The whole universe is suffused with the joy and radiant power of our Risen Lord. Our hearts rejoice at this great event that will forever be the rock on which the hope of humanity rests as it goes through the ups and downs of its history. Early that first Easter morning, Mary of Magdala, went to the tomb. It was love that drew her to the tomb to search and weep for the death of her beloved Lord. But to her greatest surprise, the tomb was empty. She ran in fear to relate what she saw to the apostles. She later learned that the empty tomb meant that the Lord is risen! Alleluia.
The resurrection is the Father’s vindication of Jesus: that all his teaching, suffering and death did not end in tragedy but that they are the truth that we all need to follow in order to find the way to life. It is the ultimate hope of humanity, that death is after all not the end of life. It also indicates that all our suffering for truth, for goodness and for love is not meaningless. Truth never dies!
Most importantly, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Our Lord, the Father is actually telling us, His children, never to be afraid of anything especially death. From time immemorial, humanity has always feared that our life here does not make any sense outside the daily routine. Hence, some people believe that we should eat and drink and then wait for the ultimate exit at death. They advise us to resign to the fate of death since it is what awaits all mortals. That stoic resignation to death instills so much fear and despair into many people, and in some others, can be a vital source of pathological behavior. But in Jesus, the Father shows us that human life is not a chance event; it has a divine purpose. In Jesus, we have the testament of the Father’s unflinching love and protection for each human being, at all times! That is why Easter is such a time of joy and happiness for we are free indeed!
Now, we can follow our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ through the detours of our life, holding onto the truth that there is life beyond this world; that he is the Way, the Truth and the Life; that there is only one way of living fully in this world: obedience through sacrificial love for God and for one another. Easter stands at the heart of humanity as the turning point of all history – yours, mine and that of the world. May this Easter be for us a period of spiritual renewal so that we experience the freshness of God’s undying love and rejoice in the spirit of the Risen Lord. Amen