Second Sunday of Easter
(After reading this homily, please share your comments, experiences and reactions with us. Please post your comments at the end.)
The Easter vigil service last Saturday night was an unforgettable experience for many reasons. First of all, we had thirty-three people who were, either baptized, confirmed, or received into the Church. It was an immensely solemn and touching ceremony. But then, twice we had to completely halt the service. During the reading from Scripture one of the servers holding the candle for the readers blacked out and fell hard on the floor. We waited about fifteen minutes for the medics to arrive and safely take him to the hospital. And then during the laying on of hands for Confirmation, another person blacked out. We halted the services again for about 10 minutes for the medics to arrive. A third person was very close to joining the bandwagon but she averted the potentially third crisis.
At the end of it all, there were questions in many minds – why did these interruptions to the service happen? Others were wondering why such incidents should happen on the most sacred of nights? Others even wanted to know if the Evil One could have caused the interruption since He must not like thirty-three people coming to Christ and the Church. Surely there are many ways to look back at the vigil service but I would like to interpret these incidents in light of today’s scripture and draw lessons for our lives in general.
Here are some observations based on today’s readings. Even after the resurrection not much had changed for the disciples and the followers of Jesus. You would think that there would be some form of triumphalism or reckless abandon in light of the power of the risen Christ. The opposite is true. We find the disciples locked behind locked doors for fear (Jn 20:19). There was at least one disciple who openly continued to persist in disbelief (Jn 20:25). In the second reading from Revelation, John begins his vision by sharing “the distress, the kingdom, and the endurance” (Rev 1:9) that he experienced. In fact, the book of Revelation was written during the time of intense persecution. We also know from history that all the apostles and thousands of Christians were martyred or suffered intensely for their faith in Christ. In this context, the two black outs during Easter vigil seem minutely insignificant. But we must still reconcile the resurrection of Jesus and the fear, suffering, persecution, martyrdom and unfortunate incidents that continued. How shall we do that?
My three practical implications will offer to both directly and indirectly offer answers to this question.
1) Two views on life. There are two ways to look at life and God’s involvement in our lives. There are those that think that once God is in control nothing should go wrong. It often happens that people who come closer to God begin to feel that their life has become harder than before. People also find it difficult to explain why bad things happen to good people or why innocent people suffer because of poverty, illness or natural disasters. The general rule we apply is that good, holy or innocent people should have it better than bad people. People get very discouraged because they expect life to be easier when they come closer to God. More people lose their faith because of such discouragement than other reasons.
There is another view on life. This is my view as well. Life happens. There is nothing called good life and bad life. Each one of our lives - no matter how holy or unholy – is a strange mixture of good and bad, sin and virtue. So people suffer, people die, natural disasters will never cease, and bad things will continue to happen. Meanwhile people also experience the joy of child birth, the thrill of falling in love, the comfort of family, the happiness that comes from winning a game.
Now here is the key: the crucial difference is the manner in which we face life - the good and the bad, the sacred and the evil, the happy and the sad. We can either face life with God or without God. In other words, God is not there to make life easy or difficult for us. God is there so that we can face whatever comes our way with integrity, faith, love, peace, justice, faith and goodness. So, persecution, suffering, and martyrdom did not cease after the resurrection – but people now faced their enemies with the risen Christ by their side. Fear did not cease after the resurrection, rather, people now began to face their fears with Christ. The question is not why people blacked out at the Easter vigil, rather the question is how did this community face the two black outs with the risen Christ by their side. I hope you get the point I am trying to make.
2) Location of Christ’s presence. Here is the next question: But where is Christ present? Where do I locate Christ in a real tangible way? Today’s gospel passage reveals to us that Christ became present to a fearful, disbelieving, and disillusioned and four times said to them, “Peace be with you.” The risen Christ is present to us precisely where we need Christ most – between us and the situations we encounter in life. The next time a challenging or a joyful situation comes your way, pause; call upon Christ; become aware of the presence of God; and, then face that situation with the awareness of Christ’s presence. I bet you, the peace that Christ promised to the disciples at the resurrection experiences will be ours as well. My dear friends, resurrection appearances have not stopped. They are real only for those who tap on the power of the risen Christ.
3) The Church grows. Isn’t it paradoxical that the more the Christians suffered and endured martyrdom, the more their numbers grew? Today’s first reading suggests, “None of the others dared to join them (Christians), but the people esteemed them. Yet more than ever, believers in the Lord, great numbers of men and women, were added to them” (Acts 5:13). Today, the church faces an unprecedented crisis – the effects of the abuse of children at the hands of some priest and the manner in which this knowledge was handled by some of the church leadership. Some people would like to see Pope Benedict himself implicated in this scandal. As a result, many people are choosing to leave the church. In other words, the opposite of what happened in the early church is happening now. Here is the point I am trying to make – the entire world is watching us. Both the leadership and ordinary Christians must conduct themselves with honesty, integrity, justice, faith, peace and love. The church must face this crisis with the awareness of Christ’s presence. If the Church does this then it will grow. If it does not, the effect will not be very good for us. This applies to each of us in all areas of our lives. How we deal with life will either bring people to Christ or take them away from Christ. Our actions are important.
So today we are present here pretty much like the early Christian community. Right here in this church there are people who are perhaps afraid, hurt, confused, and like Thomas, experiencing disbelief. But, among us is also Christ who says to us, “Peace be with you.” May the presence of Christ make our lives meaningful; may the presence of Christ make us witnesses to that presence. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph
(Please share your comments, experiences and reactions to the homily with us.)