Rev. Dr. Fr. Patrick Mathias SDB- Homily- Easter Sunday- 31 March 2024 (Year B)

 

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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