Easter Sunday – April 4, 2021
We are well aware of the reality of death.
We hear every day of those killed by the Covid-19 virus. We hear about death on
our roads. We are horrified at the number of people who are being coldheartedly
murdered in our country. From time to time, when we experience serious illness
or an awful accident, we are reminded of our own mortality.
When Mary Magdalene approached the tomb of
Jesus on that first Easter morning, she was preoccupied with death. Jesus,
whose healing love she had experienced, had been cruelly put to death by the
Romans in his prime. She had stood by the cross and watched him die. Now, she
was approaching the tomb to complete the rituals associated with death by
anointing Jesus’ body with oils and perfumes. To her amazement she discovered
the tomb was empty. This discovery only added to her darkness of spirit, her
grief. Not only had Jesus been put to death, but, she presumes, his body had
been stolen.
The gospel reading suggests that even Peter
did not immediately understand the true meaning of the empty tomb. The empty
tomb would take everyone by surprise. It is only the beloved disciple that the
evangelist says: “He saw and believed.” He alone understood why the tomb was
empty; he alone saw that life had triumphed over death. Even before the risen
Lord appeared to him, he understood that Jesus was risen. There will always be
some who see and understand more deeply than others. The good news of Easter is
that the tomb of death has been transformed by God and became the womb of new
life.
The feast of Easter is our feast of life. In
a culture where death can be so dominant, we need to savor this feast of life.
At Easter we renew our faith in a living God who brings new life out of death.
If the death of Jesus reveals a God of love, the resurrection of Jesus reveals
a God of life. We know from our own experience that genuine human love is
always life-giving, and divine love is profoundly life-giving. At Easter we
celebrate not only what the God of life has done for Jesus, but what God can do
for us all. Because of Easter, we can face our own personal death with hope.
Easter teaches us that the journey to the tomb is not ultimately a journey to
death.
If Easter enables us to face our own death
with hope, it also encourages us to look at all our other experiences of death
with new eyes. There is a sense in which we have to deal with death throughout
our lives, long before the moment of our own personal death arrives. Whenever
someone close to us dies, some part of us dies with them. The experience of
aging is itself a kind of dying, a letting go of our physical energy, perhaps
even of our mental capacities. At any stage in life we can find ourselves
dealing with very significant losses, such as the loss of a relationship that
has been very significant for us, the loss of a job, the loss of plans and
goals. In such losses, Easter, the feast of life, can speak powerfully to us.
Because the Lord is risen, we do not face these losses alone. Pope Francis said: “We proclaim the
resurrection of Christ when his light illuminates the dark moments of our
existence.” The risen Lord can work powerfully in all our experiences of
loss and weakness.
All those to whom the risen Lord appeared
were sent out as messengers of Easter hope and joy. Easter, the feast of life,
sends us forth to create a culture of life. We are faithful to that Easter
calling whenever we help others to make new beginnings, whenever we help those
who are struggling to live life to the full, whenever we are present to people
in ways that enable their gifts to come alive. Easter reminds us that we are mediators
of God’s life-giving work in our world.
Happy
Easter to all. May it be a celebration of hope, love and peace.
Fr. Don, cp