Easter Day 2017

Easter 2017
1. During Holy Week this past week we read the story of Jesus passion and death on
Palm Sunday and on Good Friday. So we are all vary familiar with the story of the 12
apostles : Judas betrayed Jesus and then killed himself, Peter denied even knowing
him, the others ran away and went into hiding.
Think about this for a moment: what would be the odds that these disciples would succeed in
spreading Jesus message to the world? They were poor uneducated fishermen and farmers.
Most of them were illiterate. They were jealous of each other, and bickered among themselves.
Their charismatic leader had been killed like a criminal, they did not have a good organization,
they had no resources, no clear plan, no status, no armies to support them, no temples to pray
in, no rituals to follow, no written documentation
From an organizational standpoint, this was the receipt for a disaster.
2. Then something happened: the saw the risen Christ. When these guys who had gone
into hiding experienced the risen Lord, they were completely transformed.
The resurrection experience changed everything: they became energized, they no longer feared
the leaders of the Jews nor the Romans. They knew that God was on their side, they received
the Holy Spirit and finally understood what Jesus had been teaching them, and they started
preaching.
Thus the church was started and spread all over the world, proclaiming the Gospel without an
organization, without a coherent plan. Realistically, they had no chance to succeed. They were
persecuted by the Jews and later by Roman empire. Their leaders were killed, and yet they kept
growing, against all odds Their success was and still is unexplainable.
Organizations that start off this badly always fail, but they did not. Why? Because they felt the
presence of their risen Lord with them, and nothing could stop them.
 Easter 2017
3. When I am asked, How do you know that Jesus really rose from the dead? How do
you know that someone didnt just make up the story? The answer is simple, look
at the results. Jesus said, you will know a tree by its fruits.
There is no way that these guys could have created Christianity on their own. The risen Lord
inspired them, guided them and supported them.
Their Lord had left them with a simple commandment to love God and to love their neighbor.
Do you know what the outsiders used to say when they saw the Christians suffer and die and
yet endure? Look how they love each other. They did not to resist oppression but to turn the
other cheek as Jesus told them to do. When they did that they were successful, when they
took political power and tried to use power, they failed.
4. Today we are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.
The same Jesus who energized and transformed the apostles is still with us. He is our risen
Lord. Through Baptism we become his disciples and joined the Church.
However, in spite of the presence of Jesus, the church has splintered into thousands of
denominations. Christians have fought each others, and scandals have rocked the church.
What holds us together across the tens of thousands of splintered churches is our common
faith in the risen Lord, our Baptism and the commitment to try to follow his commandment to
love God and our neighbors.
5. In a few moments we will renew our Baptismal vows. Baptism has made us
followers of the risen Jesus. The Baptismal covenant is our contract with God. It
binds us to Jesus and to each other as a community.
The Jesus we pray and believe in is the same risen Lord who transformed the first disciples and
allowed them to succeed against all odds and turned them into heroes and martyrs. When we
keep the promises of the Baptismal covenant, we allow Jesus, the risen Lord, to act among us.
If we have faith in the risen Lord we too will be transformed. Happy Easter.