Please read the passage before reading the homily.
St Paul says that, if one man had died for the rest, then all have died. Christ died one for the rest of us, and we died with him; Christ likewise rose from the dead and we have risen with him. “Through baptism we were buried with him and likewise risen with him.
There are consequences for us through our sharing in the resurrection of Christ. We, “who have risen with Christ have to seek the things above.” In the tomb of death, there is only darkness; above the tomb there is much light.
The darkness of death because of our sins includes lying, fornication, impurity, disordered passions, evil desires, coveting, and idolatry. The light of Christ gets rid of the differences between the Jewish and the non-Jewish, between those circumcised and those not circumcised, and between slave and freed person. The light of Christ is the light of respect for all men and women, for all boys and girls, and for the whole of nature.
We have died to the life of the first Adam, and we live now with the new life of Christ. The things of death are the things below. The things of life are the things above, such as the sun and the grace of God.
The light of Christ welcomes all peoples without distinction of color, sexuality, gender, religion, work, wealth, poverty, residence, country of origin, language, age or political party.
Christ, who lives the glorious life of God, makes no distinction, but welcomes everyone. We, who have risen with Christ, are not allowed to make distinctions either; we also have to welcome everyone.
The hew life, which God has given us through the resurrection of God’s Son, does not end with death. Rather, it will be changed into the full glory of Christ, who us all in all.