Easter Sunday, April 17, 2022

Jesus is truly alive

John 29:1–9

New Jerusalem Bible John Chapter 20 :1-9:
(parallels: Mt 28:1-10; Mk 16:1-8;Luke 24:1-11)

1. It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb

2. and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,' she said, 'and we don't know where they have put him.'

3. So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb.

4. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; 5. he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in.

6. Simon Peter, following him, also came up, went into the tomb, saw the linen cloths lying on the ground

7. and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself.

8. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed.

9. Till this moment they had still not understood the scripture, that he must rise from the dead." 

Music Meditations

O, God Beyond All praising

Ode to Joy

Jesus Christ is Risen today ( traditional)

Prayer

I pray today for all those who are waiting, hoping against hope, and praying for a good outcome in their lives: those at war, refugees, the poor, the sick, the lonely. I pray for those who are living with sorrow, with loss, with despair, praying for relief, for hope. Help me to be patient as, like them, I wait for what will come and pray that your will be done.

Reflection Questions

How do we struggle to believe and to carry on in a darkened world?

Now one saw the actual resurrection of Jesus, and yet, they gradually came to believe.

How hard is it to believe in the resurrection?

Can we have hope and doubt together?

I reflect on any resurrection experiences I may have had in my own life. Where does faith come in?

Where does love come in?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Jesus is dead. My child is dead. I cannot believe that I will not see his dear face again, hear his dear voice again. I cannot believe that I will never laugh and joke with him as he envelops me and all around him in his love and enthusiasm for life. I cannot take it in—The wonderful dinner which went so wrong at the end. The brutality of that last day. The savagery of his death. The finality of the tomb. I cannot take it in. He is gone. I cannot bear it.

Everyone is at loose ends, off in his or her own private world of loss and grief. Peter is devastated. Mary Magdalene is stunned. Judas is dead. Others are going through the motions numbly, trying to figure out what to do next. Where do we go from here? Is the great adventure and the glorious dream really finished? Peter has his fishing and his family; others have responsibilities and jobs to return to. Life will go on for them.

But, where do I go from here? For me, it is different. I am a widow, with no male relations to care for me. At the end, Jesus asked his friend to take me in, but I hardly know the man. He seems a little full of himself, and a bit dour. He is my lifeline, my support, but I wonder how and where we will live. I suppose my days will go on in much the same way before Jesus took to the road to preach and teach: cooking, mending, cleaning, getting water from the local well. But will the oppressive cloud of sorrow always surround my every movement? How will I get through the long, lonely nights remembering the little child, so bright, so curious, remembering the joy of his young adult years, his humor, his passion to make something of the world around him? Yesterday, the Sabbath, passed as if in a dream, or nightmare. It has been two days and I am still paralyzed by grief.

As I sit here in the semi-darkness of dawn on the day after the Sabbath I can almost hear his voice speaking to me softly: Mother. Mama. It was time for me to go. Do not be sad. I am fine. I am where I am supposed to be. I am where there is light and love and peace. I am also here, with you. With the others who loved me. I will never leave you. I am always your son, your little boy. Let my peace and love surround you when you are sad and lonely. Trust in me and in my Father who loves you. I am here. I am fine. I love you. I am with you always.

As I sit here in the semi-darkness of early dawn, I am a little more at peace with myself and with the events of the past few days. I really do believe that my Jesus is alive somewhere, though perhaps where I cannot see him. But I can feel him, feel his presence, feel his love. I must get up and tell the others that it is time to visit his grave, to finish what has been started, or to start what we thought had been finished. Jesus is alive. My child is alive. My child is with me. My child is with his God.

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

From Sacred Space, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

‘We proclaim the resurrection of Christ’, says Pope Francis, ‘when His light illuminates the dark moment of our existence, and we are able to share it with others; when we know how to smile with those who smile, and weep with those who weep; when we accompany those who are sad and at risk of losing hope; when we recount our experience of faith to those who are searching for meaning and happiness…and there—with our attitude, with our witness with our life—we say Jesus is risen with our soul.’ Try this week to live the resurrection.

Literary Reflection:

Read the poem by A.E. Houseman. Can you see his doubts?:
Easter Hymn

If in that Syrian garden, ages slain,
You sleep, and know not you are dead in vain,
Nor even in dreams behold how dark and bright
Ascends in smoke and fire by day and night
The hate you died to quench and could but fan,
Sleep well and see no morning, son of man.

But if, the grave rent and the stone rolled by,
At the right hand of majesty on high
You sit, and sitting so remember yet
Your tears, your agony and bloody sweat,
Your cross and passion and the life you gave,
Bow hither out of heaven and see and save.

Literary Reflection:

Read the following poem by George Herbert and later made into a hymn by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Can you feel the easter joy?:

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life,

Such a way as gives us breath

Such a truth as ends all strife;

Such a life as killeth death

Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength:
such a light as shows a feast;
such a feast as mends in length;
such a strength as makes a guest.

Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart:
such a joy as none can move:
such a love as none can part;
such a heart as joys in love.

Further Reading:

There are traditions in our religious culture which imagine stories of John and the Blessed Mother. In addition, Colm Toibin has written a powerful short story which imaginatively recaptures the story of the two people Jesus loved the most, and how they lived on after his death. It is called “The Good Disciple” and it is found in The Good Book: Writers Reflect on Their Favorite Bible Passages, edited by Andrew Blaune