Easter Sunday – B

To all who are parishioners here at St. Thomas à Becket Church , welcome and happy Easter!

To all who are visitors to our parish on this great and beautiful day, welcome and happy Easter!

To all who are here simply because it is Easter and maybe do not come to church too often or too regularly, or maybe hardly ever at all, welcome and happy Easter!

Today we celebrate the love of God revealed in the dying and rising of Jesus Christ from the dead.

No matter how closely connected we feel to the Catholic Church, no matter what the latest sensational television programs may say about Jesus, Judas, or any other so-called new information about our Lord, no matter what scandal may tempt us to question or doubt the role of the Church in our lives, Jesus Christ is Risen! The power of sin is overcome. Darkness and death forever must give way to light and life. We are all here today, no matter what our experience in life has been, to proclaim that Jesus Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

Let us take a moment this morning to consider the relationship of the apostle Peter to our Lord. Just hours before His death, Peter denied that he even knew Jesus. At the first sign of His resurrection, Peter wasn't really sure what had happened to Jesus when he went to the empty tomb. On the day of Pentecost, Peter boldly proclaimed his belief that God had raised Jesus from the dead and was convincing hundreds of people to follow Jesus in the Christian way of life.

We are all like Peter in different ways. At times, it would seem as if we would want to have as little to do with Jesus as possible. At other times, we struggle to believe and understand, especially when signs of Jesus' presence are not obvious in our lives. At times we can be bold and filled with zeal in living a Christian way of life and proclaiming the Good News of Jesus in our words and our deeds.

Parishioners of St. Thomas à Becket Church, thank you for your faithful example of living the Christian faith that we celebrate with the greatest joy on this Easter day!

Visitors to our parish on this great and beautiful day, thank you for joining us and we hope that you find our parish a place of welcome and hospitality on this Easter day!

And to all who are here simply because it is Easter and maybe do not come to church too often or too regularly, or maybe hardly ever at all, God loves you, and we love you, and we thank you for your presence here today which reminds us of how powerful the event of Jesus' dying and rising is for so many people in our world. We pray that you will know that you are always welcome here, especially on this Easter day!

Today we celebrate the love of God revealed in the dying and rising of Jesus Christ from the dead. This is the day the Lord has made! Let us be glad and rejoice! For the Lord is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

Thomas P. Ferguson
April 16, 2006