By Fr Anthony Le Duc SVD
By the time this reflection appears in the newsletter, we are well into the Easter Season, in fact almost towards the end of it. However, the message of Easter which proclaims the Good News of the Resurrection of Christ is by no means a message that has an expiration date. Indeed, the entire Christian religion is founded on this very message that must be ceaselessly proclaimed all year round. Day after day, year after year, generation after generation, Christians are asked to witness to the truth of the Christ event of suffering, death and resurrection. In this event, the tomb in which they laid the crucified Christ, was discovered on the third day to be empty. Behind that empty tomb is not some sort of intricate conspiracy carried out by the Roman government or by Jesus’ followers, but the belief that Jesus indeed resurrected from the dead. And by His resurrection, He brings hope to the hopeless, peace to the distraught, and courage to those still afraid to proclaim their faith.
The story of the empty tomb and the resurrected Christ will always be the most fundamental aspect of our faith in every age and place. It is this very event that tells us that there is a wonderful plan of salvation that God has for the world, and the empty tomb is not just a malicious hoax or fake news meant to sow public confusion. And what is salvation if it is not about helping us to be affirmed in God’s love and mercy, and that never once did God want to toss us away like a failed experiment. Instead, God desires to give us another chance, especially those who trust in Him. The Pascal mystery of Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection affirms that life is just not about suffering, and however long the dark nights seem to be, in the end, the dawn will come and the rays of light will manage to break through the crevices in the caves of our lives.
Then again, who does not face difficulties in their lives? Who has never dealt with suffering? Who has never had to experience hopelessness? Fortunately, the way of the cross is the way to travel, not a place to stay to pitch tents. If Christ refused to take the painful path to Calvary, then into the dark tomb, then He would never have tasted the glory of the Resurrection. The appointed place for us that we have to head towards is the empty tomb; and that means not burying ourselves in the gloominess of Good Friday, but we must make that journey forward to Easter Sunday, a day filled with hope and joy.
Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead. But what good is that to us if this event does not change the way we talk, the way we act, the way we lead our lives day to day? What good is that to us if our heart is stuck back on Good Friday, or that we become like the cynics who try to find every possible way to come up with a conspiracy theory to convince ourselves that Christ did not resurrect, or if he did, it’s not that significant to our life?
Therefore, as we approach the end of the Easter Season, it is imperative that we ask ourselves once again whether we take the Good News of Christ’s Resurrection to be fake news or real news. In fact, we only have these two options when it comes to the question of the Resurrection. Either Christ resurrected or He did not. If our answer is the latter, then we have no choice but build our lives upon this very assertion, in which Christ assumes the center of our life, and takes priority in all our plans big and small. This means becoming more faithful in our prayer life, becoming more purposeful in our work and our studies, becoming more joyful in celebrating the sacraments, becoming more collaborative with the Church that Christ has built and entrusted with the mission to proclaim the Good News, and becoming more loving of our brothers and sisters.
Our belief in the Pascal mystery should help us to be able to continue to love even after having been rejected, continue to hope and try even after having failed, and continue to stand for Christ even when Christ seems increasingly irrelevant to the modern world. Letting the Easter message and spirit permeate our life means that we firmly declare our confidence in the truth of the Resurrection of Christ which we witness to all.