Please read the Scripture passage before the homily.
We have a conspiracy theory. The story is that Jesus’ disciples came by night while the guards were sleeping and stole the body of Jesus from the tomb. The competing theory is that Jesus rose from the dead and is still alive, even today.
Who killed Lincoln? Who killed JFK? Did each assassin act alone or was there a conspiracy? In reality it does not matter since both Lincoln and Kennedy are dead and buried. On the other hand, it does really matter which story we tell about Jesus. If his disciples stole his body, then Jesus is dead and gone, same as Lincoln and Kennedy. We do, however, have the dead bodies of the two presidents, but we do not have the dead body of Jesus. We do have the probable tomb where Jesus lay, but it is empty and without a body because Jesus has risen and is alive. If Jesus is alive, then so are we.
Mary Magdalene and another Mary said that they had met the risen Jesus, and that they went and told the other apostles that Jesus would meet them in Galilee. In Galilee is where Jesus had begun his public ministry and it was in Galilee that his disciples would be commissioned. There was no conspiracy over coverup regarding the resurrection of Jesus: he did die, and was buried, but he is risen from the dead even now.
The conspiracy theory has no basis in fact. We have no dead body. We have no records of people having found his dead body. We have no Alpine chalet where Jesus, Lincoln and Kennedy are passing the remaining years of their lives sitting in front of the roaring fireplace, sipping their mugs of herbal teas in peaceful tranquility of heart.
Rather, the truthful story, told by the two Marys, is still being believed, and it has changed the behavior of many. We have heard the story, believed it, and in the Galilees where we live, Christ has commissioned us to be his disciples and apostles to live and preach this gospel of good news.