Happy New Year from Fr. Alex
Have a Blessed and Joyful Easter!
Donald English used to say that "death and resurrection is not simply what happened to Jesus but is the deep movement God implants in all creation. The Christian God is a God of death and resurrection." "Like many I have been challenged by poignant examples of death - its reality and hard consequences - and blessed by wonderful examples of resurrection - and the hope and joy it brings."
I constantly hear the resurrection story in contemporary forms. People that have been able to move from despair to hope, from anguish to joy. It is far too easy on Easter morning to romanticize the resurrection of Jesus Christ, to believe in the prettiness of the story without thinking it through. It is so easy to fictionalize it, to be caught up in the trumpets and Easter lilies and Easter feelings, and not come face to face with the hard, raw facts.
On this Easter day, we have to remember that Christianity stands or falls with the resurrection. Without the resurrection, Christianity is a faith that is a farce for fools. As the Apostle Paul wrote, "If Jesus Christ was not raised from the dead, we of all people are the most to be pitied, for our faith is in vain and our preaching is in vain and we have fooled ourselves with this preposterous hoax."
We need to remember during this season the hard facts of this story: Jesus of Nazareth was a great religious leader who really lived. Jesus of Nazareth was killed. Jesus of Nazareth was buried in a tomb. Everyone agrees on those three fundamental facts. But there are further historical facts: It is a fact that the early Christians did not expect Jesus to be raised from the dead. It is a fact that the disciples were skeptical of what they saw. It is a fact that their minds were not as superstitiously primitive as sometimes we would like to imagine. It is a fact that it is hard and even impossible for our minds to comprehend the resurrection, never having seen or experienced one. It is a fact that the Old Testament prophesied the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a fact that the early church began because of some great event that propelled it into action. If you add up all these facts, the Apostle Paul then writes: "In fact, Jesus of Nazareth has been raised from the dead by the powers of God, a foretaste of the feast to come. This is our sure and certain hope." That was the sure and certain hope of the disciples who saw and touched him that night. That is what happened on Easter. Skeptics touched him, saw him, and believed him. Skeptics believed on that first Easter day and skeptics still believe today and live their lives centered in that belief.
Our world lives with death and resurrection in many ways and in many places. An 'average' news broadcast gives cause to both weep and rejoice. In places of death and darkness we must continue to weep with those who weep and 'look for the morning' as people of resurrection faith and hope. With those who rejoice in life and hope we must celebrate and point to God, the giver of it all.
Happy Easter.
-Padre Alex