Acts 10.34, 37-43・Ps 118.1-2, 16-17, 22-23・Col 3.1-4・Jn 20.1-9
Happy Easter to all.
The abundance of God`s grace has brought us this far in depicting the image of the Cross as an entry into glory for those who believe in Him (Jesus, the Christ) like us. We all find real meaning of our faith through the entry of Jesus to glory (the Resurrection). Indeed our faith is deeply rooted in the Resurrection of Jesus. Just as His disciples, who were once silent and paralyzed because of fear of being arrested, made a complete change of heart and began proclaiming that Jesus has resurrected and was with them, we too in our time, are called to truly share a faith deeply founded in the risen life of Jesus. We believe, we proclaim, and we do what we believe and what we proclaim.
We have to remember that our celebration of Easter is not just a one-time celebration. We do celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus yearly following our Church calendar….“The Image of the Body of Jesus crucified “ may indeed give plenty of consolations for almost all of us who experience pain, unrest, injustice, discrimination and all other imperfections around us. By merely staring at the crucified Body of Jesus, most of us will find courage to live, and simply say, “well, I am not alone with this.” However, the richness of Easter Vigil liturgy, and our joyful celebration of Easter as well, invite us to further reflection as to what the Cross of Christ imparts to our daily lives. His (Jesus`) Cross is the sign of His entry to the Heavenly Father (to the Glory). A point that Jesus is not anymore on the Cross gives a deeper meaning on the Cross, the same Cross that we intend to embrace from now on. “Jesus who is not anymore on the Cross” (the Risen Christ) becomes the center of our Christian living.
(1) Today`s readings allow us to understand that by our prayer life and by every experience of hardships in proclaiming and living the Gospel, we become living witnesses of Jesus` entry into Glory. We are witnesses through smiles amidst suffering. Ones we have learnt how to truly smile, we automatically join the Christendom that this is the season of our lives that “God has made, so we rejoice and we are glad (Ps 118)”.
(2) Our Gospel text today can be considered as one of defining bible passages supporting our life in faith. The crucifixion is a very historical event seen by many in Jesus` time. The Resurrection of Jesus is a faith event because no one saw the resurrection of Jesus. It was an empty tomb first and the rest was all post-resurrection stories. While what we all have was the account of the empty tomb and post resurrection accounts, the movements of Jesus` disciples including that of Mary of Magdala tell us that death is not the last word we have. The possibility of new life is bigger than death that seemingly ends everything for us.
(3) So the letter of Paul to the Collosians imparts us too that the entry of Jesus to Glory is also our entry to new life in which we are all invited to always seek what is above. Let us receive the grace of Jesus` Resurrection so that our change of heart will continue to grow so that it will truly and literally be reachable by others.
Let us celebrate Easter, let us celebrate new life.
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