can. No darkness is final; whatever grave you face, lost job, broken marriage, or hidden sin, the Risen Lord rolls away the stone. Alleluia is not a wish, it is a fact. Easter is God’s promise that every fall carries the seed of rising.

The First Reading from Acts 10:34a, 37-43 gives us our second lesson: we are called to be credible witnesses. Peter declares boldly, “We have eaten and drunk with Him after His resurrection.” God shows no partiality; forgiveness flows to all who believe. Like Peter, we are privilege people to have received and experienced Jesus, we are not spectators but living testimonies. Our words, our kindness, our forgiveness become the Alleluia that others can hear and believe. Let others experience the resurrected Jesus from you, continue to be the reason why others will believe in Jesus; NOT with mouth alone, but through doings.

What Saint Paul has for us in the Second Reading from Colossians 3:1-4, teaches our third lesson: live with a heavenly perspective. “Since you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above.” One of the devil’s tactics is to make you to forget what you ought to remember and to remember what you ought to forget. Our adversary is not happy with the resurrection of our Lord, and that is the reason why we need to keep guard all the time. St. Paul is sounding the warning that we should not forget to live a life that gives glory to God. We should not allow the suffering, crucifixion, death and resurrection of Christ to be in vain in our life. Our old life of sin and despair is dead; our true life is now hidden with Christ in God. Easter is not a one-day festival but a lifelong invitation to rise above fear, greed, and division, choosing love that lasts forever.

Today’s Psalm and the entire Easter message explain the Yoruba proverb that says, “Adùn ńi gbeyin ewúro,” that is, there is sweetness after the bitter leaf.  Joy follows every bitter season. Lent was our ‘ewúro’ (bitter leaf) season, the bitter leaf of fasting and sacrifice and Easter is the joy that comes after the bitter experience. Indeed, out of the dark tomb bursts the brightest light. Forgiveness is now complete; new beginnings await every heart. Beloved friends, let us take up the Alleluia challenge today and every day. Shout it and live it out in your homes, workplaces, and marketplaces. Live it in your acts of mercy and hope. For Christ is risen, and in Him we too have risen. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!

 

May the risen Lord fill your hearts with unquenchable joy. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!