Homily for April 19, 2009

Father Tom’s Homily
2nd Sunday of Easter
April 19, 2009

It would be difficult for us to imagine the painful grief and spiritual darkness of the disciples and friends of Jesus at his death. Besides the terrible shock of his death, there was also the ugly shame of crucifixion.
They were buried with Jesus in their awful sadness.

The apostle Thomas went off by himself to deal with his broken heart. No one could find him. He was absent from the Upper Room when Jesus appeared to his disciples on that First Easter Night.
A few days later when Thomas finally showed up, the other apostles said to him, “He is risen.” But Thomas was too deep in his sorrow to believe them.
He was still in the tomb of his grief.

All that first Easter week the word spread among the disciples and friends of Jesus, “He is risen as he promised.”
For some of them this was all that was needed to be said to awaken them from their death-like grief.

To each other they repeated the good news about the empty tomb and the angels at the tomb who spoke to those who had visited the tomb early Easter morning.
All that week and for the many weeks that followed, the followers of Jesus greeted each other with the astonishing news: “He is risen.”
This was the source and center of their new faith. Jesus was their risen Messiah.

Thomas, it seems, was the last to receive this Easter faith. After he touched the scars of Jesus’ crucifixion, Thomas fully believed in his resurrection. He rose up from the death of his disbelief to faith in the risen Jesus.
Then Thomas too became a part of that excited greeting that went about Jerusalem, “He is risen.”

To this day this greeting has been the foundation of our faith. In many Christian traditions “Christ is risen” is the way people greet each other during Easter time.
When persecutions swept over the early Christian community, the people persevered because they believed that Jesus is risen from death. And that we are raised up with him.

In 1930 a Bolshevik named Bukarin was sent from Moscow to Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine, to reeducate the people. A huge assembly was called together and Bukarin addressed the people.
He instructed them in the new and intelligent Communist system that was to replace their old religion.
In a long speech he ridiculed Christianity and promoted atheism. When he had finally finished, he felt sure that he had convinced the crowd about the foolishness of their Christian faith.

“Are there any questions?” Bukarin challenged the crowd. Suddenly one man stood up and asked permission to speak. Given the okay, he climbed the platform and stood near Bukarin.
Not a sound could be heard as he looked out over the large crowd. Finally he shouted the ancient Russian Orthodox greeting of Easter, “Kristos voskryes !” (Christ is risen).
Immediately the crowd came to life and thundered their response, “On dyestivityelno Voskryes!” (He is risen indeed).
Bukarin had failed to bully that crowd to abandon their Christian faith. Even the brutal Communist persecution of the Church would not shake them.

In our gospel reading today, Jesus speaks to the Apostles and to all of us with the greeting, “Peace be with you.” He repeats it a second and a third time in today’s gospel. “Peace be with you.”
Why should our hearts at peace at this Easter time? It is because Christ has risen.
The greeting of that first Easter morning on the streets and in the homes of Jerusalem has reechoed through the centuries to this present moment.
What could possibly be more important than this. “Christ is risen” and we have risen with him