Easter 11

Easter,Apr.24,11

Jn.20.1-18

Easter always arouses in our hearts feelings of hope and joy. The spring is around us. There is more day light and there is a silent stirring in the hidden lives of plants and trees. Flowers and leaves are about to explode into their full bloom before our eyes soon. Nature which was hiding under the cover of the shadow of winter is coming out in its full power and glory. It is natural for one to feel exuberant and happy at this time.

The passage from the Gospel is a marvelous account of the impact of the resurrection.

There was a feeling of emptiness, helplessness, of sorrow, of having lost everything among the disciples. May Magdalene came to the tomb to pay her final respects and to embalm the body again. It id not cross her mind that Jesus would rise from the tomb The apostles also did not think that Jesus would arise. If Jesus were God, he would have struck the soldiers dead and would not have allowed himself to die so shamefully, they thought. They were engaged in their routine tasks of their daily lives, but kept the company of one another.

May found an empty tomb. She right away thought that they had taken him away. She rushed to the Apostles. She did not say he was risen but only that they had taken the Lord away.

The apostles ran to the tomb, for another meeting with failure and disaster. But when they came, they looked into the tomb and found all the clothes neatly folded. It struck them all of a sudden that Jesus was not taken away but that He had risen. All the words of Jesus about His resurrection came alive in their minds. They believed.

May stood crying and looking for Jesus. Then, Jesus appeared to her. Jesus called her in the way he always called her: “Mary.” That was enough for her to recognize Jesus. She heard the same voice and the same tone. She could not stand the ground any more. Joyfully she burst out: “Teacher.”

She came back and told the apostles: “I have seen the Lord.”

It is in emptiness, loneliness and in suffering that we can experience the Lord.

We often think of our failures and sufferings as painful situations. But they are the events that open the door of life to Jesus. Once we experience Him in these situations, nothing can take away the joy from our life.

Through our failures, tragedies, painful and agonizing events…when things turn bad for us, when others insult us, when we are not appreciated, when we think we cannot do anything and that we don’t have the talents…. Jesus comes into our lives, calls us by our name and lets us know that He loves us.

The resurrection of Jesus gives us hope, hope that no one can take way from our lives---hope that grows and strengthens our lives.

Resurrection is the corner stone of our faith. St. Paul said: “ If Christ had not risen, our faith would be in vain.”(1Cor.15:15) If Jesus had not arisen, his life would be similar to that of any prophets or teachers the world has seen. Jesus established his power over death and destruction---proved himself to be the Lord of the Universe through his Resurrection.

Empty tomb is a challenge to all of us to reawaken our faith in Jesus It is a call for a total assent from our part to His presence in our midst.

Jesus speaks to each one of us as he spoke to Thomas: “Come and put your finger in my wounds and believe.” It is a call to faith. If we believe in the resurrection of Jesus , believe in his presence in our midst, then our attitudes and behavior would definitely have to undergo deep change.

For many of us, resurrection has not happened as a personal experience. We remain entombed in our selfishness. The tomb has to become empty today. The stone of indifference has to be rolled away from our lives. The dazzling spectacle of Jesus rising from the tomb of selfishness has to happen in our lives.