March 23, 2008
Easter Sunday
“On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb.”
We have made the long pilgrimage through Lent and the events of the Triduum with our souls purified and healed. After our Lord’s passion and death, how dark the world was for humanity when Jesus lay dead in the tomb. On Holy Saturday I try to grasp, to experience, the emptiness of a world without Jesus. It is a dark void, an empty wasteland without the presence of Jesus. In my solitude I yearn for Him to be present to me.
And then I hear the shout: “The tomb is empty! The tomb is empty! He is risen!” Here is where we encounter Divine Love. Here is where we experience the truth of our faith. This is not superstition or just a nice story. In fact, even secular historians note that no event from the ancient world has been backed up by such thorough testimony.
The events of our Lord’s Passion passed by quickly, but that should not distract us from the reality that he really died on the cross and was really buried. It was devastating to the Apostles, and the Church even today inherits a sense of that collapse and loss.
And yet something happened on the early morning of the third day. Reports began with the Roman seal broken, the stone rolled away and the tomb empty and opened. And then the proclamation of the light: the risen body of Christ was beheld by Mary Magdalene and the other disciples. He is risen! Alleluia!
How do we experience the Resurrection? Through our baptism: we are dead and buried with Jesus in the waters of Baptism. In rising from the waters we rise with Him. Today we renew our profession of faith and our baptismal vows. We encounter the Mercy of God and the light of the Risen Lord. Resurrection becomes real and effective in our lives to the extent we are true to our baptism. This is how the Easter event transforms our world that needs to hear more than ever: Christ has risen! Alleluia!
-Rev. Todd Molinari
No comments:
Post a Comment