EASTER SUNDAY "B"

EASTER SUNDAY "B"

            When Peter entered the tomb, he saw the linen cloths lying. The napkin which had been on Jesus’ head was not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. You remember that when Lazarus came out of the tomb, his hands and feet were bound with bandages, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Lazarus came out in his grave clothes because he would need them again. He was not resurrected to glory, but rather returned to normal life. Unlike Lazarus, Jesus has no need of the linen cloths. Jesus stepped out of them and left them aside. Christ is risen and embodies a new and radical transformation. Before his Resurrection, he was present only in Galilee. Now in his fresh new existence he is present to the whole world of creation and has changed history forever.

            The beloved disciple looked into the tomb early, while it was still dark. Now it is very unlikely that a visit to the tomb would have been made in the dark. So we look for a symbolic meaning. You remember how Judas left the Upper Room of the Last Supper in order to betray Jesus. The Gospel says he walked into the night, into darkness. Mary Magdalene was still in the dark. She wept in shock and sadness. Later when she would meet Jesus in the garden, he would allow her to recognise him and she would see and believe and call him Lord. The Easter festival calls us to be like Mary Magdalene: to be called out of darkness, to see with the eyes of faith and to believe. One day two ladies were standing in front of the magnificent cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris looking at the structure with admiration and wonderment. One asked the other, “Why can’t we build structures like this anymore?” Her friend answered, “The people who built this had faith. Today we have no faith, only opinions; and you can’t build a cathedral with opinions.”

 This is our faith that has reverberated in this community that has never disintegrated in 2000 years since the first Easter.

            There is a deeper reason why the Resurrection is the foundation of our faith. Christ’s resurrection is the resurrection of man. Today, sin has been destroyed. And his victory over sin is final and definitive. As we look into our hearts we often don’t feel very dead to sin  -  in fact, it seems very much alive and kicking ! The more reason why we should desire and develop our union with Jesus Christ.

 In virtue of our union with him, we too, through him, with him and in him have died to sin and risen to newness of life. The Resurrection of Christ is the resurrection of man. This man who has been renewed and transformed is no disembodied spirit, but man in his concrete reality, his total human existence. The resurrection of man is, in effect, the renewal of the whole world  -  of the world that man shapes and that, in turn, shapes man; the day-to-day world around us in its multiple human dimensions  -  religious, cultural, socio-economic. Because the Risen Christ is the New Man, redeemed mankind is the “new creation”, in which freedom and dignity are respected, a society rebuilt on justice, honesty and considerateness for the needs of the other.

            Jesus stands as the most radical challenge as well as the deepest source in inspiration to modern men and women, thirsting for integrity, yet tragically unable to achieve it. Put them in contact with Jesus and they will discover that the Risen Christ alone is fully our Peace and Joy.

PRAYER

(Brother Roger of Taize)

If you were not risen, Lord Christ,

to whom would we go

to discover a radiance of the face of God ?

If you were not risen, we would not be together

seeking your communion.

We would not find in your presence forgiveness,

wellspring of a new beginning.

If you were not risen, where would be draw

the energy to follow you

right to the end of our existence,

for choosing you again and again ?

St. Thomas’ Church,

Calcutta