Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv DD STL, Bishop of Parramatta
Homily for Easter Sunday 2026
Easter empowers us to become all that we are capable to be
Dear friends in the risen Lord,
Today we have come to celebrate the centerpiece and foundation of our Christian faith. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead has ushered in the dawn of a new era. The paschal rhythm shows us that suffering through love is the path towards the fullness of life. Facing fear, darkness and death itself is not the end but the beginning of the fullness of life. In the suffering and risen Christ, we can resist and overcome the forces that stifle and strangulate love.
Easter then gives us hope in our endeavor to change the world around us in accordance with the Kingdom vision of Jesus. It gives us the courage to keep reaching, keep working and keep fighting for a better future, a better society, a better world and a better church. He is with us as we seek to transform lives and relationships. Despite the setbacks we encounter, Easter frames all our endeavours with the horizons of meaning and hope.
The Gospel today speaks of the bewilderment and disillusionment of Mary of Magdala when she was confronted with an empty tomb. Perhaps, her experience is a cautionary tale for us. Many also go searching for Jesus in the Church and instead find it empty and void of what they thirst for. Others wonder why come home when home still feels alienating to them.
Therefore, it is our duty as people and leaders to make the Church into a place where people can meet and experience the risen Lord. We must recognise, too, that such experience is not only available within the walls of the Church. We must not be an inward-looking and maintenance-focused people. Rather, we must be willing to be mission-oriented serving people where they are, in our parishes through liturgy and sacraments but also through pastoral closeness to those wandering in the new Babylon, that is the “strange land” beyond the pews.
This transition time calls us to contrition before we can emerge cleansed, renewed and transformed. Mary weeps at the sight of the empty tomb. We must learn to grieve and lament not simply for what happened to Jesus 2000 years ago. For he is wounded and dying in his brothers and sisters. He suffers with the victims of conflict in Ukraine, Gaza, the Middle East and elsewhere. He is one with those who cry out for justice, redress and reconciliation in our world. In our own country, we must break cycles of intergenerational trauma and restore cultural pride and connection for our indigenous youth. We must have courage to address injustices against people who are scapegoated as a threat. Why? Because the Church hosts God’s preferential love for the rejected like Jesus the stone rejected. We notice the plight of the oppressed and defend their cause. We raise the human questions of justice, human rights, sufferings and reparations on their behalf.
The Easter story does not end with bewilderment and disillusionment. It tells us of the conviction born not out of sight but out of faith. The unnamed disciple, the one that Jesus loved, became the model disciple for believing in the resurrection of Jesus despite limited evidence. Together with Mary of Magdala and Peter, he went out on a mission of proclaiming to others the Good News of the risen Lord.
Like them, we too are emboldened to move from the shadows of crucifixion into the light of the resurrection. We too are empowered to go to Galilee, in order to continue Jesus’ mission of justice, mercy and compassion.
Easter empowers us to be witnesses of the Gospel, pilgrims of hope and partners with the living God in the transformation of the world he so loves.
With the risen Lord, we are to restore relationships, repair injustices, give equity to the underclass and reimagine community in alignment with God’s vision of solidarity and harmony.
Dear brothers and sisters,
In the face of painful transition, let us be empowered by the presence of the risen Lord, calling us beyond the fear of the unknown. The paschal rhythm summons us to the path of kenosis, humility and vulnerability, of dying and rising in Christ.
Today, more than ever, we as the community of disciples must not stay put in a cocoon of familiarity, security and comfort. We must respond with courage to the Lord’s urging to minister with him in the thresholds and crossroads where people long for justice, dignity, peace and human flourishing. Going before the risen Christ to Galilee can only mean to venture to the new frontiers of solidarity, to create social bonds and foster common purpose, thus becoming the leaven of the Gospel.
With the joy and confidence of Easter, let us bear witness to the Kingdom vision of Jesus in the Galilee where the modern seekers of meaning, truth and faith traverse. Let us model a different way of being together – a society that is grounded in justice, animated by mercy, and sustained by hope. Let us be truly Easter men and women bringing to life the Good News of Christ. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.
