We have made it to Easter day in the midst of a very challenging year. For us as Catholics, Easter day and the entire Easter season celebrate the most joyful time of the liturgical year as we celebrate the resurrected Lord in a special way. But, our Easter joy this year comes in the midst of our challenges and struggles in the pandemic. When the pandemic started here in the United States in March last year, most of us did not think that more than a year later we would wearing masks and still having Mass drive-in style in our cars. Frustration, anger, confusion, fear, loneliness: these are some of the emotions we may have felt this year.
It will help us to think back to the reaction of Christ’s apostles and other followers to his death on Good Friday. They were very confused as to what was happening. They had no clue as to where it would lead them in their faith. Most of them probably thought that Christ’s death was the end of the story and that his life and ministry would become a long-forgotten memory for them. Our Gospel today tells us that when Mary Magdalene witnessed the empty tomb that she ran in haste to Simon Peter and to the beloved disciples and told them: “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” At this point, they thought Jesus' body had been stolen from the tomb and they did not think that he had come back to life. These reactions of fear, bewilderment and confusion preceded any Easter joy. The resurrected Jesus was too much for them to grasp. In the coming weeks of the Octave of Easter and the Easter season, the Evangelist show evidence that the risen Jesus was not just spiritually alive, but physically alive as well.
The challenges we are going through in the midst of our reality in the pandemic are real. But the resurrection of Jesus is a reality as well, which is the whole point of our celebration of Easter and the whole point of our Catholic faith. The resurrection is more than an abstraction. It is more than a spiritual reality. The resurrection of Easter joy is the most radical mystery of our faith, not something we can explain by our intellect. It is a mystery of faith that completely transforms our reality. It is a mystery we are able to believe and embrace through the lens of our faith.
Just this past week, during the first several days of Holy Week, I got to see some of my brother priests at events such as a reconciliation service, the Chrism Mass, and a funeral. I have really missed seeing my brother priests during the pandemic. I have missed getting together with all of you here at the parish for different events. But even in the midst of the pandemic and the busy schedule of Holy Week, it was such a blessing to see these glimpses of the joy of our faith. On Thursday and Friday during Holy Week, our collections went to the outreach ministries we have at St Jude. Some of those ministries have very active during the pandemic, such as our food bank to HIV/AIDS patients and our feeding of the homeless and of poor families at Poindexter Park and at the Opportunity Center. Other ministries, such as our weekly visits to Whitfield State Hospital and to the prisons have been on hold since the pandemic started. Those ministries are indicative of our Easter joy as well.
Today, with Christians all over the world, let us follow the example of Mary Magdalene. Let us also stand at the empty tomb. Let us believe. Let us then have the courage to proclaim the Good News of the resurrection to others and to live out that Good News in our lives. This Easter, may what we believe in our hearts, profess with our lips, be seen in the work of our hands and the quality of our daily lives. Alleluia! Christ is risen!
No comments:
Post a Comment