EASTER, INVITATION TO A NEW LIFE.

April 4, 2021 
Easter Sunday The Resurrection of the Lord
The Mass of Easter Day - B.

Readings: Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Col 3:1-4; Jn 20:1-9.

A Jewish proverb says, “If you start thinking of death, you are no longer sure of life.” And an Ivorian proverb adds, “Life is your ability to breath out every time you breathe in.”

What are we celebrating these days? The answer to this question can be found in the introduction of the solemn vigil of Easter. The priest starts the celebration by saying, “Dear brethren, on this most sacred night, in which our Lord Jesus Christ passed over from death to life, the Church calls upon her sons and daughters, scattered throughout the world, to come together to watch and pray. If we keep the memorial of the Lord's paschal solemnity in this way, listening to his word and celebrating his mysteries, then we shall have the sure hope of sharing his triumph over death and living with him in God.”

Three lessons from this introduction: first we celebrate our greatest gathering as a community of faith. Second, we recall the victory of Jesus over death. And third, we celebrate in mystery our hope of glory and triumph over death.

Easter is the greatest of all Christian gatherings and even the reason for all the other gatherings. It is the central mystery of our faith. The Easter Vigil is the night that gives meaning to all other nights in human life and the life of the Church. It tells us that no matter how dark can a night be, there will always be a new light, a new life springing from death.

The Lord whom we witness the crucifixion and death on the bloody and sorrowful celebration of the Good Friday is risen from the dead. New life springs from the grave. Like a seed sown in the dark ground of the tomb, Christ, today sprouts, symbol of a new spring, and as a community of his followers, we are made witnesses of this germination.

The readings given to our today's meditation are all about the passage from death to life, from darkness to light, from oldness to newness. Easter is all on that newness. It is also a call to give thanks to God, the first and unique author of all life and resurrection. That is the meaning of our Exultet and our Easter Sequence, "Christians, to the Paschal victim offer your thankful praises!" Peter, in the first reading, recounts the experience of the apostles, an experience that marked a new beginning in their lives and makes them confident to proclaim Christ as the Savior and Lord. He emphasizes the importance of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Paul in the Second reading tells us the singularity of baptism as a new birth. We are buried into the death of sin with Christ and raise unto new life. The Gospel, with Mary Magdalene, teaches us that the emptiness is the sign of a new beginning. The empty tomb is the only proof of the resurrection that makes a difference in our lives. And, Like Mary Magdalene, we are to go and proclaim what we have seen and heard: “The tomb is empty! The Lord is not there!”

At Easter, life calls to life. We are raised from death to life. We are taken from what keeps us bent to the ground. This has an implication on our life. That is what St. Paul calls us for in his address to the Colossians, to “Seek what is above, where Christ is...” (Col 3:1).

The Christian life is not an earthly-centered life but a heavenly-oriented one. Therefore, we should do away with sin that keeps us bent on our earth, our ego, the worldliness, and so, thirst for what is heavenly, that is love and selflessness. Like Mary Magdalene, we too are made messengers of the good news of God's love that raised Jesus from the dead.

We live in a world in lacks of good news. With the current pandemic of the Covid 19, all that we hear about are a succession of negativities; how many people are affected; how many people have died; how many are victims of the hurry-found vaccines... The world seems plunged into deep darkness. Then resounds for us this great beautiful news of newness, a new beginning, a new life. It is time to do away with all kinds of pessimistic thoughts and open to the positivity that leads to life. Jesus is risen, Alleluia! The sorrows of yesterday are over. “Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous: The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.” Therefore, be the Magdalene of this New Alleluia.

Sadly, something we can hardly afford today is a public gathering or a great community united in the same place, by a common goal, and celebrating a common hope of glory. The pandemic decides our way to live our life of faith. We are still in the 'New Normal' made of abnormalities: social distance as an act of love, face hidden or masked; invisible smiles as an act of love; away from others as a sign of concern for them... Nevertheless, the Easter joy goes beyond the mask, the empty churches, the confinement or quarantine. Jesus who was quarantined three days in the loneliness of the tomb got out from it. The empty tomb tells us that all sorrows of the moment will be emptied of their content. Life will always win over death. Alleluia! May we never stop breathing positivity and new hope in a new tomorrow.