‘This great joy…needs to be shared’

CHARLOTTE — Because of Jesus’ resurrection, we have new life and salvation from “the tombs of our lives,” and as His disciples we are called to share that news, Bishop Michael Martin preached at Easter.

That was the message the bishop proclaimed Sunday morning at St. Mark Church in Huntersville and at the Easter Vigil at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte – two of the three Masses he is celebrating this Easter, his first since becoming Bishop of Charlotte.

At St. Mark Church on Sunday morning, Bishop Martin told a capacity crowd of 1500 in the church and 590 in overflow seating in the parish hall that we should not merely be spectators at Easter. What was gained for us in Jesus’ resurrection is not something to be observed at a distance “but is rather to be experienced,” he said. “You and I are changed because of what we celebrate here today. Praise God for the resurrection that's not just the resurrection of Christ but the resurrection of Mike and Laurie and Steve and Alejandro and all of us together.”

“Are you willing to experience that or are you still holding on tight to your spectator status?” he asked, repeating the message of evangelization he emphasized the prior evening at St. Patrick.

That Easter Vigil Mass drew longtime parishioners along with 10 people who became Catholic by receiving the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and first Eucharist. This scene played out across the Diocese of Charlotte, welcoming hundreds of people into the Church at the 93 parishes across the western half of North Carolina. St. Mark, for example, welcomed 29 new Catholics at its Vigil Mass.

It is baptism that connects us to the death and resurrection of Jesus, Bishop Martin said in his homilies, reiterating his call from the start of Lent urging people to embrace conversion and bear witness to Christ’s message.

Our own baptism and experience of the Resurrection should compel us to “get out there” and share the Good News of Jesus with others, he said.

Easter is not a beautiful moment to watch and applaud, then forget in a few days, Bishop Martin said. “We are not here as spectators. We are not here just to marvel at the glory of God and wake up tomorrow and be the same.” Our Easter experience, he said, is “something greater.”

“You and I are different because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” he said. “We’re not just observers, we’re participants. We are immersed fully in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

Our faith in the Resurrection means acknowledging “the tombs of our lives,” he said. “You can't rise unless you die. You can’t be brought to new life unless you acknowledge the stink, the dankness of your former life. We cannot rise with Christ unless we’re ready to let go of our previous tomb. Where is that for you?

“You’ve got to be willing to say, ‘Lord come into that tomb, into that broken relationship, into that habitual sin I can't get rid of, into that circumstance that just weighs me down – come into that tomb, Lord. That’s where I need resurrection.’”

We are united to Jesus’ death and resurrection through our “immersion into the cleansing water” of baptism, Bishop Martin said.

Baptism “changes us, and we’ve got to stop living like we have never been baptized,” he noted.

Our experience of the Resurrection must be shared, he emphasized.

Catholics who are baptized as adults – such as those who come in to the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil – appreciate the power of baptism and the experience of faith, he said.

They have chosen to become Catholic “because there have been other people in their lives who have been willing to share what this experience has meant,” he said.

“How willing are you to go out into this world that doesn't know the experience that we’ve had as believers?” he asked. “Are you willing to witness to your faith, to a world that needs it?”

This great joy must be shared, he said. “We should blow the doors off this place in our desire to get out there and say: ‘My life is different, I’ve risen with Christ, I’m no longer in those tombs, and I can’t live my life without desiring you to be with me in that.’

“Praise God for the resurrection of Jesus Christ! Praise God for the glory of the Resurrection! Praise God that we get to share in it, that when we wake up tomorrow, we are different – we’ve been immersed in the glory of Christ’s death and resurrection in baptism.”

Reminding people of Jesus’ “great commission” to His disciples before His Ascension, the bishop urged people: “Let’s listen to His final words to us and get out there and baptize the nations.”

— Patricia L. Guilfoyle. Photos by Troy Hull and Liz Chandler.