Easter 2016:
Alleluia, the Lord
is Risen. I love that word:
Alleluia. It is a Hebrew word that
means: “Praise the Lord.” Indeed, we
praise the Lord today. Jesus is risen
from the dead. He died and rose again so
that all of us, even if we die, will live forever. This word, Alleluia, captures the essence of
our faith: we praise God because of all he has done for us.
On the night
before he died, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. He stooped down to wash them clean. He said: do you realize what I have done for
you? As we think about the resurrection
of Jesus, these words really strike home.
I think the resurrection is an event that we think is great for Jesus,
but he did it for all of us. There is a
beautiful, ancient homily that reflects upon Jesus’ death. It says that when Jesus died, he went into
the realm of the dead to rescue Adam. This
is why Jesus died, so that he could reach all those who were imprisoned by
death. God loved us so much that he sent
Jesus to seek all the lost children of Adam.
In his resurrection, he takes all of us with him. Jesus says, do you realize what I have done
for you? As we proclaim that Jesus has
been raised from the dead, we need to take it a step further and see that he
rose, so that we might rise. He lives,
so that we might live.
This is a powerful
and amazing message. But, because it is
something so central to our faith, it can be easy to take this message for
granted. I sometimes think about those
GEICO commercials. You know the
ones? You can save by switching to
GEICO, and the response is: everyone knows that… Sometimes the resurrection of Christ is like
that: Jesus has been raised from the dead: everyone knows that… But, stop and think about just how amazing
this message really is.
We hear in the
gospel today that the women went to the tomb to look for a dead man. But, they didn’t find him. That alone is pretty amazing. Usually, dead people stay dead. There is no doubt that Jesus was dead. We heard the account of his suffering and
death on Good Friday. He was dead, but
he didn’t stay that way. Listen to the
way it’s described in the gospel: the women were puzzling over the missing
body, the disciples did not believe the story, Peter ran to the tomb and was
amazed at what had happened. Those first
disciples were confused, amazed, surprised, and shocked. They saw Jesus die. There was no reason to suspect that he
wouldn’t stay dead. Even though Jesus
had told them that he would rise, they were still shocked and amazed. Jesus has been raised from the dead, everyone
might know that now, but they certainly didn’t know that that first Easter
Sunday.
I love the way the
gospel puts it. The women tell the
disciples and they don’t believe them because “their story seemed like
nonsense.” The greatest story ever told
seemed like nonsense to Peter and the apostles.
Think about that for a second. It
seemed like nonsense. The story was so
amazing, so profound, so unbelievable, that even the apostles simply didn’t
believe it early on. The saving truth of
the resurrection of Christ that most of us simply take for granted, was flat
out not believed by the greatest saints in the history of the Church. I think that when we take this story for
granted we miss out on some of the power of the message.
Do you realize
what I have done for you? Ponder the
mystery of the resurrection with new eyes.
Approach that empty tomb expecting to find a dead body. Feel that sense of amazement when you see the
open and empty tomb. What could this
mean? How could this happen? More than any other event in Jesus’ life, the
resurrection shows us who Jesus really is.
Jesus Christ is the son of God.
He came here to die and rise so that we might live. His death overcomes our sins, his death
overcomes our suffering, his death overcomes our death. His rising allows us to rise. If we let this truth sink in, if we allow
ourselves to be amazed, puzzled, shocked, and awed by that empty tomb, the effects
can be amazing.
Like I said, this
message wasn’t believed by the greatest saints in the history of the
Church. At least, not at first. But, these apostles and holy women became the
greatest saints ever because this story become much more than just a
story. They heard about the resurrection
and didn’t believe. But, once they met the risen Christ, it changed
everything. If we want to be great
saints, the same should happen for us.
We have heard this amazing story, but have we met the risen one? Have we encountered Christ in our life in
such a way that we truly realize what he has done for us?
What a blessing it
is then, that we get to meet Christ right here.
The apostles met Jesus in the upper room after he was raised from the
dead. This is our upper room. This church is our place to meet Christ. This is the beautiful garden where we meet
the risen Lord. Right here on the altar,
we celebrate the Holy Eucharist. Right
here, we see the risen Jesus. He appears
in a different form, to be sure. But, it
is the same Christ. The Eucharist is
Jesus, risen from the dead. By meeting
him here, he can transform us.
Jesus Christ has
been risen from the dead, and he gives us his very body and blood here in the
Holy Eucharist: everyone knows that…
But, today, on this Easter day, let’s not take this message for granted. Rather, we renew our amazement, our wonder,
our shock and awe at this profound message.
Reflecting on the resurrection of Jesus, we shout with our hearts:
praise God, alleluia forever.