Given on 5 April 2026 for the Mass of the Day on Easter Sunday at Westminster Cathedral.
Last night, at the Easter Vigil, the Resurrection of Christ was proclaimed; Alleluia was sung once again, after the penitential season of Lent; new members were welcomed into the Church through Baptism; people were received into Full Communion with the Catholic Church.
We continue this spirit of rejoicing today as we celebrate this Easter Mass. Let us, as it were, place ourselves in the garden where Joseph of Arimathea ensured that the Lord could be buried. What is it that we witness? We see, as described by John in the Gospel, two men running. Mary Magdalene has told them that the Lord had risen, so they go to see for themselves. John was a young man. He ran faster than Peter, whom we might imagine puffed along behind. It is important to note that John gave way to the older man. Was this out of fear of entering the tomb? Even if there was an element of fear in him, he also gave way to his senior and, despite Peter denials of the Lord at the house of Caiaphas, to the one who Jesus had said: “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church.”
Peter goes ahead, John follows and then goes on the write, of himself, “He saw and he believed.”
We too believe, We profess our faith in the Resurrection, this event that is the high point of all of human history. We profess this faith as, in a few moments, we renew our Baptismal Promises. Let us not doubt the significance of this solemn act. It is a commitment to the gift of faith. It is also a commitment to action – for the Lord call us to be His instruments. In our present times the world is so often confusing and conflicted, subject to ever-changing and often illusory demands and attractions. Humanity is marked, scarred, by warfare and injustice – often instigated by greed and misguided power – bringing harm and death to so many and so often the most vulnerable.
Just as Peter, after the coming of the Holy Spirit, went out into his world, so Christ calls us to do the same in ours. Christ calls us to step into this world, carrying with us the good news of His resurrection. In our present age, his words to the Apostles in the Upper Room must, surely, be on our own lips: “Peace be with you.” These are words that the world, in the present circumstances, must hear all the more clearly, that the rights of all may be respected and conflict cease.
Just as John ran to the tomb and Peter spoke boldly of the reality of Jesus’ Resurrection, may we make haste to share the good news of Easter and speak with renewed conviction of the joys of today’s greatest of feasts and be courageous in our witness to the peace that is the gift of the Risen Lord.
Image: Lawrence Lew OP