This homily was given by Msgr. Vladimir Felzmann at the Easter Vigil for the Deaf Community. Find out more about Holy Week services for the Deaf Community here.
‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.’ (Luke 24:5-6)
Whenever someone I know well dies – and as I get older this is an increasingly common occurrence – I have learned to assuage my grief with hope. My loss is their gain; they are now risen to new life with God. Rather than grieving, I am tempted to be envious!
According to Luke – the author of today’s Gospel – the female followers of Jesus were the first to discover that Jesus was no longer dead, but alive: resurrected.
To Peter – not the sharpest knife in the kitchen, as we discovered in Matthew 16:23 and Mark 8:33 when Jesus rebukes Peter for having a human, rather than a divine, perspective on Jesus’s impending suffering and death (‘Get behind me, Satan!’) – the Resurrection seemed impossible.
It still does, for all too many even nowadays, who see the death of their friends and family as the end of life rather than a transition to something far greater.
In the Orthodox Church, and in an increasing number of Roman Catholic congregations, today’s greeting is ‘Christ is risen,’ or in Greek, ‘Khristos Anesti.’ The customary response is ‘Alithos Anesti,’ ‘Truly, He is risen.’
As you leave after Mass, I will be saying: ‘Khristos Anesti.’ Will you affirm your belief and hope with ‘Alithos Anesti?’
As my memory is fading, I will take a look at my homily and be able to declare, ‘Khristos Anesti’ – before wishing you a delightful Eastertide.
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Image: Mazur/cbcew.org.uk
