HomiliesEASTER SUNDAY: WE ARE AN EASTER PEOPLE
WE HAD SUCCESSFULLY done at full length in the past five weeks our spiritual preparation for the coming celebration of this feast of Christ’s Resurrection. More intense was the solemn meditation on the passion and death of the Lord Jesus as we entered the Holy Week. The whole drama of Jesus’ life that was gradually unfolded to us right before our very eyes through various activities in the church--station of the cross, the passion play or cenaculo, the Pabasa which all ended up in the death of Jesus is now given the final conclusion: JESUS IS RISEN from the dead!
On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning while it was dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb (John 20:1). What Mary saw was just an empty tomb. And her conclusion was that “they have taken the Lord from the tomb and we don’t know where they put him (John 20: 2).” We might wonder why Mary went to the tomb early that morning. Was she going to check and validate the veracity of what Jesus was preaching about that he has to die and in three days rise again from the dead? If that’s the case, why did she tell Peter and the other disciple that Jesus loved that the Lord was taken away? At this moment of bereavement and disappointment, it was still difficult for Mary to understand the scripture (for they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead, John 20:9). We can easily relate with Mary when we are confronted with the same reality of a death in the family. Even though our Christian faith and scriptures tell us that death is not the end but a beginning of new life, nevertheless grieving and mourning oftentimes dominate the feeling of hope.
Upon hearing the news of Mary of Magdala, Peter and the other disciple went to the tomb as well. They saw the burial cloths and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. When the other disciple saw the empty tomb, the burial cloths, he believed (John 20:3-8). The other disciple who is known to be John, the beloved disciple of Christ readily believed at the sight. What did he believe in? Mary’s statement that Jesus was taken away as what the guards were spreading among the Jews? The verse “for they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead,” immediately followed that verse. Or only John who because of his special intimacy with the Lord has immediately understood what his beloved friend used to share with them? To remove the cloud of doubts, Jesus on several occasion has to make an appearance of himself in order to give his disciples courage, hope, and joy to spread the good news that indeed, Jesus is risen.
A true story of Chris Moretz was told about his experience during the hurricane Katrina that struck For us Filipinos, we love reflecting on the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ as we have just shown in the past Holy Week activities. Maybe most of us because of the unpredictable economic situation, we can easily identify ourselves with Jesus’ struggles and suffering. We live in a Good Friday world but we must remember that we are an Easter People. Through the Cross of Christ we see a world which is illuminated by the light shining forth from the Empty Tomb. If Chris Moretz in our story made an impact when he painted that news that he is alive, maybe we, Christians can also make a great impact to everyone when we express deep in our hearts and give witness in our life that Jesus is truly alive. We have to paint in our life that bold message JESUS IS ALIVE! I’m passing it on. Sisters and brothers, Jesus is alive. He is risen! Pass it on…
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