READINGS: Rom 6:3-11; Psa 117:1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Mk 16:1-8
THEME: HAVE I ALSO RISEN?
Dearest in Christ, this night we celebrate the night of our victory over the power of darkness and death. Today, we celebrate the mystery of our faith, the mystery of our life. We celebrate the mystery that guaranteed our identity, without which we would have been doomed. We celebrate the Resurrection of Christ which also implies our own resurrection.
THERE IS NO MORE STONE…CHRIST IS NO MORE IN THE TOMB!
In the time of Jesus, the Jews had a cave-like-tomb. When someone died, he/she was placed inside this kind of tomb and a very big stone is used to cover the entrance. We see a similar thing in the case of Lazarus (cf Jn 11:39). Sometimes, the stone was so heavy that it would demand effort of hefty men to roll it out of the entrance of the tomb. The stone did not serve only as the door to the tomb but also stood as what demarcates the land of the living and the land of the dead. Hence, the stone was keeping the two worlds apart. And it was also the Jewish tradition to anoint the body of their buried ones for some period of time before decomposition set in.
To anoint the body of the dead is to remove this stone that serves as the barrier, and then to move from the land of the living into the world of the dead. The stone used in covering the tomb of Jesus is shown to be a heavy one such that the women needed someone to remove that for them. Surprisingly, they saw the stone already rolled out. That is to say, that thing which was keeping the two worlds apart has been removed.
Through his resurrection, Jesus has opened our tombs, he has rolled out that which was blocking us from coming into the world of life, life of freedom in Christ. But the question is, “are we still lying inside the tomb, not minding that the stone has been rolled out?” Christ himself said that time is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live (Jn 5:25). Christ has removed every obstacle that prevents his voice from reaching us. But we need to give our ear to his calling and come out from the tomb of sin and unfaithfulness to God.
HE IS NOT HERE…HE IS TO BE FOUND IN GALILEE
The Risen Lord did not stay back in Jerusalem, the city of his passion, rather he went back to Galilee, the city of Goodnews of the Lord (cf Mk 1:14). The disciples were not to see him again in his tomb, but in Galilee.
In Christ’s resurrection, God has also raised us from our fears and darkness. We are no longer expected to still be found where sin and shame buried us. We are no longer expected to be found where we were beaten down by hopelessness and worries. The young man dressed in a white robe said to the women, “He has been raised. He is not here”. Jesus is no longer to be found in the tomb, No…he is on his way to Galilee.
Dearest in Christ, let us rise with Christ, and let us move with him from that tomb of passivity to the city of activeness in doing good, in spreading the Goodnews of God’s love and forgiveness, in healing people with our consoling words and soothing smiles, in standing for the truth and justice. Let us go to Galilee, the city of true witness to God’s mercy. When we rise with Christ, people will look for us in the tomb where they think situations of life have buried us, but the mercy of God will be there to meet them and to say to them, “my son/daughter has been raised from that miserable life. He/she can no longer be found in that state of life.
If you want to find him/her and witness the greatness of God in his/her life, move away from here, go to Galilee, go to the city of activeness in living in God’s love, there you will find him/her”. We must not continue to stay in our situation of shame and inactiveness, we must no longer continue to be associated with passivity and disgrace, we must rise up to the grace of God calling us in Christ Jesus.
The stone blocking us from encountering God’s goodness has been removed by the blood of Christ on calvary. The clothes of bondage and the tomb where we buried ourselves in sins of flesh and omission, have been taken away by God. But unless we come out from the tomb, and move very far away from it, and head to Galilee, where the story of our salvation began, we may not truly be counted among the newly created sons and daughters of God.
Easter means that we are no longer to be identified with darkness and shame, with sin and passivity. Easter rater means that we have been given an opportunity to come out from our slavery and live fully as free children of God, those who will not be ashamed to shout through their words and actions, “YES…CHRIST HAS RISEN FOR ME AND I NOW LIVE IN AND FOR HIM ”.
HAPPY EASTER!!!
Fr. Nnamah Henry C
Catholic Diocese of Aguleri