EASTER 2014

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Acts 10,34.37-43; Col 3,1-4 or 1 Cor 5,6-8; John 20,1-9: Easter : Year A)

We celebrate the solemnity of Easter with joy, the solemnity of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, that is, his passage from death to life. Easter is defined as the Solemnity of the solemnities; indeed it is the great solemnity of the liturgical year. It can be said that the entire liturgical year converge towards the paschal mystery (death and resurrection of Jesus Christ), and from where it is illumined. We ask ourselves what does it mean for the Christian to celebrate the resurrection?

 

It means, first of all, to remember, recall, evoke and make a memorial, that is to say, to commemorate this extraordinary and unique event of history which is the resurrection. The liturgy of the Mass vividly recalls this event to our memory. It does so with the narrative in the Gospel of John in which Mary of Magdala, having seen that the stone, with which the tomb of Jesus was covered was removed ran and told Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved. Both ran to the tomb, thinking that the body of Jesus was purloined (stolen). They came and saw the tomb empty. The linen that was used to wrap Jesus’ body was lying on the ground while the cloth that was over his head  rolled up in a different place by itself. This was the first sign or indication of the resurrection. (One would think that if the body was merely stolen, the thieves would not have removed the burial cloths). The apostle, Peter in today’s first reading gives the resume of the life of Jesus whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power and who spent his life doing good because God was with him. He was killed by the Jews but God raised him on the third day and he appeared to his Apostles, with whom he ate and drank. Peter concluded his speech by affirming:all who believe in Jesus will have their sins forgiven through his name.  

  

To celebrate also means: to render present and actual the mystery of the resurrection of Jesus. We render Christ, who rose from the dead   present, in the liturgical assembly when we gather in his name: where two or three of you are gathered in my name I am in your midst.During the Holy Mass, he is also present in the priest who celebrates the Mass. The risen Christ is also in his church (recall: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?). We render  the risen Christ present in the proclamation and the listening to the word of God. Whenever the gospel is proclaimed, it is Christ who rose from the dead that speaks to us, just as he spoke to his disciples and the crowds of Galilee. What is more, we render the risen Christ present in the celebration of the Sacraments. This is so especially in the celebration of the Eucharist, in the Holy Mass where the risen Christ is really rendered present in the sings of bread and wine after the consecration, where he renews his sacrificial offering of himself to God the Father in order to enter into sacramental communion with every one of us. 

 

To celebrate also means living and interiorizing the mystery of the resurrection,  appropriating  it and making it our own. Already, at Baptism we are immersed in the mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ. We are buried with Christ in his death, and just as he was raised to life, we also can walk in new life. Then, at so many other times, with the Sacrament of Confession  we pass from death of sin to the life of grace; we rise with Christ, as it were. (It is hoped that we all are in the state of grace of God; also that we have gone to confession, otherwise what use is it to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus when we remain buried in our sins).  Again, we live the mystery of the resurrection of Christ by seriously taking on ourselves the task of conversion, with the firm resolve of spiritual renovation. We need to resolutely take on this task of rising to, walking and progressing in, the life of grace (Col 3,1-4).

 

In order to fully benefit from our celebration of the resurrection of Christ and thereby to enter into full possession of salvation, and remain in full communion with Christ, we need to fix our gaze towards heaven, our true fatherland where the risen Christ had gone to before us and which will be our own lot, our perennial home. We should also turn our thoughts and desires towards the supreme reality and not leave ourselves to be dislodged by the attractions of this world. In this way the new life we have now with Christ, though hidden from the eyes of men, will shine with all brightness at the glorious and final manifestation (appearance) of the risen Christ. In order to effect the above we have to: remove from our hearts and lives the old yeast of malice and perversity as Paul exhorts us in 1 Cor 5,6-8 (2nd reading); conserve in our hearts the new yeast of sincerity and truth; seek to be a new batch of bread, good and enlivened by grace and the Holy Spirit. 

This should be our manner of celebrating the great solemnity of Easter, which should be our good wises to one another. Happy Easter. 

 +John I. Okoye