Word to the Wise
Sunday, March 27, 2016 - Easter Sunday: The Resurrection of the Lord; The Mass of Easter Day - ABC
[Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8; John 20:1-9 or Luke 24:13-35 (for afternoon Masses),234]"Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead." [John]
I have told this story here before but it remains a favorite of mine at Easter. A friend of mine at Easter Sunday Mass responded to her young son's question: "What does resurrection mean?" She replied that it meant Jesus was no longer in the tomb. He then asked (reasonably for a child), "Well, where is he?" That child was in good company. The same question was asked by Mary Magdalen and by other disciples. In today's gospel scripture from John, "the other disciple, the one who had arrived at the tomb first," goes into the tomb and "saw and believed," even though he did not yet understand the scriptures about this. His was an immediate and intuitive grasp of what happened. (Scripture scholars argue about this but I'll go with that insight.) It is only when Jesus appears to the disciples and to Mary Magdalen that they "see and believe." In the alternative gospel scripture for today from Luke, the disciples on the road to Emmaus gradually come to realize who the stranger with them truly is. But this happens only after he has explained the scriptures and broken the bread.
Today the Church resounds with the word, ALLELUIA! We rejoice at the resurrection of the Lord. It is still an enormous reality of faith. If Christ has not conquered death, the foundation of our faith in Jesus is destroyed. He becomes a dead martyr but not the Lord of the Living and the Dead. The child's question, "Well, where is he?" is answered with, "He is everywhere by his Spirit living within us." We have the benefit of centuries of faith and faithful people for whom the resurrection of Jesus was so important that it was worth their lives to proclaim it to the world. "Christ is risen!" is the Easter proclamation. "Alleluia!" is our best response. AMEN
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