"The Lord has been raised!"

"The Lord has truly been raised!" 

The Word for Easter Sunday: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040118.cfm

Jn 20: 1-9

Mk 16: 1-7

Lk 24: 13 - 35

Not long ago, world renowned and respected Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking passed away after an exceptionally long battle with the disease called ALS: Lou Gehrig’s disease as it is popularly known.  Despite his extreme physical limitations which gradually grew more pronounced over the years to the point that he could not move or speak yet he continued in his endless study of science. Hawking was a scientist through and through.  His reality measure was wrapped in physical proof and the laws of nature which guide all things.  So, the ultimate question of whether Hawking was a professed atheist, an agnostic, or a closet believer was posed more than once. 

Four years ago during an interview with a Spanish news source, Mr. Hawking made it crystal clear that he was not a believer.  In fact, he definitively stated there is no God.  That all things were the result of scientifically explainable phenomena and our goal is to discover what that cause may be. In that interview Hawking stated:  “Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe. But now science provides a more convincing explanation.” He stated further: “We would know everything that God would know, if there was a God. Which there isn’t.  Religion believes in miracles but these aren’t compatible with science.” No, miracles are not compatible with science – that’s why they’re called miracles!  Hawking stated that he believed there was one great law which governed all things and that one day that law will be discovered.  Whether he realized it or not, Stephen Hawking was seeking God himself.  But, just like Mr. Hawking and every human being born before or after – the invitation is offered to us but we must choose to believe or to not.

The point of this brief reflection brings us now to the mystery of the Easter season that we will mark for the next 50 days of great joy.  The claims on the risen body of Jesus of Nazareth are not claims about scientific theory or the laws of nature gone sideways.  They are statement s of faith based upon the real experience of those who knew Jesus of Nazareth during the approximate 3 years of his public life - his intimate circle of disciples to whom he revealed the deeper meaning of his parables and explained to these men, who still had much to learn, the nature of himself and the ultimate purpose of his mission on earth.  In short, we believe because they believed and millions before us have likewise believed as a matter of faith.

So, for the next 50 days we hear of people changed not just without but more importantly changed within.  For those same disciples of Jesus, something happened to them which caused a radical new direction of their lives.  What they experienced so seized them they went from fear and confusion to courage and certainty; from weakness to strength; from selfishness to the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives.  And that transformation became contagious to others.  The Easter story has been far too persistent to ignore it.  In an age that thinks we have all things figured out or if not yet, will certainly get there soon – the Easter mystery of Christ raised from the dead is too important to dismiss because it invites us to go farther.   

The birth of new members in the Christian-Catholic faith through the gift of the Holy Spirit in the waters of Baptism, the anointing with sacred Chrism in the sacrament of Confirmation, and the food which sustains us as the very true presence of Christ among us - his body and blood in the Eucharist all share in the life of the risen Christ who calls us to a new direction. There is no doubt that the resurrection is the very foundation of our Christian faith – it is the rock we stand on; the meaning and purpose in our life of faith. If Christ is truly raised, then he can be nothing less than the center of our lives.

So, we will hear this Easter season of the reaction of the Apostles, of Mary Magdalene, of Thomas who doubted, of talking angels who questioned visitors at the empty tomb that early morning, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead?” (Lk 24: 1-10). We will hear of disciples whose lives were instantly transformed from fear to overwhelming joy, wonder, and bold courage. So convicted were they that Jesus was alive and eternally present again that no force or threat on earth could change their minds. So, Easter indeed challenges us to imagine a God with no boundaries – this God with no limits; a God for whom nothing is impossible (Lk 1: 37).

This is not a celebration of science and logic but this grand feast of Easter is the beginning point of deep faith - of a spiritual reality beyond time and space. It is about our belief and identity as God’s people. Easter reminds us that God’s invitation is extended beyond boundaries, beyond race and nationality, beyond politics or geography – God’s invitation in Christ Jesus is open to anyone who “testifies” that Jesus is Lord and universal Savior of humanity. That he is the anointed one – come to bring freedom from sin to all humankind.

The great witness we have today in our Gospel story is that of the empty tomb. Women, named Mary Magdalene and Joanna and men named Peter and John who could hardly contain their joy and wonder once they came to conviction – because of an empty tomb. But, that alone would not be enough. Two disciples on a personal journey of reflection meet the risen Christ who sits with them at table and breaks bread and there they discover him.  They cannot contain themselves and run out to bring the news to others.

Where do we find the risen Christ today? In the newly baptized among us – more than 30,000 new Catholic-Christians through this Country this year. We no longer look in empty tombs but in His Church, His Body – Jesus baptizes, confirms, becomes our food of liberation in the Eucharist, unites in marriage, comforts the dying, forgives sin, chooses and calls in the priesthood. In those holy sacraments the risen Christ continues his work.

Our Gospel tells us to go and tell others what you have seen and heard.  Easter asks something of us. What is our mission in the world today?  To bear witness to the truth that there is a life beyond this life we know; that there is a reality beyond something we can measure; that there is a God who loves us and who invites us to share in his own life, through Christ Jesus our risen Savior. 

May our Eucharist be a living encounter with all that is Holy in Christ Jesus, our risen Savior. Alleluia! 

O God, who on this day, 

through your Only Begotten Son, 

have conquered death

and unlocked for us the path to eternity, 

grant, we pray, that we who keep 

the solemnity of the Lord's Resurrection

may, through the renewal brought by your Spirit, 

rise up in the light of life. 

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, 

who lives and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 

one God, for ever and ever. 

(Collect of Day)