The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary for Easter Sunday invite us to proclaim the message “He is Risen! He is Risen, indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia!”.
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| Signs of New Life |
In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Gentiles hear the Good News!
* [10:39] We are witnesses: the apostolic testimony was not restricted to the resurrection of Jesus but also included his historical ministry. This witness, however, was theological in character; the Twelve, divinely mandated as prophets, were empowered to interpret his sayings and deeds in the light of his redemptive death and resurrection. The meaning of these words and deeds was to be made clear to the developing Christian community as the bearer of the word of salvation (cf. Acts 1:21–26)1.
Psalm 118 is a song of victory.
* [118:22] The stone the builders rejected: a proverb: what is insignificant to human beings has become great through divine election. The “stone” may originally have meant the foundation stone or capstone of the Temple. The New Testament interpreted the verse as referring to the death and resurrection of Christ (Mt 21:42; Acts 4:11; cf. Is 28:16 and Rom 9:33; 1 Pt 2:7).2
The passage from the Letter of Paul to the Colossians declares the New Life in Christ!
* [3:1–4] By retaining the message of the gospel that the risen, living Christ is the source of their salvation, the Colossians will be free from false religious evaluations of the things of the world (Col 3:1–2). They have died to these; but one day when Christ…appears, they will live with Christ in the presence of God (Col 3:3–4).3
The Gospel of John describes the visit to the tomb after the Resurrection of Jesus.
* [20:1–10] The story of the empty tomb is found in both the Matthean and the Lucan traditions; John’s version seems to be a fusion of the two.4
Eileen Burke-Sullivan contemplates Today, in a time of sickness and death, a time of economic chaos and disruption, a time when ordinary patterns of human interaction – even the patterns of worship of God – have all been disordered by a global pandemic. It is as if the whole of humanity has entered a boat together, but each alone, to sail through an unpredicted storm, on an ocean that was already deep, dangerous, and seems to have no boundaries. Pope Francis pointed this out several weeks ago when he granted the special blessing to the “city and the world.” We are a people lost at sea.
Where do we look for meaning and consolation in such a frightening time?
The Christian Tradition sees this moment in the paradigm of Jesus’ Passion and Death. This is a moment when the body of humanity is enduring the ultimate chaos that signals a way of death; signals the passing away of what has “always” been. We are, frankly, at sea without stars to guide us.
Jesus, the Second Person of God, entered the human experience in the body of a human woman, was born into humanity out of the chaos of the waters, and then lived into the soul wrenching, body destroying murder of that same human life by the agents of sin and death – injustice and violence, lying and cruelty, corruption and greed. The leadership structures of societies colluded with sin. Weak and frightened humans, denied, lied and betrayed Jesus. He who was God-become-human lived into our radical vulnerability and lived through death itself. Just as he chose to be born in water, He chose to allow the chaos of evil to drown his human life. Making both choices as one choice, trusting that God is ultimately in charge of all creation and will bring victory from what appears to be certain defeat.
Easter is the ultimate reality. At whatever point we are in creation history, the mystery we celebrate in Easter is what (finally) IS. Easter promises those who have entered the waters of baptism the ultimate outcome of victory if we choose to believe and live into God’s Reign on earth, as it is in Heaven. Jesus challenges us to not be afraid; even COVID 19 is subordinate to the will and plans of the Father. The waters of chaos, filled with the Breath of God, have become the waters of baptismal life through the death and resurrection of the God/human, Jesus the Christ.
He is Risen! He is Risen, indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia!5
Don Schwager quotes “The Womb of the Earth Gives Birth,” by Hesychius of Jerusalem, who died around 450 A.D.
"Hidden first in a womb of flesh, he sanctified human birth by his own birth. Hidden afterward in the womb of the earth, he gave life to the dead by his resurrection. Suffering, pain and sighs have now fled away. For who has known the mind of God, or who has been his counselor if not the Word made flesh who was nailed to the cross, who rose from the dead and who was taken up into heaven? This day brings a message of joy: it is the day of the Lord's resurrection when, with himself, he raised up the race of Adam. Born for the sake of human beings, he rose from the dead with them. On this day paradise is opened by the risen one, Adam is restored to life and Eve is consoled. On this day the divine call is heard, the kingdom is prepared, we are saved and Christ is adored. On this day, when he had trampled death under foot, made the tyrant a prisoner and despoiled the underworld, Christ ascended into heaven as a king in victory, as a ruler in glory, as an invincible charioteer. He said to the Father, 'Here am I, O God, with the children you have given me.' And he heard the Father’s reply, 'Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool' (Psalm 110:1)." To him be glory, now and forever, through endless ages. Amen. [excerpt from EASTER HOMILY 5–6]6
The Word Among Us Meditation on John 20:1-9 comments that we hear a tale of panic, misunderstanding, and incomplete faith. Mary Magdalene thinks Jesus’ corpse has been stolen. Peter is stunned by the empty tomb. And John? He begins to believe, but he still leaves the scene unsatisfied. Where is the joy? What about the victory that Jesus has promised?
Over the next few days at Mass, we’ll see Mary Magdalene, the apostles, the Emmaus disciples, and Peter all have personal encounters with Jesus. And when they do—that’s when the joy comes in.
Today at Mass, we will sing “Alleluia” before the Gospel reading. And we will hear how “on this day . . . above all” it is right and just to praise Jesus “more gloriously” than at any other time of the year (Preface I of Easter). But don’t limit your rejoicing based on your having heard the good news proclaimed in the Gospel. Instead, imagine how great, how deep, and how glorious your rejoicing will be as you come to meet the risen Lord in Holy Communion. Imagine what will happen as you come seeking a personal encounter with him, an encounter with his love and grace.7
Friar Jude Winkler discusses the kerygma proclaimed by Peter in the house of “god fearer”, Cornellius. Like the Colossians, we have died to sin and are called to live in Christ. Friar Jude notices how love propels the beloved disciple to get to the tomb first.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, believes the Christian faith is saying that the pattern of transformation is always death transformed, not death avoided. The universal spiritual pattern is death and resurrection, or loss and renewal, if you prefer. That is always a disappointment to humans, because we want one without the other—transformation without cost or surrender.
We ordinarily learn to submit and surrender to this scary pattern only when reality demands it of us, as it is doing now. Christians are helped by the fact that Jesus literally submitted to it and came out more than okay. Jesus is our guide, the “pioneer and perfecter of our faith,” as the Letter to the Hebrews puts it (12:2).
Each time we surrender, each time we trust the dying, we are led to a deeper level. We are grounded for a while, like an electric wire, so there is less resistance and more available energy to trust it the next time. Yet it is still invariably a leap of faith, a walk through some degree of darkness.
There is something essential that we only know by dying. We really don’t know what life is until we know what death is. Divine Life is so big, so deep, and so indestructible, that it is able to include death.8
Celebration of Easter Sunday is our opportunity to find life in answering Jesus' call to transformation through our relationship with Him.
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