The readings today are full of one great truth.

The Resurrection is not an idea.
It is a fact. And because it is a fact, it demands a response.

In the Gospel, the disciples are still trying to take it in.
They are talking about what has happened.
They are still startled.
Still uncertain.
Still not quite able to believe for joy.

And then Jesus stands among them.

Not in memory.
Not in imagination.
Not as a comforting thought.

He stands among them. That matters.

Because Easter is not the story of frightened men slowly cheering themselves up.
It is not the disciples deciding that the cause of Jesus must go on.
It is not a vague sense that love is stronger than death.

It is this: the crucified Christ is alive, and He comes to His disciples.

He says: “Peace to you.”

Those are the first words of the risen Lord in this Gospel.
Not blame.
Not rebuke.
Not “Where were you?”

Peace.

That is already mercy.

Then, because they are frightened, He shows them His hands and His feet.
He says, in effect: Look. It is really me.
The one who was crucified is the one who now stands before you.
The wounds are still there, but death is not.

That is very important.

The Resurrection does not erase the Cross.
It reveals its victory.

The risen Christ is not a different Christ from the crucified Christ.
He is the same Lord.
The same body.
The same wounds.
The same Jesus.

And then He goes even further.
He asks for food.
He eats in front of them.

Why?

To make it unmistakably clear that this is not fantasy.
Not a ghost.
Not a vision.
The Resurrection is real.
The body that was dead is now alive.

That is why the Church insists on this so strongly.
If Christ is not truly risen, then Christianity collapses.
But if He is risen — and He is — then everything changes.

That is exactly what St Peter says in the first reading.

The people are staring at Peter and John after the healing of the lame man.
And Peter immediately pushes their attention away from himself.
Why are you looking at us, as if by our own power or holiness we had made him walk?

That is a great apostolic line.

Peter knows this is not about Peter.
It is about Christ.

And then he says it plainly.
You handed Him over.
You denied Him.
You killed the Author of life.

That is strong language.
But Peter does not say it to crush them.
He says it so that they may repent.

Because then comes the great Easter sentence: “God raised him from the dead.”

That is the turning point.

The one they rejected, God has vindicated.
The one they killed, God has raised.
The one they thought silenced, now speaks peace to the world.

And Peter does not stop at proclamation.
He moves to appeal.

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.”

That is Easter preaching.

Not only: Christ is risen.

But also: therefore turn back.
Therefore do not remain as you are.
Therefore let mercy reach you.
Therefore let your sins be forgiven.

That is still the message of Easter.

The risen Christ does not appear to the apostles simply to amaze them.
He appears to send them.
He opens their minds to understand the Scriptures.
He shows them that all this had to happen:
the suffering, the Cross, the Resurrection,
and then the preaching of repentance and forgiveness.

That is the order.

The Cross was not an accident.
The Resurrection was not an afterthought.
And the Church is not a religious club keeping the memory alive.

The Church is the people sent to preach that sins can be forgiven because Christ is risen.

That is why Easter is so searching.

Because the question is not only whether the tomb is empty.
It is.
The question is: have I turned back?

Have I let the risen Christ bring peace into the places in me that are still ruled by fear?
Have I brought my sins to Him to be blotted out?
Have I actually repented?
Or am I still standing at a distance, admiring Easter without entering into it?

Because the Resurrection is not just to be admired.
It is to be lived.

Peter does not say, “Feel inspired.”
He says, “Repent.”

Jesus does not merely say, “See my wounds.”
He says, “You are witnesses.”

So the call today is simple.

Do not reduce Easter to joy without conversion.
Do not reduce the Resurrection to a happy ending.
The risen Christ stands among His people.
He speaks peace.
He shows His wounds.
He opens minds.
And He sends the Church to preach repentance and forgiveness in His name.

That means no sin needs to be defended.
No sinner needs to despair.
No wound needs to be hidden from Him.

Christ is risen. And therefore mercy is alive.
Christ is risen. And therefore forgiveness can be preached.
Christ is risen. And therefore we can turn back.

So let that be the Easter message we actually live:
not only that Christ is alive,
but that because He is alive,
we can begin again.