Our
masses this weekend are a very important moment in our Church’s liturgical year
and in our journey as Christians. We
have been preparing for many weeks all during the Holy Season of Lent for this
day – that long period of preparation shows how important this day is to
us. We
celebrate the risen Lord today – we celebrate Christ as our Savior and
Redeemer.
I
always enjoy looking at the history of words and traditions that we have in our
faith, so I wondered: Where does the word “Easter” come from? The
word “Easter” comes from an Old English word that means the “East”. Think
of the sun that rises from the East, bringing us light, warmth, hope, and a new
day. The
sun rising in the East is a symbol of the Risen Christ – Christ who is the
light of our world, the light of our lives. Last
night, at the Easter Vigil mass, we lit the Paschal candle in the darkness of
the night from the Easter fire. The
light of the Paschal candle, the light of Jesus, entered the darkness of the
church, the darkness of the tomb. The
Paschal candle will be kept by the altar area during the 50 days of the Easter
season. Christ the light is indeed with
us in a special way during this time of the liturgical year.
When
we were reading the Passion of the Lord from the Gospel of John in our Good
Friday liturgy, I was drawn to the words that recounted how the Virgin Mary,
Mary of Clopas, Mary of Magdala, and the beloved disciple John all were there
at the cross as Jesus was crucified. In
our Easter Gospel message, it is the same Mary Magdala who comes to the tomb
early in the morning, presumably to anoint Jesus’ body. When she finds the tomb empty, she runs off
to tell Simon Peter and the beloved disciple about what she had just found. Were
these disciples afraid of what they had seen?
They had witnessed the death of Jesus – their friend, their Savior,
their great teacher. They had witnessed
his violent death on the cross. Did
they think about the heavy stone that would block them entry into the tomb? Did
they think of the other obstacles they would encounter? Of the Roman soldiers who might arrest them or
put them to death? The
answer is probably yes. They were
probably very frightened by what they had just seen. They were probably very aware of the
obstacles and dangers they themselves would face. They
could have fled into hiding. But they
chose not to. And
while we, as modern day Christians, have an understanding both in our hearts
and our minds what the resurrection of Jesus is about, Mary of Magdala and the
beloved disciple were just getting a glimpse of what the resurrection might be
about. Yet, their fears and obstacles
did not prevent them from believing in Jesus.
They did not prevent them from being loyal to him even as he lay in the
tomb. The
beloved disciple still had not taken everything in, still had not understood
what had happened, but Gospel reports that “he saw and believed”.
Sometimes
our actions say a lot. I was
very edified by what I saw in our parish this Lenten season. I saw
many of you taking your Lenten promises very seriously. We had great attendance at our daily masses
and Stations of the Cross and other Lenten devotions. Beyond that, I feel a really good energy in our parish right now. At
the end of this month, we will mark the one year anniversary of the tornado
that tore through our city and that did a lot of damage to our church and to
many of our parishioners. So
many parishioners have worked so hard to make the needed repairs and to get our
church back on track. The two weeks
leading up to Holy Week, there was a big effort to refresh our church with
paint and cleaning and new floor, and the results have been amazing. It shows the great love and dedication so
many people have for our parish. Living out our faith, living out the joy of the resurrection, and being a part
of the community – that is a big part of the Easter message. The
first thing Mary Magdala did when she encountered the empty tomb was to go out
and to and tell the other members of the community. Our Catholic faith has never been about
living it out individually or in isolation – it is about being a part of the
community. Think
about how the resurrection message of Easter is calling out to you today, how
it is calling out to you to be a more involved part of our community. Pope Francis wants us to be a warm, inviting,
diverse and joy-filled Church where all are welcome to be disciples of Christ,
where we in turn go out and make disciples, where we proclaim the kingdom of
God to all. And
that is what we want to be here at St James. This Easter morning, Christ has conquered
death, he grants us new life, he grants us his peace. Let
us be a part of this Easter message of joy!
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