A reading from the holy gospel
according to John (20, 1-9)
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary
Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the
tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom
Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and
we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set
out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other
disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and
saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter
came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying
there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen
wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who
reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they
did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. This is the
word of the Lord.
The other
day I was listening to Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem with its beautiful, dramatic
and tremendous music. It is awe-inspiring! It is not the first time I listened
to it, but I was deeply impressed by the words and music of the Dies Irae, the
Sequence that speaks of the coming Judgement Day, the Dies Irae, the Day of
Wrath. The fourth stanza presents Death stupefied when it sees all creatures
awakening in answer to the call for everybody to stand before the judgement
Throne. The Requiem is a Mass for the Dead. It is not an Easter celebration.
But it was Lent and I was thinking of Easter. Imbued as I was with Verdi’s
music, I imagined Death dumbfounded, astonished and speechless at the
resurrection of humankind on Judgement Day. I thought, how much more wordless
must have Death been on that first Easter Sunday when Jesus resurrected to life
on his own power. The Easter sequence we read today tells us that “Death and
life contended in a spectacular battle: the Prince of life, who died, reigns
alive”.
I asked
myself: “What was spectacular in this battle between Life and Death?” We can
imagine that the battle between life and death was remarkable, enormous, and
outstanding. It was a fight between the Almighty and the Powerless! We think
that death has power, because we see her saying the last word … for we all will
die! However, power belongs to the Almighty who knows that death is only a
passage from life in time to life eternal. This is why I imagine that the
spectacular battle fought on Easter Sunday was a silent battle. Death was
stupefied when it saw the Author of Life resurrecting … without asking her
permission! What word could death pronounce before the Son of God, the Word
that created and recreated every living thing? Jesus just went on his way to
life, as he did on those occasions when people wanted to kill him before his
hour had come. When his hour came, he resurrected!
What
happened on the morning of the first Easter Sunday? How did Jesus resurrect?
There were no reliable witnesses. The soldiers guarding Christ’s tomb were
easily bribed and silenced. They spread the story of a stolen body to explain
an empty tomb. It coincided with the first impression the women had when they
went to pay their respects to the dead Christ and they saw the empty tomb; … so,
a stolen body! They could not yet understand resurrection! We still find it
difficult to understand resurrection. Indeed we do not understand it. It is
beyond our mental capabilities, for it is not a return to life on earth with
all its limitations, joys and suffering. Lazarus was returned to this life …
and he had to die again! Christ’s resurrection is different for, as St. Paul
tells us: “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die
again; death no longer has dominion over him” (Rom 6: 9).
The real
and trustworthy witnesses do not tell us about the dynamics of the
resurrection. The disciples, men and women, speak about their personal
encounter with the Lord who is alive. The empty tomb by itself spoke of the
Lord of Life leaving it alive under his own power: for he is The Lord!
These
encounters happened at different times, with different people, individually or
in groups. The apostle Paul tells us: “Now I would remind you, brothers and
sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received,
… that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he
was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the
scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. Then he appeared
to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are
still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the
apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me” (1
Corinthians 15, 1-8).
These
appearances tell us that, although Jesus resurrected on a given day, at a given
time, the awareness of his resurrection did not come about and was not accepted
at once, by all. This awareness depended on different encounters in the different
moments and places in which those chosen to be witnesses of his resurrection
were.
Mary
Magdalen was outside the tomb weeping because of the stolen body of Jesus. Then
she met the man she thought was the gardener. She only became aware that he was
her risen Lord when he called her by name. On recognizing him as her teacher,
he gave her a mission to be an apostle to the apostles. “Go and tell my
brethren” he told her.
Two
disciples were walking back to their village sad and discouraged. They met a
fellow traveller and they felt something different as they chatted along the
way. As it was getting late, they invited him home. They became aware that he
was the risen Christ when he broke their bread. He disappeared from their sight
and they walked back to their fellow disciples to break the news of the
resurrection.
The
disciples were gathered together in a room, afraid. Jesus entered the room even
though the doors were closed, and stood among them. He said to them: “Peace be
with you.” He showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. The disciples
were filled with joy. He breathed the Holy Spirit on them and he sent them in
mission.
Saul was
full of zeal for God and against the disciples of the Lord. He was on his way
to Damascus to arrest all those who professed their faith in Jesus. Suddenly a
light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice
saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you,
Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting”. He was baptised
by Ananias. He then started to preach the Lord who was crucified and
resurrected.
As John
said, at the end of his gospel, there are many other things that Jesus said and
did. Let these few Easter experiences suffice for the time being.
Let us
remember that the message and the acceptance of the mystery of the resurrection
is not a one off experience. Starting on the first Easter Sunday these
appearances are repeated at various times and in different ways in the lives of
the many that Jesus meets in an effort to make of all nations his disciples.
I believe
that the word of God spoken by Isaiah (Is 43, 19): “I am doing a new thing; now
it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” is an Easter invitation in the sense
that we are encouraged to pay attention to the signs of resurrection that Jesus
is still working in our days. There is no need to look for spectacular
appearances. Small, beautiful things are frequently used by the Lord to tell
us: “Look here, do not be afraid. I am with you”. The other day it was a two
year old girl with her tiny index finger on her lips inviting me to be silent
in church, a thing she had just learned from her mother. I saw a child yet too
young to speak moving her lips trying to reproduce the sound of the prayers
adults were saying during a celebration. Easter signs can be seen everywhere
around us.
The tomb is still empty for we cannot see Jesus
with our own eyes, but we can perceive the newness of life in the Lord. Indeed
he is still alive and he sends us in mission so that as many people as possible
may feel the joy of being his friends and disciples.
No comments:
Post a Comment