Easter Sunday, 2011
Dear Friends, we are gathered together in this Church this morning to celebrate with joy the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. This is the morning when the Lord appeared to our forebears in faith: at that moment men and women who had lost hope. On that first Easter day he opened their eyes to see and their ears to hear that they might understand what they had read so often: that the Scriptures foretold that the Saviour of all mankind would first die and then rise from the dead. As evening drew near on that first Easter day, Jesus appeared to two disciples making their way, disconsolately, from Jerusalem. Once again he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and then he revealed himself to them in the breaking of Bread. Now we have gathered in our turn to listen once again to the accounts left by those who encountered the Risen Lord and to celebrate the sacred mysteries which he left us with the command that we do these things in memory of him.
Dear Brothers and Sisters, we cannot celebrate these mysteries together and remain unchanged. Now that Christ has brought us back to true life in Him, now that we have been reconciled to His Father, our lives must change, and change for the better. Let us follow the advice of the blessed Apostle Paul and fix our gaze upon the true life which is in heaven, where Christ reigns with his Father. Let us fix our gaze heavenwards not so that we can forget this earth with all its troubles but rather so that we can work to fulfil the prayer we make in the Our Father: ‘Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ The Lord Jesus, when he was on this earth, healed the sick, brought food to those who were hungry, restored joy to those who were in sorrow and everywhere proclaimed that mankind was being reconciled to God, his Father. Now we, the Church, the Body of Christ on Earth, must continue the work which our Saviour began for he desires that all mankind should be saved.
Where shall we find the message to be preached? Where shall we find the strength for this task? The message is given to us by the Word in Scripture. Food for the work is given to us in the Body and Blood of the Lamb who was slain yet, risen, now lives for ever. Let us commit ourselves this Easter day to read the Scriptures day by day in the coming year. Let us be faithful to the practice of prayer. Let us receive the Body and Blood of the Lord whenever it is possible for us to do this. And, strengthened by these gifts, let us serve our brethren, all our brethren, that God’s kingdom might grow on this earth.
Abbot Cuthbert Madden, OSB