Fr. Joel A. Liwanag, SJ
Easter Sunday, The Resurrection of the Lord
April 21, 2019
Happy Easter! After a grueling Good Friday and a bleak Black Saturday, Easter Sunday, indeed, is a time of great rejoicing.
In our Gospel today, however, joy does not seem to characterize the mood of the story. The scene begins early in the morning with Mary Magdalene’s visit to the tomb. Seeing that the stone had been removed, she concludes that someone must have taken Jesus’ body. She probably thought, “Was it not enough that they crucified him? Was it not enough that they killed him? Do they also have to steal his body?” Feeling the grief, the sorrow, she runs to Peter and tells him the news. Peter enters the tomb and finds the burial cloths there. The cloth that covered Jesus’ head was also there, rolled up in a separate place, but Jesus’ body was nowhere to be found. For Mary and Peter, seeing the empty tomb definitely did not bring about great rejoicing.
Our Gospel today comes from the evangelist John. In the three other Gospels, we also find similar scenes of Mary going to the tomb on Easter morning. In these three accounts, Jesus was likewise nowhere to be found. The big difference, however, is that the tomb was not entirely empty. In Matthew, we are told that there was an “angel.” In Mark, there was a “young man clothed in white.” In Luke, there were “two men in dazzling garments.” Their message was one and the same: “Do not be afraid! Jesus is not here because he has been raised from the dead.” In John, all we have is an empty tomb, with no one to explain what had happened.
What can we learn from John’s recounting of the first Easter morning? How are we called to respond to it? I wish to propose three key invitations that this particular Gospel account seems to present to us.
First, we are invited to be patient.
Today’s Gospel teaches us that the graces of Easter may come slowly, gradually, and therefore, we need to be patient. Seeing the empty tomb, Peter and Mary find themselves in distress, believing that someone had stolen the body of Jesus. After this scene, however, as Mary is left weeping outside the tomb, Jesus eventually appears to her and calls her by her name, “Mary,” and this brings her much joy.
Perhaps there are those among you who, in the midst of our Easter celebrations, continue to remain in the Good Fridays of your life. Maybe there are those among you who cannot fully share in the Easter joy that this season brings. Perhaps problems continue to weigh you down, crosses that have not been taken off your back. The Lord’s invitation is for you to be patient. He will come. Even as you are weeping, the Risen Lord will come, to surprise you, to call you by your name. Just be patient because sometimes the graces of Easter come slowly, gradually.
Secondly, just as we are invited to be patient, we are also invited to let go of our old paradigms.
Mary and Peter were obviously trapped in their old paradigms. For them, it was clear: Jesus died. That was it. It was good while it lasted, but it’s over. Trapped in that paradigm, they had of course expected that Jesus’ body would be in the tomb. As a dead man, he couldn’t possibly walk out on his own. Thus, since he was not there, then someone must have taken him. Being trapped in their old paradigm, they could not see beyond death.
It is interesting that even Peter, who saw the burial cloths, did not realize that if someone did steal Jesus, that person would not bother to remove the cloths covering his body. Much more so, that person would not bother rolling up the cloth that covered his head. If someone did steal Jesus, he would have just carried Jesus along with the burial cloths. But Peter was so caught up in his old paradigm that he did not see beyond the reality that Jesus had died.
Many times, we get so caught up in our old paradigms and this prevents us from seeing the Risen Jesus, from listening to him and going where he wants us to go. It may thus be good to ask ourselves, “What old paradigms hinder us from seeing and treading the path that the Risen Lord wants us to take? What old paradigms shackle us and trap us? What old paradigms are we invited to let go of?” St. Paul, in our Second Reading today reminds us, “Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough…” What old yeast must we clear out in order to encounter the Risen Lord?
Finally, the third invitation: be attentive to the Risen Lord’s presence.
In our Gospel today, Mary and Peter failed to appreciate the meaning of the empty tomb. They failed to see how it was a sign of Jesus’ resurrection. But we are told that their companion, the disciple whom Jesus loved, “saw and believed.” They were in the same place, the same empty tomb. One saw what the two did not. What was the difference? We don’t really know for sure. We can only surmise that there was an openness in him, an attentiveness that allowed him to see and believe in the presence of the Risen Lord even in the absence of his body.
This Easter season, we are called to be especially attentive to the presence of the Risen Lord in our life. Yes, he is alive. He is here with us. His presence is no longer bound by the earthly limits of space and time. His presence transcends boundaries and this makes it possible for him to be with each and every one of us in a most personal and unique way. We must ask ourselves, then, “Are we ready to welcome him? Are we attentive to his presence? Are we open to encountering him in our daily life?”
As we celebrate this great Easter feast, let us keep in mind these three key invitations that today’s Gospel calls us to: to be patient, to let go of our old paradigms, and to be attentive to the presence of the Risen Lord. May we encounter him and experience the joy of his presence even in the empty tombs of our life.