Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex

Late as usual, but since we are still in the octave, liturgically this is still the celebration of Easter Sunday. Here is Msgr. Swetland’s reflection on the Easter Sunday readings:

Jesus Christ is Risen; He is Truly Risen!

Easter Sunday, April 16

Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9

Two short weeks ago we celebrated the first anniversary of the death of our beloved Pope, John Paul II. Five years before his death, during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land for the Jubilee year, Pope John Paul said Mass at Our Lord’s tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and proclaimed these words: “Jesus Christ is risen! He is truly risen!” This is the Easter gospel.

I recently returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where I too was privileged to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass in the enclosed space that surrounds the Tomb. Inside this tiny enclosure, there is an altar set up directly over the spot where Jesus’ body was laid. It is an awesome experience to celebrate Mass, the Resurrection feast, at the very physical location that saw Jesus rise from the dead.

Our reading from John’s Gospel recounts the discovery by Mary Magdalene, and subsequently, by Peter and the Beloved Disciple, that Jesus’ tomb was empty. The state of the empty tomb was such that it had a profound effect on St. John, the Beloved Disciple. John reports that upon viewing the arrangement of the burial cloths, he saw and believed. Scholars differ on exactly what the Greek text suggests about their arrangement, but it is clear from the context that when the Beloved Disciple saw them, he believed that Jesus had risen from the dead.

Jesus’ resurrection is the fundamental truth of the Christian faith. St. Paul says that if Jesus has not been raised, then our faith is in vain; we are the most pitiable of all men (1 Cor 15:16-19). While John came to believe in this truth from the empty tomb, the other disciples required additional proof. Except for Thomas, they saw Him in the locked upper room. Thomas even demanded to see and touch Jesus in the resurrected flesh before he would believe.

Eventually, the early Church did come to understand and believe in the fact of Jesus’ resurrection. The Easter event is proof that what He promised has indeed come true. The resurrection reveals His victory over Satan, over sin and over death, the ancient enemies of mankind. Through the Cross and Resurrection, we are made whole. The first disciples and other early Christians were so convinced of this truth that they risked death in order to witness this Good News to the rest of the world. Many of them willingly embraced suffering and martyrdom in this cause.

Today, we do not have the physical evidence of Jesus’ resurrection that He made available to the Apostles, but we do have the unbroken succession of professing Christians who for 2000 years have born witness, some in their blood, to this astonishing truth. God became Man, died, and rose from the dead in order to rescue mankind from the eternal death ushered into the world with sin. Christ died for our sins and was raised for our justification.

We stand here, two millennia later, taking our places in this unbroken line of witnesses. We too have died with Him and have been raised with Him through baptism (cf. Col 3:1-4). We share in His victory as we recommit ourselves to Him today in the renewal of our baptismal promises. This Easter Sunday, we contemplate this awesome truth for ourselves and proclaim it from the housetops. He is risen! He is risen indeed!