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Happy Easter!
Yes, it is a happy day, but on that first Easter morning Mary Magdalene was anything but happy. What was going through her mind as she walked that path in the pre-dawn darkness? Did she and other women say anything, or did they walk silently in their grief as they made their way to the tomb? I expect they said little for they were going to the tomb of a dead man, weren't they?
Mary had seen Him die. She had seen Him hurriedly placed in the tomb on the eve of the Sabbath. Mary, the Apostles -- none of them -- had understood Jesus when He spoke of His Resurrection. After all, men don't rise from the dead.
Faced with the finality of Jesus' violent death, Mary's faith and her hope had all but disappeared. Only her love remained, and her love for Jesus carried her along the path to the tomb. But when they arrived, it was open and empty.
The shock of this experience was amplified just moments later. For John tells us that Mary first encountered two angels and then the Lord Himself.
It is the risen Jesus, in the flesh, that led Mary and the disciples to realize that death had not had the last word, for the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, had overcome death.
Faith and hope must have exploded in their hearts. Like St. Paul in today's second reading, the meaning of this glorious event became crystal clear: they too will be united with Him in the Resurrection.
And just as suddenly, all of His teachings, every word He uttered, took on new meaning. They knew now what He meant by the Kingdom of God, for it is in their very midst, catapulted into the here and now by the Resurrection.
Matthew, in his Gospel, tells us that Mary and the women left the tomb "fearful yet overjoyed" [Mt 28:8]. Fear and joy - a rare combination of emotions that I suspect exists only in the presence of God.
Oh, they were fearful, for they had just witnessed God's awesome power, and now understood that Jesus is the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Chosen One, the Son of God.
And they were overjoyed, for He is risen!
Overjoyed that their trust in Jesus had not been misplaced.
Overjoyed that they, and all of us, are objects of God's overwhelming love.
Overjoyed that the tiny kernel of faith, almost lost during the dark hours after the crucifixion, has blossomed into sure knowledge of redemption.
Yes, indeed, without the Resurrection, our faith would be meaningless.
An unbeliever, dismissing the Resurrection, once approached a priest and challenged him by saying: "People who are dead don't rise to life again."
The priest merely replied, "I do believe that was exactly the point."
Listening to Peter preach in our first reading, we come to realize it is the fact of the Resurrection of Jesus, more than anything else, that brought those first Christians into the Church. And it is the Resurrection, this sign of hope, that still inspires people to embrace Christ and His Church.
This was beautifully manifested last night at the Easter Vigil when three people were baptized, three others received into the Church, and all six were confirmed. Here in our presence and in the presence of God, they openly declared their faith, accepted the Good News of Jesus Christ, and rejected all that is evil. In a few moments you and I will do the same as we renew our Baptismal promises.
And yet when I look out from this ambo, I don't see a lot of joy. It's Easter, folks! You should be filled with joy. Let me tell you a story that might make you smile.
Indeed, whenever I renew my Easter promises I'm reminded of the story of Seamus, who'd been working as a ditch digger in Dublin when a sudden cave-in pinned him, up to his neck, under tons of debris. The rescue party quickly concluded that any attempt to dig him out would only cause the walls to crumble upon him. Seamus was doomed.
When they explained the situation to him, he wisely asked for a priest. And so Fr. Flaherty arrived and asked, "Seamus, are you ready to confess?"
Seamus said, "Well, actually, Father, I've never really been baptized. You know, Protestant mother, Catholic father - they just never got around to it."
Father said, "Oh...well, that's okay, lad, but before I baptize you, first I'll have to ask you a few questions. Tell me, Seamus, do you believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth?"
"Oh, yes, Father, with all me heart."
"And do you believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord?"
"Oh, yes, most definitely, Father."
"And do you reject Satan and all his pomps and works?"
Dead silence.
"Seamus," the good priest said, "didn't you hear me? Do you reject Satan?"
Seamus looked up at him and said, "Father, don't you think this might be a bad time to be making enemies?"
Yes, it's a very old story but I think Seamus would be comfortable in today's world, a world where the good is seen as evil and the evil as good, a world where many believe God and Satan are mere figments of the imagination.
The result? Sadly, so many people today live in a state of moral and spiritual confusion, a state that leads only to despair. For them this fleeting life is all there is. They see nothing else. They live their lives as if God, eternal life, heaven and hell are mere words. And so they focus all their efforts on the gratification of their immediate needs and wants, satisfactions that never last.
What does all this have to do with today, with our celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus?
Well, just about everything.
For today we come face-to-face with the Risen Christ, the very source of our faith and hope - the fuel for that Christian optimism that keeps us going even during the darkest moments of our lives.
Because Jesus lives!
Unlike Muhammad, or Buddha, or Moses or Socrates or Confucius, unlike any other, only Jesus lives.
Only with the living, risen Jesus can you and I have a personal relationship.
Only Jesus lives, His glorified Body displaying the wounds of His redemptive sacrificial act.
Only Jesus, the risen Jesus, can be greeted by those words of Thomas - My Lord and my God - words that define our Christian faith.
Only Jesus, the creative Word of God, can say, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."
Brothers and sisters, the Resurrection is the great event of human history, the culmination of God's ongoing act of love. Greater than the creation of the universe, which cost God nothing, the Resurrection cost God dearly. And for three days we've meditated on the cost God was willing to pay.
In love we were brought into being, and in an even greater act of sacrificial love we were redeemed by God Himself.
That's why, as Christians, we proclaim Jesus Christ.
We tell the world of Him who lives.
We turn to Him in our joy and in our sorrow.
We receive from Him the gift of faith that frees us from our fears.
We look to Him. We search for His face, and we find it, because He told us where to look. Where? In every person we meet. That's where we see Jesus; for He said to us: "...whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me" [Mt 28:40]
They and Jesus are one. We and Jesus are one.
Do you see what that means, brothers and sisters?
It's why St. Paul can say, "...I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me" [Gal 2:20].
In everyone there is a vision of the risen Lord, and we, you and I, must minister to them.
For the very next person you meet, the person sitting next to you today, might be freed from despair, from the shadow of death, because you obeyed Jesus and ministered to him, because she saw Jesus in your face.
Or perhaps, in your need, in your own spiritual poverty, in your want of wisdom or hope or love, you may see Jesus' face in one who ministers to you.
This is the power of our risen Lord, Jesus Christ.
He walks with us on our journey, just as he walked with the disciples on the road to Emmaus. But He didn't leave them there on the road, did He?
No, He sat down with them. He took bread, blessed it, and broke it. He left them with the Eucharist, with food for the journey, a journey like no other.
We must never be like Seamus, up to his neck in the world's dirt, unsure of his destination.
For the Resurrection is a promise, a promise fulfilled through God's mercy and forgiveness.
If someone asks you where you're going, simply say: "I am going to a feast, with the rest of the Church. Where else should we go? It's Easter, the day of Resurrection."
Christ is risen, brothers and sisters!
All glory and power be His, through every age...forever and ever. Amen.
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