Word to the Wise
Sunday, March 31, 2024 - 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),59]On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told then, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him." [John] If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. [Colossians] And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. [Luke]
The first Easter was a doubly shocking experience. First, there was the shock of seeing Jesus cruelly executed like a criminal. Second, there was the shock of the empty tomb! Mary Magdalen, Peter and the Beloved Disciple, and the disciples on the road to Emmaus experienced that double shock along with the other disciples who found it all too much! Perhaps a third shock occurred when Jesus appeared to them at the tomb (Mary Magdalen), in the Upper Room (Thomas et al.) and on the road to Emmaus!!!
The question asked by the infant son of a friend of mine always hits me at Easter. My friend tried to explain about the real meaning of Easter to him. When she said that Jesus was no longer in the tomb, her son reasonably asked: "Then where is he?" He was in the garden and called Mary Magdalen by name. He was in the Upper Room and challenged Thomas to see the marks of his wounds. He was walking on the road to Emmaus, and on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias and on the mountain in Galilee! The Letter to the Colossians says he is seated at the right hand of God! He is everywhere!
He is in the wounds of all who suffer. He is at the table of the Eucharist. He is in the communion of all of us gathered in his name. He is in his word proclaimed. He is in the hungry, thirsty, naked, lonely and newly arrived migrant. It can all be shocking to us, but what is most important on this day is: HE IS RISEN! ALLELUIA! HAPPY EASTER! AMEN.