Easter Sunday
(John 20, 1-9)
To borrow a story from my friend, Fr Bel San Luis, there was a man who was visiting a seminary. He saw a poster with a phrase in big letters, “Christ is the answer”. Puzzled he wrote at the bottom of the poster, “What is the question?”
Most of us have been in our activities this Easter. Some have been to church on Thursday for the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and the Washing of the Feet; some took part on Friday for the Way of the Cross and the Celebration of the Passion and Death of the Lord. Today, we celebrate the culmination of the Triduum or the three most important days of the Liturgical Calendar.
If Holy Week had finished on Good Friday, we would be asking each other, “So…what’s next?” Jesus had indeed suffered and given up his life as a payment for our sins, however if he had not risen from the dead, all that the suffering that he endured would come to nothing. Easter is the only fitting conclusion of all that Jesus has done for us. His victory over sin and death would only be complete by rising from the dead and proving to all of us that he has overcome something that will happen to all of us, and that is death. What happened to Jesus will also happen to us if we persevere in our faith in Jesus.
Have you ever wondered why Christmas is more popular than Easter? Christmas is celebrated widely across the world. Even non-Christian countries celebrate Christmas while Easter is confined only to Christian countries and is only celebrated for a few days. I think it is because Christmas, which celebrates the birth of Christ, is something to which all of us can relate. We always celebrate the birth of a child. The birth of a child signals new life and new beginnings.
Easter on the other hand, is a celebration that requires a lot of faith. For in the history of humankind, resurrection from the dead has never happened to any one except to Jesus Christ. And this celebration is a celebration of hope that what happened to Jesus will also happen to us. Before the resurrection, all who died would be in “Sheol” waiting for the salvation of the Messiah. But now, there is no more sheol, no more waiting for the Messiah, for salvation has come. For us though, the only tangible proof of the resurrection is the empty tomb, the linen cloth and cloth covering the face all neatly folded in one place. It would be unthinkable that some thieves would unwrap the precious linen, fold it neatly on one side and run away with the naked corpse of Jesus. Normally, if you want to steal a corpse, you would steal everything and leave nothing behind. And for this reason, plus our faith, we should believe that the resurrection actually happened.
Even though we haven’t experienced the resurrection, there is also some kind of resurrection that happens to us all the time. Every time, we change our lives from some sort of negative addiction like alcohol, nicotine, drugs or others of the same kind, we experience resurrection. Every time, we forgive our enemies and start a new positive relationship, we experience resurrection. Every time, we turn back to God and rely on his grace and blessing, we experience resurrection.
May this Easter season be a season of re-birth for all of us. A chance to create new beginnings with the help of Christ.
HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!