Easter Sunday 2026
Dominica Resurrectionis Domini Nostri Iesu Christi
Sacellum Immaculatae Conceptionis apud Seminarium Sancti Philippi Neri
Gricigliano
5 April 2026
Epistola: 1 Cor 5, 7-8
Evangelium: Mk 16, 1-7
Sermon
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
“Haec dies, quam fecit Dominus: exsultemus, et laetemur in ea.”[1] Today, Easter Sunday, is indeed the day of all days. It is the day of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ Who suffered and died to save us from our sins and to make us participants in His own Divine Life. Christ, our Paschal Lamb, has been immolated to save us from eternal death, to save us for eternal life.[2] In the reality of this day, which is the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, every day which has preceded it has reached its fulfillment. The Son of the Woman in the Protoevangelium has crushed the head of Satan, freeing us from his deadly slavery, freeing us to live for God.[3] The Son of the Virgin foretold by the Prophet Isaiah is indeed Emmanuel, God with us always for our eternal salvation.[4] From this day, every day which follows upon it has received its substance: the pilgrimage whose destination is eternal life. This is the day in which we forever rejoice and are glad.[5]
The words of the Easter Angel to the holy women at the tomb of Jesus on Easter Sunday announce the reality of grace contained in this day:
Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.[6]
From this day forward, the tomb of Jesus Crucified remains forever empty, remains forever the witness that He is alive, that He has conquered sin and its fruit, eternal death, and that He forever goes before us in the Church, bringing us to the destiny of our earthly pilgrimage: eternal life. The Risen Christ, Christ the King of Heaven and Earth, bids us ever along the way of His Victory, the way of the Cross, the way which is our only hope, the way which leads to eternal life with Him, in the company of the angels and all the saints. In the words of Saint Paul in his Letter to the Romans: “The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.”[7]
Today is the holiest of days. Today is the day which makes holy every day, for grace never ceases to flow in abundance from the glorious-pierced Heart of Jesus in the Church, into the hearts of those who have died to sin and come to life in Him through the waters of Baptism. Blessed Columba Marmion reminds us of the two elements of the holiness of this day, the holiness of Our Risen Lord, Our Savior. First of all, it vanquishes the servitude of sin and death.
Herein is represented in Christ the first element of holiness: separation from all that is dead, from all that is earthly, from all that is creature: freedom from all weakness, all infirmity, all suffering. On the day of His Resurrection, Christ Jesus left in the tomb the linen cloths, which are the symbol of our infirmities, of our weaknesses, of our imperfections; He comes forth triumphant from the sepulchre; His liberty is entire, He is animated with intense, perfect life with which all the fibres of His being vibrate. In Him, all that is mortal is absorbed by Life.[8]
Fortified through the Sacraments, above all by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, let us live free from sin, let us live in the freedom of true sons and daughters of God in His only-begotten Son: Jesus Christ risen from dead.
Secondly, the holiness of this day is the grace to give our lives completely to God in the vocation for which He has brought us to life in Christ. Blessed Columba instructs us:
This is the second element of holiness: the adhering, the belonging, the consecration to God. We shall only know in heaven with what plenitude Jesus lived for His Father during those blessed days [the days of His appearances after the Resurrection]; it was certainly with a perfection that ravished the angels. Now that His Sacred Humanity is set free from all the necessities, from all the infirmities of our earthly condition, it yields itself more than ever before to the glory of the Father. The life of the Risen Christ becomes an infinite source of glory for His Father; there is no longer any weakness in Him; all is light, strength, beauty, life; all in Him sings an uninterrupted canticle of praise.[9]
Let us live each day in the holiness of this day, heeding the exhortation of Saint Paul in the Epistle: “Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”[10] No matter how poor, how weak, how sinful we may be, let us give ourselves, without limit, to the call of Our Lord to be holy as He is holy. His grace is at work in us to make us more and more radiant with the truth, beauty, and goodness of His life which is in us.
Let us now in the joy of this day of all days, under the loving care of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, give our hearts totally to the Heart of Jesus risen from the dead, seated in glory at the right hand of the Father, and dwelling with us always in His holy Church. Let us, with the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints, give glory to God by our worship of Him alone, by the holiness of our life consecrated to Him alone.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Raymond Leo Cardinal BURKE
[1] “Dominica Resurrectionis: Graduale,” Missale Romanum ex Decreto Sacrosancti Concilii Tridentini restitutum Summorum Pontificum cura recognitum, Editio iuxta typicam.
[2] Cf. “Dominica Resurrectionis: Antiphona ad Communionem,” Missale Romanum ex Decreto Sacrosancti Concilii Tridentini restitutum Summorum Pontificum cura recognitum, Editio iuxta typicam
[3] Cf. Gen 3, 15.
[4] Cf. Is 7, 14.
[5] Cf. “Dominica Resurrectionis: Graduale,” Missale Romanum ex Decreto Sacrosancti Concilii Tridentini restitutum Summorum Pontificum cura recognitum, Editio iuxta typicam.
[6] Mk 16, 6-7.
[7] Rom 6, 10.
[8] “C’est en cela qu’est représenté le premier élément de la sainteté : l’éloignement de tout ce qui est mort, de tout ce qui est terrestre, de tout ce qui est créature, l’affranchissement d’avec toute faiblesse, d’avec toute infirmité, d’avec toute passibilité. Au jour de sa résurrection, le Christ Jésus a laissé dans le tombeau le linceuls, qui sont le symbole de nos infirmités, de nos faiblesses, de nos imperfections ; il sort triomphant du sépulcre ; sa liberté est entière ; il est animé d’une vie intense, parfaite, qui fait vibrer toutes les fibres de son être. En lui, tout ce qui est mortel est absorbé par la Vie.” Dom Columba Marmion, “Le Christ dans ses mystères”, 1858-1923 Œuvres Spirituelles (Maredsous: P. Lethielleux, 1998), pp. 539. [Marmion]. English translation: Dom Columba Marmion, O.S.B., “Christ in His Mysteries,” 1858 – 1923 Spiritual Writings (Maredsous Abbey: P. Lethielleux, 1998), p. 512. [Marmion Eng].
[9] “C’est le second élément de la sainteté: l’adhésion, l’appartenance, la consécration à Dieu. Nous ne saurons qu’au ciel avec quelle plénitude Jésus vivait pour son Père en ces jours bénis [les jours de ses apparitions après la Résurrection] ; ce fut certainement avec une perfection qui ravissait les anges ; maintenant que sa sainte humanité est libre de toutes les nécessités, affranchie de toutes les infirmités de notre condition terrestre, elle se livre, comme elle ne le fit jamais, à la gloire du Père. La vie du Christ ressuscité devient une source infinie de gloire pour son Père ; il n’y a plus en lui aucune faiblesse ; tout en lui est lumière, force, beauté, vie ; tout en lui chante un cantique ininterrompu du louange.” Marmion, pp. 539-540. English translation: Marmion Eng, p. 512.
[10] 1 Cor 5, 8.