Easter Sunday 2026

My dear friends in Christ, St. Paul once hurled a challenge straight into the face of the ages: “What if Christ has not risen from the dead?” If that were so, then every sermon ever preached is a lie, every hope we cherish is a mockery, and we Christians are the most pitiable fools on earth. For without the Resurrection, the Cross is not victory but defeat; the tomb is not empty but final; sin is not conquered but crowned king forever.

But look! This is not supposition. This is Easter Sunday. And the readings of this holy day shatter that “what if” like glass under the hammer of God.

In the Gospel we have just heard, Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb while it is still dark. The stone is rolled away. She runs. Peter and the beloved disciple race after her. Peter enters first and sees the burial cloths lying there—not stolen, not scattered, but carefully folded, the head cloth set apart as though the Lord Himself had risen in perfect order and left His grave-clothes behind like a chrysalis from which the butterfly has flown. John looks, and he believes. They did not yet understand the Scripture, yet they saw the fact: the tomb was empty because Death had lost its grip.

St. Peter, in the first reading, stands before the world and thunders the same truth: “We are witnesses!” We saw Him crucified, hanged on a tree. But God raised Him on the third day. He appeared—not to everyone, but to us chosen by God—and we ate and drank with Him after He rose. This is no dream, no legend. This is eyewitness testimony from men who would rather die than deny it.

And because He is risen, the second reading commands us: “If you have been raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” Your life is hidden with Him now. The old yeast of malice is thrown out. Christ our Paschal Lamb has been sacrificed. This is the day the Lord has made—the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and we are to live as people already seated in heaven.

My friends, the “what if” is answered forever. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! The same power that rolled back the stone now rolls back every sin, every fear, and every grave that threatens us. Because He lives, we live. Because He conquered death, we are more than conquerors.

This Easter morning, do not leave this church as you came. Rise with Him! Seek what is above! Let the world see in your eyes the same fire that blazed in Peter’s, the same belief that dawned in John’s.

Alleluia! Christ is risen—and the whole creation sings with us: He is risen indeed! Amen.

Fr. Emmanuel Igwe, HFFBY