were our last, then we will also be giving glory and praise to our for someone to be fully alive and thereby giving glory to God by the

Transcription

1 1 Homily for The Easter Vigil 2016 St. Irenaeus of Lyon, a renowned theologian and martyr from the 2 nd century AD, is remembered for having said that The glory of God is man fully alive, and the life of a man is a vision of God. Sadly, many people misunderstand this profound theological insight to mean that if we strive to live life to the fullest, having multiple life experiences, both good and bad, and live each day as if it were our last, then we will also be giving glory and praise to our Heavenly Father. St. Irenaeus had a much richer notion in mind as to what it meant for someone to be fully alive and thereby giving glory to God by the way they conducted their life here on earth, so as to one day reign victorious with Him in heaven. To be someone who is fully alive is to recognize that Our Lord s glorious resurrection has given humanity the opportunity to arise from the slimy pit of sin to live a life of grace and magnify the Lord for having saved through the Cross of His Son.

2 2 St. Paul testified that when Christ died and entered the underworld, we also died with Him and descended into the realm of the dead. His death was what allowed us to be baptized into His saving sacrifice, that we might walk in the newness of resurrected life and no longer experience Hell as our one and only end (See Romans 6:3-11). But before we speak of how Our Lord s resurrection has made us fully alive in Him, let us first consider how humanity fell from grace. The creation of Adam and Eve, made in the image and likeness of God, invites us to consider when humanity was once fully alive. Free from corruption, sin and death, Adam and Eve were what humanity was always meant to be: children of God, who in every word and action would give glory to our Heavenly Father by using well the gifts of life and creation. When speaking of Adam and Eve as fully alive, it is important to realize that it was only when humanity was differentiated as male and female that humanity was seen as a complete creation and able to glorify the Lord.

3 3 When man was created from the dust of the earth, St. John Paul II observed that the biblical name Adam did not speak of the first man as having a specific gender. He was more akin to an intelligent beast who was not yet a complete and fully alive creation but in the process of becoming one. It was only when God put Adam to sleep and from one of Adam s ribs created Eve that humanity became a complimentary and complete creation. Once they were male and female, distinct in their gender and capable of complimenting and completing one another, only then could humanity be seen as created in the image and likeness of God and fully alive in the order of grace. Adam and Eve stood as a vision of God, those who loved one another, naked and without shame, free of corruption and sin, standing as the pinnacle of creation for being the reflection of love that exists between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When Adam and Eve fell into sin, they lost their ability to glorify God as those fully alive and the now corrupted love that they shared

4 4 with one another was no longer a vision of the love that exists among the persons of the Most Holy Trinity. They now looked upon each other as naked but with shame. Eve saw in the eyes of Adam a new gaze, one filled with a lustful desire and urge to dominate his wife and Adam knew that he was now able to manipulate and use his wife for his own gratification. Sin caused enmity to arise between them and a curse to fall upon them that could only be put to death when He who was born of woman would crush the head of the ancient serpent as he hung dead upon the true tree of life, that cross fixed upon Golgotha (See Gen 3:16). The story of God s people throughout the Old Testament was one of a people seeking to end that ancient curse and become fully alive once again by unbinding themselves from the sin of Adam. There were moments when it seemed they could be liberated from sin: when righteous men like Abraham trusted that God would provide a lamb for sacrifice in place on his only son, when Moses believed God would deliver Israel from slaughter by the shores of the Red Sea, when the

5 5 prophets called the people to conversion to prepare themselves for the coming of God s Messiah, and when Ezekiel watched in wonder as God reunited dry bones to living flesh to reveal that humanity could once again become fully alive after so many centuries of death and decay. It was only in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried, descended into hell, on the third day rose again, ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from whence He will come to judge the living and the dead, that we have our restored vision of humanity, once again, fully alive! What our Lord offers those who have been baptized into His death and resurrection is the call to become like Him in all things, that it is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me (Gal 2:20). This is the summons from on high to believe that Our Lord s resurrection is not a mere historical event that happened long ago and has passed away, remembered only as a fond memory and often seen as a non-essential truth that is to be upheld by Christians.

6 6 Had Jesus simply died a shameful death and was then to live on in our hearts as a sentimental memory, then our faith in Jesus is a total farce and we should all abandon the Church this very night! No, we believe He truly rose from the dead and has provided us with the once in a lifetime chance to live in Him forever. Tonight, we stand united as God s holy people to express our gratitude to Jesus for dying and rising for us. We thank Him for the gift of our baptisms, when we were washed clean of the necessary sin of Adam to win so great and glorious a Redeemer. To have been baptized into His death and resurrection is to have become a man or woman fully alive! And when we fall and tarnish the gift of salvation for the cheap satisfaction that comes from sin, He is willing to time and time again forgive us through the Sacrament of Reconciliation and then nourish us with His Sacred Body and Blood. Let us dare to believe that because of His resurrection, each and every day is an opportunity to be fully alive in Him, until that day we will reign with Him forever in heaven, Amen, Alleluia!