We
can try to imagine the emotions and confusion that Mary of Magdala, John, and
Simon Peter were feeling that morning they went to the tomb only to find the
tomb empty, to find Jesus’ burial clothes in a heap lying on the ground. Our
Gospel today ends by saying that these disciples of Jesus still did not
understand what it meant that Jesus would be raised from the dead. That
is at the center of the Gospel readings we will hear throughout the Easter
season all the way until our celebration of Pentecost: of what the reality of the
resurrection really means as it pertains to Jesus and as it pertains to us on
our own journey of faith.
Back in January, Pope Francis declared a
Jubilee Year of Mercy in the Catholic Church, encouraging us to reflect upon
God’s mercy and to have us more fully incorporate that mercy in the reality of
our lives. We
all know that Pope Francis has reached out to some many different people during
his papacy. He has reached out in a
special way to the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized in the world, and
to those who really need the message of God’s mercy to be able to face the next
day with courage and hope. There
is a lot in the world today that can seem confusing, chaotic, and
frightening. Earlier in the week, we greeted the day with the
news that there had been another terrorist bombing in one of the major cities
of Europe, with many innocent lives being taken or harmed in bombings in the
train station and airport in Brussels, Belgium. The terrorist group ISIS has claimed responsibility
for the attack. We
hear the message of hope and new life and resurrection this Easter morning in
the midst of the difficult reality of our world, and that is the way it should
be. God
does not exist in a perfect world in isolation from the daily reality of our
lives. We must attempt to understand the
message of the resurrection in the midst of our lived reality – a message that
speaks to that reality no matter how difficult or challenging or contradictory
that reality may be. The
joyful message of the resurrection is to touch our hearts and to give us
hope. Pope
Francis has stated that so many in the world are affected by violence, war, and
terrorism; by extreme poverty; by daily troubles in work or school; or by the
loneliness of their lives. The
message of the resurrection is that we are not to lose hope, that we are not to
be taken in “by the messages of hatred or terror all around us.” We
can be merciful like the Father. We can
live out God’s mercy in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy in our
Catholic faith.
Our
Easter Vigil mass last night was our first celebration of the joy of the Easter
season. In
that mass, we blessed the baptismal waters, renewed our own baptismal promises,
and baptized, an infant, two children, and a youth into the Catholic
faith. In
addition, last night, 7 adults came into the faith through the RCIA process,
and 3 Hispanic Catholic adults received the Sacrament of confirmation. And many of these individuals received the
Eucharist for the very first time. The
joyful Easter Vigil mass is such a wonderful way to kick off the Easter
season. It is a good experience that can
prompt us to start thinking about our own faith journey and the presence of the
resurrected Christ in the reality of our lives. As
disciples of Christ, we can all give Jesus an answer to the following
questions: What is the reality of the
resurrected Christ in my life? How do I
live out the resurrection each day?
Today, on Easter morning, we celebrate Christ’s triumph over death, a triumph
that helps us find a reason for our joy and our hope, that helps us find a
purpose and direction in life. We’ve
not sung the alleluia all during the 40 days of Lent, our 40 days with Jesus in
the desert. We
sang the alleluia for the first time in the Easter season last night during the
Easter Vigil mass. The
word alleluia is our slogan during the Easter season. The
Greek word Alleluia come from the Hebrew word for God – Yahweh – meaning
“praise the Lord” or “praise God.” Thus,
the Alleluia that we sing today is a fitting response to what we affirm and
celebrate on Easter Sunday.
I
mentioned that the Easter season is a good time for all of us to reflect on the
reality of the resurrected Christ in our lives. Later
in the Easter season, I am going to ask members of our confirmation class and
our RCIA program to give a faith testimony as to how they have experienced the
reality of the risen Christ in the midst of their faith journey. Let
the risen Christ be more than an idea or symbol for us in our lives. Let the risen Christ truly be a reality that
molds us and leads us and guides us.
No comments:
Post a Comment