EASTER SUNDAY
27 APRIL 2016
There is a lot of running around
in today’s Gospel. Mary of Magdala moves as quickly as she can to the tomb of
her master. Saint John tells us that it
is still dark, not only because it was very early on the morning of the first
day of the week. Even more, there is a
terrible darkness that surrounds someone who has experienced such a devastating
loss. When she sees that the stone has
been rolled away at the tomb, she presumes that someone has stolen the body,
and she runs to Simon Peter and the beloved disciple. In turn, the two of them run toward the
tomb. Even though the beloved disciple runs
faster, he allows Peter to enter first.
Peter sees the evidence that the body had not been stolen. The beloved disciple sees the same evidence
and believes. In spite of their running,
neither of them understands yet what is happening.
Not many of
you ran to get here to Mass. You
probably drove, and may have run across Fir Road to avoid being hit by a care. But, there is a lot of movement today,
because it is Easter Sunday. Whether we
come every Sunday, or occasionally, or twice a year, we have a deep sense that
running to Easter Sunday Mass is important.
The Resurrection is the central Mystery of our faith, and we know that there
is something critical going on here today.
Mary of
Magdala and Peter and the beloved disciple can help us understand how to come
to deeper faith in this central Mystery of our faith. Even though they clearly see the empty tomb,
they are not able to accept fully the Mystery of the Resurrection until they will
experience first hand the risen Christ.
Mary of Magdala will recognize him when he calls her by a familiar
name. Peter and the beloved disciple will
experience the risen Lord when he will break through the locked doors and
extend his mercy to them. Only after
experiencing the risen Lord can Peter make such bold statements after baptizing
Cornelius in the Acts of the Apostles.
Peter and
the beloved disciples experienced the risen Lord in a unique way. We have not had those same experiences, as
they did. But, in fact, we have
encountered the risen Christ when we were baptized. That is what happened to 10 people last
night, as they entered the waters of Baptism, encountered the real presence of
Christ, and emerged with all their sins forgiven. Saint Paul reminds us of that reality in his
letter to the Colossians. He tells them
(and us) that once we are raised with Christ, once we emerge from that watery
grave with him, we see life differently.
We look, not through our own human eyes, but through the eyes of
Christ. We see the beyond the passing
realities of our world. We understand
priorities better. We accept crosses and
death and injustices in a different spirit.
That is why
it is so important to renew our baptismal promises on Easter Sunday. We renounce Satan, all his lies, and all his
empty promises. We recommit ourselves to
living in union with the Father who created us, with the Son who redeemed us,
and with the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us.
As the newly blessed Easter water falls on us, we remember our Baptism
and the ways in which we experienced his risen presence and are called to see
life through this lens.
Throughout
these Fifty Days of Easter, the Lord will speak to us in his Word, inviting us
to reflect on our experiences of his risen presence in our lives. He will feed us with his real presence, which
we recognize in this Breaking of the Bread.
With our Easter faith strengthened, we can do what Mary of Magdala did
and announce his risen presence to our brothers and sisters. We can do what Peter did and proclaim our
faith in the wondrous deeds of Jesus Christ.
Most importantly, we can see and believe, as did the beloved
disciple. Through his Gospel, Saint John
never gives the name of the beloved disciple, because he wants us to see
ourselves in that role. As beloved
disciples, we know that the risen Christ loves us with a love that will never
fail.
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