Reflection for Sunday 20th April, 2025

Easter Sunday

Rising with Christ (John 20:1-9)

“If Christ be not risen, then all our preaching is without substance, and your believing is in vain.” (I Cor 15: 13-14).

We proclaim the mystery of faith as an event of the past (Christ has died): present (Christ is risen): and future (Christ will come again). On Calvary, Jesus died as the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. But on the third day, in rising from the dead he has conquered sin and death. Easter is “the unique and sensational event on which the whole of history turns” (Pope Paul VI).

Easter is not just one day in the year but it is the source of power for every day. Pope Francis has written: “Christ’s resurrection is not just an event of the past; it contains a vital power which has permeated the world. Where all seems to be dead, signs of resurrection suddenly spring up. It is an irresistible force,” (The Joy of the Gospel, 27).

“Christ’s resurrection is not just an event of the past; it contains a vital power which has permeated the world. Where all seems to be dead, signs of resurrection suddenly spring up. It is an irresistible force,”

When we renew our baptismal promises, we reject Satan who was identified by Jesus as a murderer from the beginning and the father of lies (John 8:44). The struggle goes on, and the dreadful lies and violence which Jesus experienced continue today in the sufferings of the people of Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan, as well as other, less publicized war zones. Pope Francis continues: “Often it seems that God does not exist: all around us we see persistent injustice, evil, indifference and suffering.”

Yet, even in the present-day repetition of Calvary, Pope Francis, as a great believer in the Holy Spirit, can see glimpses of the resurrection. “But it is also true that in the midst of darkness something new always, sooner or later, produces fruit. However dark things are, goodness always reemerges and spreads.” The horrors of war force people to migrate but the fruits of goodness can be seen in the generosity, hospitality and sacrifices shown by other nations trying to find homes for those forced to leave home.
Getting back to today’s Gospel, when the Sabbath was over, early on the Sunday morning, some of the women disciples set out to anoint the body. What about the large stone outside the tomb? To their amazement the stone was rolled back and the body was missing. They rushed to call Peter and John to the scene. It was John, the beloved disciple, who remembered what Jesus had told them. “He is not here because he has risen from the dead!”

Where is Jesus to be found now?

Do not look for him in what Pope Francis called consumerism, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience. “I invite all Christians … to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them.”
This personal encounter meets Jesus now, here.
The high point of Easter is when we renew our baptismal promises, rejecting the lies of Satan before committing ourselves to serve God in Christian belief and behaviour.
In baptism we were Christ-ened, called to be his active body on earth.
We are absolved of sin by him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Nourished by him in the Sacred Eucharist.
We listen to God and speak in prayer.
We serve him when we act in kindness, but we turn away when we fail to help. As Dorothy Day said: “We love God as much as we love the least.”
In a sense, Christ is not fully risen until he is risen in us.