Solemnity - Resurrection of the Lord - Easter Sunday - 31 March 2024 (Year B)
Mass Readings: Act 10:
34a.37-43 Ps 118: 1-2, 16-17, 22-23 Col 3:1-4
Jn 20:1-9
Key Verse to Meditate: 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 (Jn 20:1).
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,
Happy Easter to all of you in the name of the risen Lord, Alleluia.
After forty days of rigorous fasting, prayer, and abstinence, we are extremely
happy to celebrate Easter, which is the Solemnity of Solemnities, the center
and climax of the Christian faith in the liturgical year. Celebrating Easter
signifies that sin is destroyed, death is overcome by the death of Jesus on the
cross, and divine life is restored to us by the resurrection of Jesus. The
resurrection of Christ is a pledge of our own resurrection. It is the
foundation upon which our faith rests. It is the guarantee of our redemption
and God's assurance that our sins are forgiven, and that we are called to
eternal life. On this great joy-filled solemnity of Easter, the Liturgy of the
Word on this holy Sunday comes to us with the Gospel of St. John, who presents
to us the first part of the story of the resurrection in the twentieth chapter.
Mary Magdalene: Mary
Magdalene, ‘the Apostle of the Apostles’, arrived early at the tomb. The
Synoptic Gospels record various women who came to the tomb that morning (Matt.
28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:1, 10). John mentions only Mary and says that she came
while it was still dark, in contrast to the others who arrived after sunrise
(Mark 16:2). The women evidently set out together, but Mary went ahead of the
others and arrived at the tomb first. Evidently, John reports in the second
part of the twentieth chapter that Mary Magdalene was the first one to
encounter the risen Lord and to hear him speak to her. This predominant
experience made her confess, "I have seen the Lord" (Jn 20:18).
Mary Magdalene came and reported to Peter and the other disciple
whom Jesus loved, the shocking news that the stone had been removed from the
tomb and that Jesus’ body was not found in the tomb. Mary Magdalene, the
evangelist notes, went to the tomb in search of the Master. The fourth gospel
is silent about her intentions. But surely, she went to the place where they
had laid the Lord because she was unable to resign herself to the idea of the
disappearance of the one she had loved so much. This visit may have been to
mourn the loss of the loved one, Jesus Christ.
But something awaited Mary at the
tomb: She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb (Jn 20:1).
Her reaction was immediate: "She ran then and went to Simon Peter and the
other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said to them: 'They have taken the
Lord away from the tomb, and we do not know where they have placed him!'"
For the apostles who heard the words of Mary Magdalene, it could have appeared
as hallucinations (Lk 24:11). Though those words made it difficult to believe
at the moment, yet they were so full of love that they provoked Peter and the
beloved disciple to rush to the tomb.
For they did not understand the
Scripture: John is remarked as ‘the other disciple’ whom Jesus loved. Thrice
he is marked as ‘the other disciple’ (vv. 2, 3, 4, and 8). He doesn’t put
himself first. He writes of himself in unknown terms. But he never forgot the
special love that the Master had shown him.
After Mary Magdalene broke the news about the empty tomb, we read
that Peter and John ran towards the tomb: "And the two were running
together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the
tomb first" (Jn 20:4). What made the Apostle John run to the tomb? It was
ignorance of the Easter that made both of them run towards the tomb. We read in
the scripture, “For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must
rise again from the dead” (Jn 20:9).
Though Peter was the chosen rock and John was the beloved disciple,
they couldn’t grasp God's plans in Jesus. They were closest to God, yet they
did not understand Jesus’ suffering, death, and the resurrection; they were
simply surprised by the events that they witnessed on Easter Sunday morning.
God’s world is so different from the human mind.
The Empty Tomb - Difficult to
Believe? We can imagine what kind of confusion would have arisen among the
group of fearful apostles when Mary Magdalene broke the news of the missing
body of Jesus. But the gospel writer remarks on the ignorance of the apostles:
"For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from
the dead" (Jn 20:9). Yes, God's world, God's plans are so different that
even today it happens that even those closest to God do not understand and are
amazed at the events. These apostles and Mary Magdalene were overwhelmed by the
darkness of their worries and disappointments regarding the crucifixion of
Jesus that they had forgotten about Jesus' promise that he would rise again on
the third day. We too, in our lives, will never be able to accept the Word of
life of Jesus if we are overwhelmed by ourselves and our worries. In fact, they
did not understand that the tomb is open and therefore Jesus should have risen
as he had foretold them. Their faith was overcome by the confusion of their
doubts about the resurrection.
Seeing is believing: Another phrase
that explicitly confirms the reality of the resurrection is, “He saw and
believed” (Jn 20:8). The empty tomb, the undisturbed grave clothes, and the
neatly rolled-up facecloth were enough for John to believe.
