Easter Sunday
It took them a while to figure it out. The Apostles had come a very long way. From their initial encounters with the Rabbi from Nazareth, through the three years of their formation with Him, the witnessing of the miracles and the learning of all the lessons He taught with His words and actions. Slowly, very slowly, they had come to accept that their idea of an earthly Messiah who would conquer the world was perhaps not exactly what God had in mind. They had not entirely lost hope; however, for even at the Last Supper, they were fighting for the first places in the Messianic kingdom and making ready to fight with their swords. And yet, it was at the Last Supper that they finally understood that Our Lord was not just man but truly the Son of God. Now we know that thou knowest all things and thou needest not that any man should ask thee. By this we believe that thou camest forth from God (Jn 16:30).
Nevertheless, they were not prepared for what followed. Perhaps, they thought, even if He dies, we will carry on the kingdom and conquer the world. However, when they saw Him rejected and condemned as a blasphemer, they all ran away, scattered like chickens, and plunged into the most profound desolation. All their hopes were shattered. There was no longer anything to live for. There was no issue, no hope.
This explains the fact that when the holy women came back and told them that they had seen angels who said that Jesus was alive, they thought they had lost their minds. The poor women: it’s just been too much for them. It also explains that even when they saw Him risen, they just stood there in shock, utterly at a loss as to what was happening, doubting – even up to the day of the Ascension – even though they touched Him and ate with Him. The miracle is so stupendous, unexpected, and beyond their wildest dreams, even though it had been clearly hinted at in the Old Testament.
The fact of the matter is that there is only one thing that can explain the apostles’ complete turnaround, from scared half-wits locking themselves up in a small room in Jerusalem to conquerors of the world spilling their blood with joy for Jesus Christ. And that one thing is that the event we commemorate today actually happened.
Jesus was put to death in a most horrible form of torture. He died and was buried. On the third day, that is to say, the day on which the Hebrews considered to be the ultimate test of the veracity of death, that day when beyond all shadow of a doubt He was indeed dead, on that day, He rises in glory from the grave.
The Resurrection of Christ is a historical event. It happened beyond any shadow of a doubt. Death could not hold Him bound, and so He broke the bonds of death. Such is the mystery of our faith that we contemplate today and throughout Paschal Tide.
Let us not omit, on this most holy of days, to immerse ourselves in the contemplation of the joy we celebrate as it was the jubilation of Our Lord Himself. He had suffered the torments of the Passion, and He it is who, on this day, is filled with transports of delight, His flesh and His soul being immersed in bliss that is not of this world. Such is the meaning of those words of Psalm 15 that St Peter will explain to the Jews on Pentecost Sunday to prove that the Resurrection had been prophesied: My heart hath been glad, and my tongue hath rejoiced: moreover, my flesh also shall rest in hope. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; nor wilt thou give thy holy one to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life, thou shalt fill me with joy with thy countenance: at thy right hand are delights even to the end (Ps 15:9-11).
When Our blessed Lord rose on Easter Sunday morning, He no doubt sang a song to His Father, an echo of which we can hear in the introit we sang this morning, coming, so it seems, from the depths of eternity, the eternal commerce between the Father and the Son in the union of the Holy Spirit. The Father laying His hand on His Son incarnate in the grave and gently waking Him from the sleep of His human death and leading into the ineffable contemplation of the mirabilia, the marvels of the divine foresight whose plan has been fulfilled, overcoming all the powers of hell combined.
After this, Our Blessed Lord’s next thought is, of course, for His Holy Mother, to whom He pays a visit at the crack of dawn. Mother Mary was in prayer, still desolate after the trauma of Calvary, the depths of which only a mother could understand. She had not lost the faith; she knew her Son would rise again, but she did not know when. Suddenly, Our Lord is there, and in a moment, her mourning is turned into a rapturous bliss, and the embrace of Mother and Son becomes one that we can only approach with the most profound respect and silence.
Let us ask Mother Mary on this day to share something of that event with us as we express our overflowing joy for her joy. We do not deserve it, it is true, but a mother does not give to her children only what they deserve. She gives them her heart and with it all the treasures it contains.
With all the angels of paradise, let us join in the Regina Coeli and the unending alleluia that tells God how grateful we are for His marvellous deeds and proclaims to the world how certain we are that Christ is Risen and that we will rise with Him in glory. Amen.
