Easter Sunday
We are Truly Risen!
This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible […] to us,
the witnesses chosen by God in advance.
(Acts 10:40-41)
A reading from
the holy Gospel according to John 20:1-9
ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb […] and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple […] and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out […] to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there […]. Then the other disciple also went in […] and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Pope Francis in his homily at Palm Sunday invited us to reflect and ponder on one single question: Who am I? Who am I before my Lord? Who am I before Jesus who enters into Jerusalem? Am I capable of expressing my joy, of praising him? Or do I distance myself from him? Who am I before Jesus who suffers?
On Holy Wednesday when addressing a group of Seminarians from the Pontifical Leonine College of Anagni he said, “you are becoming pastors in the image of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, to be like Him and in His person in the midst of his flock, to feed his sheep.” The task is too great for us to understand, but it’s not our work! It is the work of the Holy Spirit, with our collaboration. It is about offering oneself humbly, as clay to be moulded, so that the potter, who is God, can shape it with water and fire, with the Word and the Spirit.
If Jesus remained dead in the tomb what would it mean? It would mean that Mary Magdalene is nothing but a sinner, Peter is nothing but a betrayer, the woman caught in adultery is nothing but an adulteress, Matthew is nothing but a corrupt tax collector. If the cross was the end, then the thief on that other cross was just a pathetic beggar whose meaningless life and whose brazen request was swallowed in death. Parables about fathers forgiving sinful sons would just be fairy tales to distract us from the deadening harshness of life, and our inability to live it fully.
What does Resurrection mean? It means that Mary Magdalene is the first witness of the most important event in creation. Peter is the rock on which Christ’s Church is built, the former adulteress is a beloved daughter, and Matthew is an Apostle of God. That good man on the cross is rejoicing with Jesus in heaven today and all days.
The Resurrection recreates us and gives us a new identity, our true identity. Let us never be afraid of walking into the newness of life that God is offering us, the newness that God asks of us. Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen! He is truly the Son of God! Truly, we are now beloved daughters and sons, and ever shall be, word without end. Amen. Only with this knowledge can we truly and reasonably say, “Happy Easter!”
