My dear brothers and sisters, Happy Easter to you all!
We are all around happy to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord. This is the day that the Lord has made let us rejoice. It is a day of victory, joy, and hope. My dear brothers and sisters, the Resurrection of Christ, celebrated on Easter Sunday (like today) until Pentecost, is the most important feast for Christians, more important even than Christmas. With the Resurrection of Christ, our lives as his followers took on a new perspective that nothing can turn around. The stone has been rolled away once for all. We can now even “tease” death as St Paul did: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1Cor:15, 55). Through his Resurrection, Jesus wrote a new chapter in the history of humanity and thus he brought forth the victory of life over death, truth over lies, justice over injustice, love over hatred, joy over sadness, etc.
In reality, what is Easter for us and how can this event which happened more than two thousand years ago still make sense for us in our daily lives? Are we able to see God’s grace working in our lives in our day-to-day ‘deaths’ and ‘resurrections’?
To start with, Resurrection is and will always be a matter of faith. It is only through God’s grace that we come to believe in it. The empty tomb itself does not stand as sufficient proof for it. It is just a corroborative proof, meaning that it only supports our faith by providing more information about the Resurrection.
From this starting point, let us now look at some meanings of this great celebration.
First of all, the Resurrection of Christ proves the Gospel and the whole Christian message to be true. St Paul in his letter to the Corinthians explains very well how without the Resurrection, all the Christian message falls apart. In fact, it depends on it for the sake of its credibility.
“And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain…and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins, Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are all people most to be pitied.” (1 Cor. 15: 14; 17-19).
Paul makes clear that Resurrection is the fundamental part of the Gospel and at the same time, it gives us hope that our faith is not in vain because indeed, Christ is truly risen.
Second, the Resurrection gives us certainty that we too will be raised like him. St Paul again in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 15:20) describes the Risen Jesus as the first fruits of the Resurrection from the dead. This is good news for us mortal human beings that from this time on, our bodies are not merely for corruption after our death, but that as our master rose from the dead, we too will rise like him. By his Resurrection, he opened the gates of eternal life to all of us. He cleared the path for us: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25). Moreover, let us appreciate the undeserved love of God for us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) We didn’t deserve such love; on the contrary, we were destined to perish yet “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5: 21). Everything happened in the plan of God, all for us. “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:25)
Third, the Resurrection of Christ gives us a living hope. Filipinos wisely say that “pag may buhay, may pag-asa” meaning that where there is life, there is always hope. If through this mystery we have new life, it means that we have more reasons for new hope. Another French poet, Leon Bloy once said that ‘la seule excuse de vivre, c’est attendre la Resurrection’ (the only excuse to live, is waiting for resurrection). The resurrection of Christ does not mean that suffering, sin injustices, etc. are now taken away from our lives; instead, it means that now we have more reasons to stand all of this. We now look at our past, present, and future with the new lens: the lens of hope.
In the Gospel, we heard Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early in the morning when it was still dark. This not only darkness outside, but it is also darkness inside her. She was very sad, inconsolable, confused to the point of not even recognizing Jesus and mistakes her for a simple gardener. At times, we go through the same experience. We may be suffering even right now or experiencing trials, daily experience of hunger, physical and verbal violence, failure in life, despair, betrayal, drugs, sexual abuses, unemployment, irresponsibility of some parents, difficulty in relationship, gossips, and even our personal struggle against sin etc, yet, let us not lose hope because we have an advocate who went through all the trials except sin and who in the end won over all of them for our sake. “According to his great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading kept in heaven for you.” (1Peter 1: 3-4). Concretely, this means that we hope and believe that suffering, death and other difficulties in our lives don’t have the last word, but Jesus do.
Moreover, the Resurrection of Christ does not remove the cross, on the contrary, it gives to the cross a new meaning. In fact, there is no Resurrection without the passion and death of Christ. Similarly, there is no Easter without Good Friday. We should never fool ourselves by dreaming of a life without suffering on the ground of our being Christians meaning followers of the Risen Christ. In the same perspective, if we face the cross without the Resurrection, Christianity and even our sufferings become a scandal and an outrage.
Finally, the Resurrection of Christ is a challenge to all of us his followers. If we are to be true to our identity, this great mystery of the Resurrection has to make a difference in our daily lives. Do we live as people of the Resurrection or as people of Good Friday? One of the great gifts of Easter is peace. Many times Jesus repeated this word to his disciples in his various appearances to them: “Peace be with you” (John 20:21). Jesus knew that his disciples were troubled and without peace of mind. Are we people of peace or we go around creating troubles? Resurrection invites us to be calmer, peaceful and peacemakers.
Another gift is joy. In his Encyclical Letter Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis is inviting us not to look like people who have just come back from a funeral (EG, 10), but to be missionaries of Joy. We are happy of this new life acquired through the Resurrection of Christ and this joy has to be lived out and shared with others in our daily lives. Moreover, the Resurrection is at the same time good news and mission. “But go to my brothers and say to them…” (John 20:17). It brings courage to go forth and proclaim the Good News without fear. If one reads carefully the episodes of the disciples of Emmaus (Lk 24: 13-35) and the Acts of the Apostles, it is noticeable that the disciples shifted from a state of fear to a bold “going forth” to proclaim the Good News. After they met the Risen Christ, nothing can no longer stop them. In fact, according to their own words, they could not stop giving witness to what their eyes have seen and their ears heard. (Acts 4:20).
Before Jesus ascended to his Father, he gave a promise to his disciples: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8). This is the mission that he is giving to each one of us here. After this mass, let us go out, starting in our families, workplaces, schools to announce this good news.
In conclusion, the Resurrection set a new chapter and turning point in the history of humanity. However, it might look like a fairy tale if, we Christians do not become people and witnesses of the Resurrection, meaning people who are able to live out and tell the “Resurrection story” in their daily lives. Let us not wait to live to experience resurrection after our death. It starts now and here. Let us make resurrection happen by being open to God’s grace in our lives. In fact, “resurrection, as our ultimate future, will be the surprising realization that we have been experiencing it, at least in part, all our lives. We will know well when we’re home. “Heaven will be recognized as a country we have already entered, and in whose light and warmth we have already lived” (Harry Williams in True Resurrection).
We are called to be life-giving people especially throughout this Jubilee Year of Mercy. Mercy means forgiving our brothers and sisters, thus giving them a chance to a new life. Literally, whenever we forgive our brother or sister, we both “resurrect.”
May the spirit of Easter be ever with us!