Easter
Jesus Christ is Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Easter Sunday morning, for families a bit of chaos. Scrambling to find eggs. Trying to monitor how much chocolate is consumed. Making breakfast out of brightly colored Easter eggs. Do you eat the ears of your chocolate Easter bunny first? Watching two-year olds eating a chocolate Easter bunny with more chocolate on their hands and face. That green stuff used for imitation grass all over. It is the hardest to vacuum. OK, it is now time to get ready for mass! Come on! Let’s get going!
Or maybe your family is grown and it’s just you and your spouse. That first cup of coffee. Maybe you did get a couple of eggs. The best part is the smell of the frying bacon. Taking a few minutes to read the Resurrection gospel. Perhaps you were able to attend some of the events of this past week. Remembering Holy Thursday and the Last Supper. Good Friday always gives me a sense of tightness in my throat, a sense of the suffering Jesus experienced. All this leading to the Resurrection and the promise of eternal life.
Maybe you celebrate the Pascua with ice cream and other sweet treats. Families getting together. Maybe roasting some lamb or other family favorite. It is good to remember our traditions.
Whatever you and your family do to celebrate, we remember it is because Jesus has been resurrected. The tomb cannot hold the Lord. Death has been vanquished. Eternal Life has been granted through our Lord’s love for each of us. Think of all the things happening today in the Gospel.
Mary of Magdalene goes to the tomb early to grieve the loss of Jesus. She finds the tomb empty. Peter and John run to the tomb and confirm the tomb is empty. They come back together with the others and share the good news. I wonder, why didn’t the other disciples also run to the tomb?
I remember Thomas will not believe at first that Jesus has been raised. Did the others believe? I would have thought maybe they would want to confirm what the others saw. Or in this case, they saw the tomb empty.
This was a very terrifying and frightening time for the disciples. They were afraid of the Jews. They were afraid of the Roman soldiers. By being locked up in their hiding place it is as if they were in a tomb. They were still in the darkness. Jesus has destroyed the tomb, but His disciples still do not understand. Jesus will need to appear to them several times to increase their faith and trust in His Resurrection.
So, we celebrate Pascua now in the light of the Resurrection. Let us be like Peter and John and run to share the gospel with others. Or be like Mary of Magdala who always trusted in Jesus. Through our celebrations we bring the Lord Jesus to the world.
May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen