SUNDAY, EASTER SUNDAY
Acts 10:34, 37-43; Ps 118; Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6-8;
Jn 20:1-9 or Mt 28:1-10 or Lk 24:13-35
RESURRECTION: THE NEW LIFE
The Resurrection of Christ is the basis of our Christian Faith. That is why Saint Paul writes, “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain; and your Faith is in vain” (1 Cor 15:14). In the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “The Resurrection of Jesus is the crowning truth of our Faith in Christ, a Faith believed and lived as the central truth by the first Christian community” (CCC no. 638). If Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, then the Church is a fraud and Faith is a sham. But if Jesus really did rise from the dead, his message is true. Without the Resurrection, Jesus would have been remembered forever as a good person who had met a tragic end. People would remember some of his teachings, and some people would try to live according to them.
All the basic doctrines of Christianity are founded on the truth of the Resurrection. “Jesus is Lord; He is risen” (Rom 10:9) was the central theme of the kerygma or preaching of the apostles. Easter is the guarantee of our own resurrection. Jesus assured Martha at the tomb of Lazarus. “I am the Resurrection and the Life; whoever believes in Me will live even though he dies” (Jn 11:25-26). Christ will raise us up on the last day, but it is also true, in a sense, that we have already risen with Christ. By virtue of the Holy Spirit, our Christian life is already a participation in the death and Resurrection of Christ.
Easter is a feast which gives us hope and encouragement in this world of pain, sorrows, and tears. It reminds us that life is worth living. It is our belief in the Real Presence of the Risen Jesus in our souls, in His Church, in the Blessed Sacrament, and in Heaven that gives meaning to our personal, as well as to our common prayers. Our trust in the all-pervading presence of the Risen Lord gives us strength to fight against temptations and freedom from unnecessary worries and fears. We are called to be Resurrection people. This means that we are not supposed to lie buried in the tomb of our sins, evil habits, and dangerous addictions. It gives us the Good News that no tomb can hold us down anymore – not the tomb of despair, discouragement, doubt or death itself. Instead, we are expected to live a joyful and peaceful life, constantly experiencing the real presence of the Risen Lord in all the events of our lives.
We need to seek our peace and joy in the Risen Jesus. The living presence of the Risen Lord gives us lasting peace and celestial joy in the face of the boredom, suffering, pain, and tensions of our day-to-day life. “Peace be with you” was Jesus’ greeting to his disciples at all post-Resurrection appearances. For the true Christian, every day must be an Easter Day lived joyfully in the close company of the Risen Lord. We need to live new, disciplined lives in the Risen Jesus. Our awareness of the all-pervading presence of the Risen Lord in and around us, and the strong conviction of our own coming resurrection, help us control our thoughts, desires, words and behaviour.
Easter reminds us that every Good Friday in our lives will have an Easter Sunday, and that Jesus will let us share the power of his Resurrection. Each time we display our love of others, we share in the Resurrection. We are called to be bearers of the Good News of Resurrection power. Resurrection is Good News, but at the same time, it’s sometimes painful because it involves death. Before the power of the Resurrection can take hold in our own lives, we are called to die to sin, to die to self. We may even have to die to our own dreams, so that God can do what he wants to do with our lives.
Resurrection is about seeing our world in a new way. Early that Easter morning, Mary did not find what she was looking for, the dead body of Jesus. But she found something better than she could have imagined; The Risen Jesus. Sometimes the things we think we want most are not granted to us. What we get instead is an experience of God’s new ways of working in the world. That is the power of the Resurrection. When those moments come, we must spread the news, just as Mary did, “We have seen the Lord.”
Response: This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad.
Copyright ©2023 ©Springs of Living Water http://springs.carmelmedia.in