EASTER SUNDAY OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD
5 APRIL 2026
Saint
Paul uses the example of the Jewish Passover Meal to describe what happens at
Easter. To prepare for the Passover
Feast, all Jewish homes must be cleared of any yeast. In Egypt, Moses had instructed his people to kill
a lamb and spread its blood on the lintels of their doors. The angel of death would pass over the homes
of the those marked by that blood. Then,
Moses instructed the people to leave in haste on the next day. Because yeast takes a while to ferment, they must
make unleavened bread in preparation for the journey. I know this from my own baking. To prepare to bake a loaf of sourdough bread,
I have to feed the starter which contains living yeast. If I forget to feed the starter, the living
yeast loses its power to rise the dough.
For Jewish people, the unleavened bread came to symbolize the haste in
which their ancestors had escaped Egyptian slavery. At every Passover meal, they eat unleavened
bread as a sign that they must trust in God’s love as they continue their
journey through life.
That is
what Saint Paul tells the Corinthians. Our
Paschal Lamb has been sacrificed in his death on the cross. His blood has freed us from the power of sin
and death. For that reason, we must
throw out the old yeast of malice and wickedness. We need to celebrate this Feast with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
The Lord invites us to trust that this great Feast of Easter has the
power to transform us more completely into the Body of Christ.
During
these days of the Sacred Paschal Triduum, we have seen much of the unleavened
bread of malice and wickedness. The
crowds who acclaimed Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah and Son of David on Palm
Sunday shouted that he be crucified on Good Friday. One of the closest followers of Jesus
betrayed him with a kiss, after he had washed his feet as a sign of humble and
loving service. Most of his disciples
ran away, and Peter denied knowing him three times out of fear. Witnesses came forward with false testimony
to convict him in the presence of the religious leaders. Those leaders
condemned him out of jealousy. The Roman
governor knew that he was innocent, but condemned him to death to appease
Caesar and the boisterous crowds. The
soldiers inflicted horrible physical pain and mocked him. As he was executed in a most cruel way, those
who passed by and one of the criminals made fun of him and challenged him to
prove that he was the Son of God by coming down from the cross. His dead and beaten body was taken down from
the cross and buried in haste. Lots of
wickedness and malice!
Today,
Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead and destroyed the old yeast of
malice and wickedness. Mary Magdalene will
encounter him later in the day. The
risen Christ will break through the locked doors of the apostles and present
the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
He will grant mercy to all who fled in fear and forgive the denials of
Peter and heal the unbelief of Thomas. He
will send his disciples out to announce the Good News that God’s love is eternal
and stronger than death. Transformed by
the power of the resurrection, they will imitate Peter’s actions in today’s
first reading and welcome pagans like Cornelius as brothers and sisters in the
risen Christ. They will no longer lock
themselves in fear. Instead, they will proclaim
the Good News of Jesus Christ, even though it will cost them their lives.
In just a
few moments, we will be invited to renew our baptismal promises. In doing so, we will throw out the old yeast
of malice and wickedness. We will be
invited to be transformed by the resurrection and proclaim it with sincerity
and truth. Christ is risen! His resurrection has the power to change our
lives to walk confidently together on our journey of faith. There is still plenty of the unleavened bread
of malice and wickedness in our world.
The Resurrection does not change that.
But it changes us, giving us the peace and love the world cannot give.
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