The Homily for Third Sunday of Easter Year B, 18th April, 2021
Readings: Acts.3:13-15.17-19; Ps.4; 1John 2:1-5; 24:35-48
Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.
DO YOU TRULY BELIEVE IN THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY?
At the final article of the Apostles’ Creed which we profess every Sundays and solemnities. We do say: “I believe… in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”
But the questions that come mind are: do we truly believe in what we profess? Do we understand what we mean by forgiveness of sins and resurrection of the body? Have we in anyway experience any of these events in our lives personally? Do we have any evidence to back up this this article of faith which we have come to embrace? Can we categorically defend this article of faith before anyone who wishes to know more about it? The answer to these questions is blowing in the wind.
But in order to ensure that the answer to these questions is not blowing in the wind for those who have made the fundamental option for God, Jesus demonstrated to his disciples, in their Easter encounter, that he had physically, bodily risen from the dead and reaffirmed all the things he had told them before his crucifixion, as we have it in our Gospel passage today, when he said: “Peace be with you!’ In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, ‘Why are you so troubled, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.’ And as he said this he showed them his hands and feet.
Their joy was so great that they still could not believe it, and they stood there dumbfounded; so he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ And they offered him a piece of grilled fish, which he took and ate before their eyes.
He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘So you see how it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.
This same message of repentance and forgiveness is what St. Peter proclaimed and witnessed in our first reading after he and John were confronted by the chief priests and the elders for curing a crippled bagger at the temple. Here Peter after condemning the people for the part they played in the death of Jesus, have to excused them on the grounds that they acted in ignorance. Then in their presence he proclaimed the resurrection and urges them to repent, for if they do their sins will be forgiven. In a similar way we heard St John in our second reading telling us to stop sinning, but if anyone should sin, we have an advocate with the Father, that is Jesus Christ, who is the sacrifice that takes our sins away, for when anyone does obey what his commandments say, God’s love comes to perfection in him.
Dear friends, there is no forgiveness of sin, if there is no resurrection of the body. So the questions that come to mind are: how do the dead rise? What form will the rising take? Who will rise? And how? The answer to these questions is clearly stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) nos 997-999, which tells us that in death, that is, the separation of the soul from the body, the human body decays and the soul goes to meet God, while awaiting its reunion with its glorified body. God, in his almighty power, will definitively grant incorruptible life to our bodies by reuniting them with our souls, through the power of Jesus’ Resurrection.
But, who will rise? All the dead will rise, “those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. How will this be? Christ is raised with his own body: for he said:“See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself” after this he did not return to an earthly life. So, in him, “all of us will rise again with our own bodies which we now bear,” but Christ “will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body,”
But some people will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” Jesus says: You foolish man! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body which is to be, but a bare kernel. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. The dead will be raised imperishable. For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality.(1Cor15:35-53).
Therefore, we have to truly believe and witness this article of faith. But, it is not enough to believe in it, we have to experience it, but experience is not enough, we have to live it everyday of our lives. This is the only way it can make impact in our lives, in our families and societies and so become the principle that guides all our decisions, our actions and choices in life.
LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we journey with you especially at this difficult moment in human history, may your presence strengthen our faith and constantly renew our hope, give us the grace and courage to dedicate ourselves, our time, and energy in knowing and serving you, as you fill our heart with the Joy of your kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Happy Sunday to you and your house hold.
