Easter Sunday, 2016
My mother, who has had dementia for the last ten years, used to drive me crazy with repeated questions every minute, and many other unusual things that happen to people who suffer from this disease. Now I am lucky if she says a word or two over the course of a few hours. The words of the gospel on Easter from Luke (24: 1-12) really hit home for me when the two men dressed in dazzling white, angels I suppose, said to the holy women, don’t you remember that Jesus said he would have to suffer at the hands of sinners, die and on the third day rise from the dead. And when they said this, the women remembered. The same is true for you and for me; all of us need to remember our sufferings, and that with faith they bring life. If it were true for Jesus it has to be true for us. Every Christian has to suffer, die physically, or die to oneself daily, and through this rise. The resurrection is inseparable from from Christ’s suffering and death, and so it is for us.
One doesn’t have to go looking for suffering; it comes rather naturally especially as you get old. A Christian ought not to run away from it, alienate himself from it, escape through drugs or alcohol or sports. It is the cross that he or she needs to carry, and it is this cross that gives life, eternal life. Today, on Easter Sunday and during this season of Easter, you can experience the peace and joy that comes from the resurrection when you enter your sufferings. You can’t jump over the cross. All of us need to remember that the cross you have is beautiful when united with Christ.
it is unusual also that in all the gospels women are the ones to discover the empty tomb and are the first to see the Risen Lord. Women at this time were not highly regarded and could never be legal witnesses in a court, and yet they are the first witnesses of the resurrection. It is a good proof that the event proclaimed was not made up. If you were to make up such a tale you would have used male witnesses and the stories would have agreed in all the details; not so with the gospels. The main points agree but the women listed are always different, and so are the ones who speak to them. At times it is a gardener, an angel, or two men dressed in white.
The first Easter proclamation is also done by women. It is not possible to do this without a personal encounter with Christ, and the strength that comes from the Holy Spirit. When one has this encounter it changes everything. There is no more fear, and you announce it to whoever will listen. It is also true today. When you find Christ you want to bring others to him.
Peter and the apostles are far from an Easter faith today, but they will get it soon enough. It helps us to know that they were also hard to convince, and all of them will give their life in order to announce this Good News to the world. You and I ought to do the same.