Readings: Acts 10:34, 37-43; Col. 3:1-4; Jn. 20:1-9
It doesn’t Feel Like Easter Sunday, but Christ is Risen, Alleluia!
Today is Easter Sunday, but it doesn’t feel like it. It is like we are in Good Friday. Or it is like Christ is risen and we are waiting for the angel to roll the stone away, so that we may be released from the darkness of the grave. Now more than ever, we feel like the Apostles of Christ who ran to the Upper Room while waiting for the Spirit to open the doors and set us free. Only that our Upper Room is our homes, instead of the Jews, we are afraid of coronavirus. But Christ is risen!
The day of the resurrection was a very confusing day indeed. No one expected Christ to rise from the dead. Yes, He told them he would, but they couldn’t believe it! Mary panicked when she did not find the body of Jesus in the tomb. Peter and John were befuddled when she told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him.” They too went to the tomb, saw the burial clothes neatly folded and put aside, but Him, they did not see. Could it be true? They recalled he had told them that “…he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” (Mt.16:21). Yet when John saw the empty tomb, he believed. The guards too saw it. But they were bribed to lie that “his disciples came by night and stole him while we were sleeping.” (Mt. 28:13). Everyone saw, but not everyone believed. It is easy to see with our eyes; to believe, we must have faith. Seeing is nothing, believing is everything. It is when we believe that we see; for we walk by faith not by sight.
The resurrection of Christ demonstrates that we are Easter people living today in a Good Friday world, lockdown by coronavirus pandemic. Yes, we may be content to watch live-streamed Mass of the resurrection, but we must feel him in our hearts and in our souls, this year more than ever. We are still broken; have weaknesses, anger issues, be short-tempered, stubborn, jealous, ill-mannered, frustrated and still experience the vicissitude of life. But the resurrection of Christ assures us that God loves us, and that Christ has conquered our weaknesses and death in all its ramifications. Yes, to every Good Friday there is an Easter Sunday. To every failure there is strength in the risen Lord. Every hurt and wrong doing we are able to forgive is a prove of the resurrection of Christ. When we give in charity, say kind words, console, show compassion and mercy; every visit to the sick or kindness shown to the downtrodden attest to the resurrection and our faith in the risen Lord. We may be weak, but our risen Lord is strong. He is always by our side urging us on. We are Easter people and so cannot stop singing alleluia. According to Paul: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” (Col. 3:1). Because Christ is alive today, we can see tomorrow. “He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself.” (Philippians 3:21). The resurrection changed Peter from being a coward to a fearless preacher; He can also change us if we truly believe in Him. Jesus’ resurrection is an invitation to share in his eternal life. He showed Thomas his wounded hands and side and healed his unbelief. We must touch his wounds so that we may be healed.
The resurrection of Christ taught us once more that adversity always brings out the best in mankind. Coronavirus, like our collective will to do evil and hurt humanity, cannot keep Christ in the grave for more than three days. We know that this too shall pass. Though we do not know what tomorrow holds, we know who holds tomorrow. We know that Christ has risen and so we rejoice! We must rejoice that we are able to stay in the safety of our homes and watch Mass live-streamed through the various social media platforms. We pray that when this is all over, we may begin to see things and people differently, that we may have a better understanding of the teaching of Christ, that we may be more generous, prayerful, gracious, forgiving, loving, tolerant and accommodating. May we have the same experience that the Apostles had when they emerged from the Upper Room; that filled with the Spirit of the risen Lord, we may speak the word of God boldly, so that those who hear us will say, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his own native language? …yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.” (Acts 7-11). Rejoice for Christ is truly risen. Alleluia!
Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP
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