Easter Vigil Homily

Matthew’s account of the resurrection is very dramatic. The other Gospels have the empty tomb and the angels but here the earth is shaken.  There is a violent earthquake, the terrifying figure of the angel rolls away the stone.  The is something definitive about the way the angel not only rolls away the stone, he sits on it.  The soldiers and the women are scared out of their wits. 

This version perhaps brings home to us the earth shattering nature of the resurrection.  It is not simply that
Jesus has come back to the disciples after his passion.  It is not simply a scene I personally can contemplate and draw consolation.  This is the event that transforms our world and all that it means.  We have listen to the story of God’s dealings with his people in the readings of this vigil.  That story begins with the account of creation in the first chapter of Genesis.  The history of the universe leads up to this moment.  This is God’s
plan for us.  This celebration of Christ’s resurrection gives us the hope that all things will be restored in Christ.  That does not just mean us being freed from our own sin and entering into eternal life.  It means everything that God has created.  It means our wounded planet, it means all those who experience the reality of suffering and death.

We might ask how can we proclaim the message of the resurrection to people at this time when people are frightened, confused and grieving.  These are indeed strange times.  However, we might have asked the same
question at any time.  What is different is that this particular crisis is worldwide and perhaps we in the west find ourselves experiencing something which is a much more a typical experience for people whose lives are generally poorer and more uncertain than our own and do not have the same resources to support them. 
I remember once celebrating Christmas with a group people whose homes had just been destroyed in a typhoon.  They were people of faith and hope who were able trust in the Good News of Christ in the midst of chronically uncertain lives.

The message of both the angel and of Jesus in tonight’s Gospel is “do not be afraid”.  That is not just a message for the women shaken by their experience.  It is a message for us and for our world. 
We can hear that “do not be afraid” because of that cosmic transformation which comes with the resurrection.  Christ has already triumphed and we are people of hope.  Even in our present
distress and bewilderment we can hear that “do not be afraid” and say “alleluia”, Christ is risen.

Fr Chris Pedley SJ