Archbishop Gordon: Don't fear death, rejection as Resurrection shows Jesus's love

Roman Catholic Archbishop Jason Gordon said the resurrection and Jesus’ sacrifice meant that people should not be afraid of death or rejection. He said Jesus offers all the love people are looking for.

Speaking at the Easter Sunday service at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Port of Spain, Gordon compared the Resurrection to the creation of the earth.

“Just as there was darkness at the beginning of the world, God said let there be light, and there was light. So too, it was very early on the first day of the week and it was still dark, and God said let there be light, and there was light.

“The Resurrection is understood as a singular moment that does something that has never been done before: he raises from the dead his son, Jesus Christ.

"There were other people who died and came back, but they had to die again. In the Resurrection we’re talking about a permanent state of life that conquers death, which means there is no more death at the end.”

Gordon said to live in the faith of the resurrection, was to realise that Christ had conquered death.

“The Resurrection is the deep dynamism of faith today. How much of your life is lived because of your fears? People are most afraid of death, rejection, not having enough to have a decent life, lose your job, lose your health, can’t support yourself, those are the major things.

“If Jesus has conquered death, what are you really afraid of?

"To live in the power of the Resurrection is to realise that Christ has conquered death and, therefore, we should not live in our fear.

"If we have died with him in baptism and been raised with him to eternal life, then what is there to be afraid of? Is there anything that can happen in our life that God would not be there with us and not see us through it, anything at all? The Resurrection shows that death and all it holds has no power over us.”

Gordon said another major fear people had was being rejected and not being able to find love.

“If Jesus conquered death, why are we rehashing negative things that happened years ago in our relationships and bringing them back up?

"The Resurrection comes out of the most perfect sacrifice. Jesus chose to give himself for you and me and that choice demonstrates the depth of love with which you are loved. You are loved beyond all measure.

“When the lover who has loved us so completely, constantly begs us to come and experience a love that is beyond anything, and we don’t go to him and receive the love, but we are afraid of not being loved, you call people like that dotish.

"There is a love waiting for you. And rather than receiving that love, you look for love in all the wrong places.”

Gordon said Easter was not just a celebration of something that happened thousands of years ago, but a time to live in faith.

“Looking through the lens of the Resurrection means we don’t live by our fears, we don’t live by rehashing things that have died long ago, and we certainly don’t live as if we are unloved, because Jesus shows us what true and perfect love is.”