Christ is Risen, Alleluia

We have now completed the season of Lent and have come to the point that is the true focus of our faith, the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, from the dead.  The Romans had thought that they had crushed the hopes of this small movement within Palestine as they had done with others.  Even the disciples were downtrodden and fearful thinking that their Master had been killed and their own lives now in danger.  But something awesome happened on that first Easter morning.  The words of Scripture from St. John’s Gospel tell us of the event, but even the apostles then didn’t entirely understand it.

“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.  So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”  Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb.  The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.  He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.  Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb.  He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.  Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that He must rise from the dead.” (John 20:1-9)

We see in this Scripture, especially with St. John, the beloved disciple, a combination of non-comprehension but also strong belief.  This Scripture reading has always moved me because I feel too that it is the position in which we often find ourselves.  We do not fully understanding the mysteries of our Lord, but at the same time we fully believe that Jesus is the Lord of heaven and earth and the long awaited Messiah.  We have faith and can see and know the actions of the living Jesus in our lives, but we may not entirely understand it all.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ says one thing to us and says it in no small way.  “Jesus is Lord.”  He rose from the dead.  He was and is victorious over sin and death.  He now lives a transformed life that will not end.  Throughout the rest of the Church year we will have the opportunity to work out all that this means for us as Christians and for the world as undergoing the new creation, but the day of the Resurrection calls for us just to take it all in and be a witness to the joyous celebration.  This day, Jesus has returned to us as Risen Lord and Savior.  This day Jesus is finally to be recognized as Lord of the world and Messiah of Israel.  This day sin and death, those most fearsome of enemies, is conquered.  All these things happened on that morning.  The disciples then were witnesses and we today are called to be witnesses of these things just the same.

When we consider the power of the Resurrection, is it any wonder that after encountering the risen Lord Jesus, the disciples were no longer afraid but began to go out into the world and proclaim that good news?  Is it any wonder that those disciples who once feared for their very lives all went to a martyr’s death proclaiming that Jesus has conquered death?  If we are to be the same sort of witnesses today, we too need to worry less about what others might think and say about us and rather focus on the power of the Resurrection of Jesus as they did.

Something truly awesome happened on that first Easter day and it was there Jesus was truly risen.  The disciples witnessed the empty tomb and encountered Him in a variety of times and places.  As Polish National Catholics we have the opportunity to encounter Jesus in Word and Sacrament and in the worshiping community which is the Body of Christ and each of us His members.  As strongly as the first disciples proclaimed that Jesus had been risen from the dead, we too can and must proclaim that “Christ is Risen.  He is Risen, Indeed.”

These words should be always on our lips as faithful members of the Church.  And more importantly they are to have an effect on our lives.  We can’t just proclaim that Jesus is Lord and Savior and then go back to living our lives in whatever way we please.  If Jesus is our Lord and has beaten sin and death for us, then certainly His way of life and living must be the way that we follow; if not, there is a horrible inconsistency, or worse yet hypocrisy, to our lives.  The fact that Jesus is alive should have a part in every decision that we make, every action we take and every thought we think.  If we are followers of Christ we must take on that attitude of St. Paul who tells us in Galatians 2:20: “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.”

So my brothers and sisters, let the words ring out strongly from our lips on Easter morning, throughout the rest of the Easter season and beyond.  “Christ is Risen.  He is Risen, Indeed.”  But more importantly let us proclaim that He lives through our actions of love, mercy and kindness and let others know that our Christian faith and Christian life is a reflection of the living Christ.

“Christ is Risen.  He is Risen, Indeed”