Easter Day

[cappie]

Today we begin the Easter Season, our 50-day meditation on the mystery of Christ's Resurrection. And so, gather this morning, not just with friends and families, but also with Christians around the world and across time, proclaiming what is perhaps the most ancient creed in Christendom: Christ is risen!  

Of course, proclaiming that joyful phrase today amidst the beautiful flowers, the music, and in the company of fellow parishioners and visitors. And yet, for as much as we enjoy these aspects of Easter, the truth is that these things, by themselves, don’t tell the whole story.

Along with praise-filled shouts of “Alleluia,” the whole story of Easter also includes shouts of war and hate; of fear and pain; of confusion and misunderstanding. In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom, and the deadly Coptic bombings in Egypt and in the shadow of war on the Korean Peninsula, these emotions are viscerally familiar to all of us. And these emotions also filled the hearts of the faithful on that first Easter morning.

The Gospel of John sets the scene: “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.” Then, John tells us, she ran to share the news with the others. And while John doesn’t tell us this part himself, when people get news, they don’t typically run unless it’s good news or really bad news!

Mary, it seems fair to say, is distraught—shocked that the body of her beloved Lord isn’t in the tomb where he had been laid just three days ago. When she reaches the other disciples with the news, they take off running as well, reaching the tomb only to confirm what Mary had told them. They depart, their hopes dashed; their Easter alleluias muted.

This is where Easter ended: The disciples returned home—confused, saddened, and unsure of what would happen next. John tells us that they “as yet…did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.”
And who could blame them really? They had put so much trust in Jesus, only to have it squashed by powers and principalities. What were they to do now? Where would they go? Who would they believe in next?  These were the questions that raced through the disciples’ minds as they came to grips with their grief and disappointment.

 But if we’re not careful, we’ll close the book as if the story ends right here.  
But we have gathered here this morning to remember Jesus’ resurrection. 

Our memory fails us firstly, if we think of Jesus’ resurrection only as a past event that we are celebrating this morning.   The church has this turn of phrase: “resurrection power.”  There is power in Jesus’ resurrection only if it has a quality of “now” and not just “then.”  For this memory to be real, and not just archival, Jesus’ resurrection must show its presence and power today.  Many will sing the great Easter hymn, “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today…”  How do you know that Jesus Christ is risen today?  Our memory fails us if we think of Jesus’ resurrection only in terms of “then” and not also in terms of “now.”  We are not re-enacting Jesus’ resurrection; we are reappropriating Jesus’ resurrection power.

And secondly, our memory of Jesus’ resurrection fails us if we think of Jesus’ resurrection only in terms of “them” and not also in terms of “us.”  If there is “resurrection power,” we need to know this power not just behind us (in the past), or around us (in others), but within us, in our own lives, now.   We all that resurrection power, and we need to claim it and unleash it as clearly as Jesus’ followers in first-century Palestine.

And thirdly, our memory of Jesus’ resurrection fails us if we only understand his resurrection as a miracle.  Jesus’ resurrection was indeed a miracle; however, Jesus’ resurrection needs to be more than a miracle.  It’s needs to be normal… every day… how we live and breathe: with resurrection power.

And so, in this Eastertide, may we proclaim that Christ is risen, not simply in church, but also in the world around us, not simply with our lips, but also with our hands and hearts. We search for Christ amidst those who are cast down and rejected; among those who have nobody to care for them; and in the company of those who have never known the loving embrace of friendship. The world needs this now, perhaps more than ever before. But most of all, may we not simply proclaim the Good News, may we also believe it so that the whole world may see Christ in their midst and proclaim, “The Lord is risen indeed!”
 

[little2add]

friends and family welcome to my house after mass

happy Easter 

Mangiare