Where can we find him? (Easter Sunday The Resurrection of the Lord, 2019)

I remember my reaction the first time I saw the anything as vast as the Grand Canyon in Arizona; my whole being was thrilled by the awesomeness of it all. I had a camera, and I used it to the best of my ability, trying to capture the vision, the emotions, the experience, and the wonder of it. Later I understood the futility of such photos when I came home and tried to explain to friends what my experience had been. The fact was that it would be necessary for the others to see for themselves what I saw, before there was any hope of real understanding or appreciation taking place. For those who don’t understand, no words are possible, and for those who do understand, no words are necessary. That’s the sense we have when reading the resurrection story. It tells of a deeply mysterious fact, but we can’t quite capture what its impact was within the hearts of his followers, that first Easter day. If we want to find the Risen Christ, full of life and creative power, we mustn’t look for him in a dead religion, one that is reduced to the external fulfillment of precepts and routine rituals, or in a faith that is extinguished, a faith that sustains itself in worn-out clichés and formulas, empty of a living love for Jesus. So where can we find him? The women receive this task: «Go quickly and tell the disciples – he has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you to Galilee; that is where you will see him». Why do they need to return to Galilee in order to see the Risen One? What deep meaning is contained in this invitation? What is this saying to us Christians today? It is in Galilee, back where it all began, that they heard for the first time and in its full purity, God’s Good News and the Father’s humanizing project. If we don’t return to listen to these today with a simple and open heart, we might feed on venerable doctrines, but we won’t know that joy of Jesus’ Gospel, capable of «raising up» our faith. It was on the shores of Galilee that Jesus’ first community was born. There his followers live a unique experience at his side. His presence fills everything. He is the center. With him they learn to go about welcoming, forgiving, healing life and awakening a trust in God’s unfathomable love. If we don’t put Jesus in the center of our communities starting yesterday, we’ll never experience his presence in our midst. If we return to basics, the invisible presence of the Risen Jesus will take on human features when we read the Gospel stories, and his silent presence will find its concrete voice when we hear his words of encouragement. Mary Magdalene finds the empty tomb and runs to the apostles to tell them her astonishing news. St John’s is the only account where the apostles are directly involved in finding that the tomb was empty, and where neither Jesus nor angels were there to give any guidance about the meaning of it.  Let’s remember that this gospel, this truly great news, is timeless and so is still for here and now. In a real sense, I am reflected by every person in that story, and should try to put myself within the story as told by Saint John today. Am I like Magdalene who told the others the news of resurrection? Or like the apostles who responded immediately by running to the tomb to see for themselves? On Easter morning, the stone was rolled away from the mouth of the tomb. Could I think of my heart as a tomb awaiting a resurrection? Can I identify anything akin to a stone that is holding me back from enjoying the fullness of life? It could be an addiction, a compulsion, a resentment, or some hidden and dark secret that I have never shared with anyone. We can be as sick as our secrets. But as our pope Francis puts it so well, “We are called to be people of joyful hope, not doomsday prophets!” Because of the resurrection of Jesus, we can all have hopeful joy, and go out to share it with the world • AE