He is Risen! He is truly Risen!

THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD - Easter Sunday Cycle B

Acts 10:34-43; 1 Cor 5:6-8; Jn 20:1-9

The stone is removed

The Gospel passage that we have just read, the discovery of the empty tomb by Mary of Magdala and by Simon Peter and the other disciple is not just something that happened 2000 years ago but has distinct echoes even in the here-and-now. The huge stone which once sealed the tomb and which has now been removed is the stone removed from our heart. Christ's resurrection removes from our heart the stone of doubt, of resentment, of egoism and allows new life to spring forth from the darkness of the tomb.

A Greek tradition

Light came shone out of darkness. A powerful image comes to mind of when I once celebrated Easter in Greece about 10 years ago when we went on a pilgrimage as a Seminary Community. The way in which they celebrate Easter in the Greek Orthodox church is very similar to ours. They bless the fire as we did last night and as we do, everyone has a little candle which is lit from the main flame. However there is a tradition that I've never seen anywhere else and which is still very clearly imprinted in my mind. They have to take their lit candles back home. And therefore you have this incredible sight: when the ceremony is finally over, in the middle of the night, you see everyone holding a candle and carefully guarding the flame. You see people in buses and taxis holding a lit flame until they arrive home and they must keep it burning till the next morning. If the flame goes out, you have to relight it only from your neighbour's flame, you cannot use lighters or matches.

The power of Light

The unusual sight of thousands of people holding a lit candle even in a bus or taxi helped me understand a bit more the meaning of Easter. The Rising of Christ from the dead is a joy that cannot be hidden but that must be shared with others, especially with those who have not experienced it yet. The winds of doubt and sin can sometimes try and put out this flame, and that is why we must try and guard it so carefully as these Greek faithful did. Moreover, we have the responsibility of helping each other rediscover the joy of that the Risen Christ has brought us just as they light their neighbour's flame whenever it went out. However the light from the candle also enlightens darker areas of our life. CS Lewis in his wonderful little story The Great Divorce has one of the Spirits of Light say to one of the creatures, "Our light can swallow up your darkness, but your darkness cannot infect our light" (Ch. 13). This is indeed the meaning of the Feast of Easter, the absolute victory of light over darkness, of life over death, of the life of virtue over the life of sin.

New yeast, new light

Along with the symbolism of the large stone and of the lit candle, I would like to share also some reflections on another important symbol proposed by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians which we have read in the second reading. Yeast, as we know is a living thing, and if you want to make bread or pizza dough nowadays you but sachets of instant yeast from (CVS!). Obviously they did not have this in Jesus's time, and therefore whenever they used to need to make dough they would use as much as they would need but would always keep a piece of dough with yeast in it for the next time. St Paul is saying, now, get rid of the old yeast, representing the old life, the old life styles, old ways of thinking, old habits. Instead, he says, become a fresh batch of dough, because Christ, the paschal lamb has been sacrificed. We might have been struggling with some things throughout this Lent. We might have wanted to keep a bit of the old batch of yeast hidden somewhere in our life "just in case". That old batch of dough no matter how small, will ferment, will make a nasty smell. Why stick with it any longer? Now is the moment to chuck it out and to become a new batch of dough, because Christ is Risen!

Desperation to Hope

This week I had the opportunity of reading a book that Fr Rob Galea, a young priest living in Australia. The book is called Breakthrough: A Journey from Desperation to Hope. In it he describes how he was transformed from a 16 year old young man lost in an abyss of despair because he was a victim of bullying, addictions and loss of hope in general to a young man who encountered Christ through the charismatic community, until he finally was ordained a priest and now spends most of his time travelling across Australia and around the world sharing the good news with young men and women by composing and singing praise and worship songs and by sharing his testimony. We are all called to do this journey - not the singing part I mean! - but the journey from our own places of desperation to hope.

A journey we must all undertake

Mary of Magdala, Simon Peter and the other disciple too made this journey. This is what Peter does also in the Acts of the apostles as we have heard in the first reading. He recounts how he has witnessed the Risen Christ in his life and shares his experience with others so that they too may make this same experience.

The Day the Lord has made

Christmas is celebrated for eight days, which we call the octave of Christmas, while Lent is celebrated for forty days, because we know that we need a long period of time for repentance and conversion. But Easter is Celebrated for fifty days, from today until Pentecost, and every day the next eight days, in the liturgy we celebrate Easter as though it were Easter Sunday. Let us not lose this opportunity to raise to as new life with Christ, because "This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!"