[stephenkhoo]

Scripture Reflections
09 April, 2012, Monday within Octave of Easter
FINDING STRENGTH AND COURAGE BY MEETING THE RISEN LORD

SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 2:14; 22-33; MT 28:8-15

We are in the second day of the Octave of Easter. There is a danger that most of us are quite exhausted by the celebrations of the last few days. The celebration of the Triduum, both the liturgical and social festivities, has worn us out. For most people, they would have gone back to work and so life continues as before, as if nothing has changed. There is a real danger that we might return to our old way of life. Some might even say, “Thank God, it is all over!” But it is not over! Rather, it has only just begun. Easter has just begun. The new life given to us by Christ has just begun.

The awesomeness of the resurrection is simply too much for us to grasp within a day, not even eight days. That was what happened to the women who came away from the tomb filled with awe and great joy. That is why the Easter season lasts for 50 days. We must be careful not to allow people to distract us from our celebrations and make us forget that we are still within the Easter Joy. Indeed, like the early days, the chief priests and guards tried to suppress the joy of the resurrection by making the Jews forget or doubt the reality of the resurrection of Christ.

Hence, in a special way during the Octave of Easter, the Church invites us to enter more deeply into the paschal mystery so that we can see the face of the Risen Lord. Indeed the Octave of Easter is so important that the General Norms for the Liturgical Year asserts that each of the eight days of this week following Easter is a solemnity of the Lord. Each day is equivalent in liturgical importance to Christmas Day, the Ascension, the Sundays of Lent, Advent and Easter seasons and the Feast of Pentecost; all the most important days in liturgical “weight” after Easter Sunday itself. In fact, these eight days are more important than Ash Wednesday or the Sundays of Ordinary Time, or the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ – or even Christ the King. Consequently, the Gloria should be sung, incense should be used and the Church should continue to sound the joys of Alleluia over the good news of Jesus’ victory over death and all evil. Truly, the celebration of Easter will last for fifty days until Pentecost.

What are we called to contemplate on during this Octave of Easter? We are invited to meet the Risen Christ. In the gospel, we are told the Lord came to meet the women. For us to meet the Risen Christ, we must remove the stone that blocks us from coming out of our tombs. And once the stones of sin have been removed, we must run away quickly from our tombs, like the women, to meet the Risen Lord. So long as we continue to lie in our tombs of sin, we cannot encounter the Lord. We must be convicted of our sins. We must say to ourselves that we have enough of sin and of misery. Yes, we must flee from the tomb for at the tomb, we do not find the living, but only the dead.

That is why, we must be like the crowd who listened to the sermon of Peter at Pentecost day and were cut to the quick when Peter told them bluntly, “Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God by the miracles and portents and signs that God worked through him … This man, who was put into your power by the deliberate intention and foreknowledge of God, you took and had crucified by men outside the Law. You killed him, but God raised him to life, freeing him from the pangs of Hades.”

Yes, we have killed the Lord with our sins. Truly, we must acknowledge in all humility and truthfulness before the Crucified and Risen Lord that our sins have caused the death of Jesus since He died for us; and our sins too have caused us misery as well. We must never think that the crucifixion of Jesus was something done to Him only two thousand years ago. So long as we continue to sin, we continue to nail Jesus to the cross because He feels the pain of the sins that continue to hurt us and deprive us of the fullness of life and freedom.

But how can we get out of our tombs? By having faith in Jesus’ resurrection! This is all that is required of us. Having been convicted of sin, now we must be convinced of the resurrection. That was how Peter convinced the crowd. Citing the prophecy of King David, he said, “I saw the Lord before me always, for with him at my right hand nothing can shake me. So my heart was glad and my tongue cried out with joy; my body, too, will rest in the hope that you will not abandon my soul to Hades nor allow your holy one to experience corruption. You have made known the way of life to me, you will fill me with gladness through your presence.” And Peter rejoined this quotation by personally vouching for the truth of the prophecy by saying, “Christ (he) is the one who was not abandoned to Hades, and whose body did not experience corruption. God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witness to that.” Indeed, because God has raised Jesus from death, it means that death has been conquered and sin is overcome by love. We can be certain now that when we suffer, especially unjustly, and when we feel that we have lost the battle in trying to do the right thing, God is with us. In truth, God will vindicate us in the end so long as we remain faithful to His Word.

But do we truly want to meet the Risen Lord so that we can come out of our tombs? Then all that is required of us is to believe that the Lord is risen. This is the basis of our faith in the resurrection. Scriptures tell us that “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is a free gift from God. Faith is also certain because it is based on the Word of God. And God cannot lie. If we believe in the resurrection, it is because of the testimony of God Himself in this world. So we must believe not because the apostles or the Church say so, but because God says so. In the resurrection, God has given His testimony to Jesus. In the scriptures, God has shown Himself faithful to His word. We believe simply because we take God at His word.

Why do some of us not believe in the resurrection then? St Paul tells us in his letter to Romans chapter 10 that it is because of disobedience. The lack of faith is due to our pride, the refusal to let go of our opinions and judgement and to seek God’s judgment and testimony. Indeed, the scriptures warn us not to behave like the chief priests who simply refused to believe in spite of the testimonies they heard from the guards. Instead of investigating, they tried to eliminate the truth. They were resolved not to admit the truth of the resurrection and even bribed the guards in the hope of keeping others from believing. Indeed, we often imitate them as well. We have no faith and we cause others to lose faith. We are not interested in growing in holiness and we discourage those who wish to pursue the path of holiness. We are not committed to the Lord’s work and we influence others to be lazy like us. Aren’t we repeating the sin of disobedience of the chief priests daily?

Believe and then you will be filled with joy and hope. We are reminded to go toGalilee. He will meet us there. In other words, we no longer need to be discouraged even when we see sin and evil around us. Jesus the Risen Lord is saying to us, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers … they will see me there.” Yes, we will see the Lord even in the midst of suffering and persecution in living out the resurrected life. But we are full of confidence because the Lord is with us now. Where is our Galilee today? Where do we meet the Lord if it is not in the Eucharist and in the Word of God and most of all, in the Christian community where the Lord lives in His Spirit? It is in the Christian community that the Risen Lord is to be found, for where He is, there is forgiveness, compassion, love, unity, fellowship and joy.

Let me conclude with a beautiful story of a great Orthodox saint. This monk went to live in the forest for more than ten years to contemplate on the Lord. In all these years, he never spoke, not even to the one who brought him food. After ten years, he returned to the monastery and whenever people came to see him, he would simply tell them, “My dear brothers, the Lord is risen. The Lord is risen.” And these words, we are told, were sufficient to give them courage and strength to carry on. Yes, in the Orthodox church, when they meet one another, one would say, “The Lord is Risen” and the other responds, “The Lord is Risen, indeed!” Alleluia. We too must give each other hope. It is a hope based on Christ’s triumph over sin and death. As He has risen, we too will share in His victory.