The empty tomb prompted them to recall the prophetic words of Jesus
before his death. It must have been very difficult for the disciples to pause,
think, and understand that their beloved Master and Lord, who suffered a
violent death three days prior, would rise to life and glory. Reason did not
permit the disciples to understand, but the love in their hearts for Jesus
helped their hearts to open and perceive the mysterious design of God. It is
the intuition of love that allowed John to see and believe before all the
others.
My Faith Experience at the Empty
Tomb of Jesus: Jesus’ tomb is empty. He has won over death, and he lives forever
(Rev 1:17-18). It takes strong faith to believe and recognize the risen Lord,
like the beloved disciple who exclaimed upon seeing Jesus on the shore:
"It is the Lord" (Jn 21:7). I have had the joy of celebrating the
Holy Mass a couple of times in the tomb of Jesus. It was like being with Jesus
in the new life. The tomb was empty, and my heart was troubled to stand in the
empty tomb of Jesus. But it was a grace given unasked for. At that moment
there, I remembered the hope-filled first message of Easter: ‘Do not be
afraid’, ‘do not fear’ (Mt 28:5, 10). This message of Jesus gave me peace and
joy to stand in the very place of his holy burial and glorious resurrection:
"Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one; I died, and
behold I am alive forevermore" (Rev 1:17-18). The joy of Easter matures
only on the foundation of faithful love. Only God can provide enough faith to
comprehend what it means to experience Easter Joy.
The First Reading: The empty tomb
must become the starting point of faith. The tomb was open, but Jesus wasn’t
there. That should have given them a clue. In today's first reading, St. Peter,
who could not believe in the resurrection as we note in the Gospel, becomes the
greatest preacher of the resurrection of Jesus after the resurrection: "We
are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him
to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and
allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God
as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead"
(Act 10:39-41). He would go on to say that Jesus, who had risen from the dead,
has the authority to become the Judge of the living and the dead.
Peter’s Bold Faith Proclamation of
Easter: Even on the day of Pentecost, St. Peter, full of the Spirit, bore
witness to the Israelite people regarding the resurrection of Jesus: "This
man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of
God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God
raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him
to be held in its power" (Act 2:23-24). St. Paul demonstrated that Jesus,
by the shedding of his most precious blood, has overcome death, the result of
sin. Thus, the sinful death has been swallowed up by the resurrection of Jesus:
"Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is
your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1Cor 15:54-55).
The Second Reading: Therefore, St.
Paul in today’s second reading advises us to live out the resurrection of God.
The resurrection of God indicates life with God the Father. It means the end of
a sinful life and living a grace-filled life. Therefore, we must desire the things
of heaven, namely the things of God: "So if you have been raised with
Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right
hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on
earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col
3:1-3).
The Starting Point of St. Paul’s
Proclamation: The resurrection of Jesus became the life-giving point of St.
Paul's preaching: "If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ
has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation
has been in vain and your faith has been in vain" (1Cor 15:13-14). The
resurrection of Christ gives us the assurance that we too will rise with him.
We are asked to hope in the resurrection of life after death, as we profess
during the Sunday Mass: "If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we
are of all people most to be pitied" (1Cor 15:19). These words of Paul
express well what is the only foundation of the Christian faith: the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, "the firstborn of those who
rise from the dead" (Col 1:18), which we celebrate today on Easter, the
feast of feasts, the hope of all people.
Death Has No Final Word: Death is no
longer the definitive word. It is only the exodus from this world to the
Father, who will call us all back to eternal life. Jesus, the author of life,
cannot be dead forever. Jesus, who raised people from the dead, cannot be
thought to be dead forever (Jesus raised Jairus' daughter - Mk 5:21-43; Jesus
raised Lazarus from the dead - Jn 11:38-44; Jesus raised the son of a widow of
Nain - Luke 7:11-17). If he was God, if he had the power to give life to
others, then he did have the power to raise himself according to God’s plan and
according to the words that he had prophesied about himself: "No one takes
it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my
Father" (Jn 10:18). Celebrating Easter, we have strong faith to believe in the powerful
words of Jesus: "I am the resurrection, and the life" (Jn 11:25).
Points for Personal Reflection: The disciples,
along with Mary Magdalene, went to the tomb; they saw and believed. What about
my belief in the resurrection of Jesus? Does it fill my life with joy and hope?
The resurrection of Jesus is the passage of humanity from death to
life, sin to grace, fear to confidence, and desolation to communion. The first
message from the risen Lord is ‘do not be afraid.’ Do I recognize the presence
of the Lord in my moments of faith crisis and doubts? It is the Easter events
which are central to my faith. Do I believe in the risen Lord? Am I willing to
remove those stones in my life that prevent me from encountering the risen
Christ?
Well, the announcement of Easter spreads throughout the world with
the joyful song of the Alleluia. Let's sing it with our lips, let's sing it
above all with our heart and life, with a simple, humble lifestyle, and
fruitful in good deeds. The risen Christ is our hope; He is the true peace of
the world.
We are not alone: Jesus, the Living One, is with us, forever.
Christos Anesti (Χριστός Ανέστη) “Christ is Risen!” Alleluia! - Happy Easter!!!
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