Resurrection, in Spite of Us

Easter comes once a year. Yet in April of 2020, it didn’t seem to come at all. We were locked down from the COVID-19 pandemic;  many, many were dying, dying alone. There were no liturgies at which to gather, no trumpeted alleluias, no family feast at the dining room table. I had been sick for weeks. My lungs still burned. I ate dry toast and watched Mass on my phone by myself at the kitchen table.  It was an Easter morning of emptiness. 

Mary of Magdala felt even more empty. She had a hollow cave in her heart that morning as she trudged toward the tomb. When she got there, the body was gone. “They” had taken the Lord, stolen the corpse of Jesus. The tomb was empty. Hollow. Gone. 

When the Beloved Disciple entered the tomb, he saw that emptiness differently. What did he see that stirred him to rejoice?  What made his chest to swell with confidence? We don’t know. But faith bubbled up within him. He saw. He believed. He rejoiced. In spite of the apparently hollow circumstances, God gave him this inner conviction: Jesus had risen from the tomb. Jesus was raised to new life. He knew! 

I went out to my garden on that desolate Easter morning. The sun was shining. The air was warm. The birds were singing. The richness of spring was rising from the emptiness of winter. No matter how I felt inside, new life was swirling around me. My personal abyss was like a tiny island within a vast ocean of abundance. Resurrection was happening, going on in spite of me. The heavens still sang with alleluias—“Jesus is risen!” The angels still answered with joy, “He is  risen indeed!” 

What is happening with you on this day in 2022? No matter what,  happy Easter!

Consider/Discuss 

• Human experience can feed faith—we can be lifted along by beautiful liturgy and the camaraderie of faith-filled friends. But there are other times,  somehow, in the midst of desolation or pain or emptiness, that faith bubbles up anyway. We are flooded with belief. How does that happen? We don’t know. It’s a mystery. That inner certainty is a gift. Have you tasted it, even a tiny taste? What is it like to experience that inner assurance of faith as a gift from God? 
• Human life is full of big and small crucifixion moments. Human life is full of big and small resurrection moments. The glory of the Paschal Mystery is that there is One who transforms that darkness into light, that sorrow into  joy, that hopelessness into hope. By the grace of God, we keep on making  it through. Easter doesn’t just come once a year after all—Easter alleluias swirl round us all the time, for Jesus has entered into our abyss and has  lifted it to new life. On this Easter Sunday, for what do you praise God today? Out of what darkness has the Son of Man lifted you to new life? 

Living and Praying with the Word 

Lord, the brightness of each new day is surrounded by your glory.  The alleluias of your resurrection are deeper and more real than I can ever perceive. Give me your confidence, your blessed assurance,  your joy, that even my darkest moments have been redeemed by you. Jesus, you are here; you are risen; you are alive; you are with me. This is the reality that is the firm basis of my life. Even when my earth-bound experience does not feel it, your gift of heaven-sent  faith reveals otherwise. Thank you for health. Thank you for friends.  Thank you for hope. Thank you for resurrection life. Praise to you,  Lord Jesus Christ! Alleluia! Alleluia!