Alleluia, Jesus Christ is risen from the dead

GUEST EDITORIAL BY SR ALLISON MUNRO OP

And there, coming to meet them was Jesus. Greetings, he said. And the women came up to him and falling down before him, clasped his feet. Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers and sisters that they must leave for Galilee; they will see me there (Mt 28: 9-11).

At Easter we celebrate with great joy God’s immense love for humankind. The God who became human as a tiny helpless baby is the same Jesus who died a shameful death on the cross, and who rose on the third day. Because he lives, the first born from the dead, we live. Death has been conquered and has no power over us because Jesus has shown us the way to live, the way to his Father. Reading the gospel accounts of the resurrection of Jesus, we are struck by the juxtaposition of fear and a lack of understanding on the part of the disciples on the one hand, and on the other of the sheer joy of their recognising that Jesus, who had died, has indeed risen.

A mosaic depicting the Resurrection at St John Vianney Seminary in Pretoria. (Photo: Fr Chris Townsend)

Our lives too so often reflect this same contradiction when we fail to understand and embrace our calling as Christians, the invitation to a sharing in the paschal mystery, a sharing in the passion and the resurrection of Jesus.

The mission of the risen Jesus and his disciples, and we are his disciples now, extends from Galilee to the ends of the world. We are called to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God and to be a sign of contradiction in world torn apart by war and violence, by greed and corruption, by gender inequities, sexism and racism, by poverty and joblessness, by threats to the sustainability of our pIanet.

The debates about the Big Bang theory and the origins of life on Earth make us stand still in awe at the immensity of the universes of which we are part, and at our insignificance in the grand scheme of creation.

When the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope is built, possibly in South Africa, scientists hope to be able to understand ever more of the history of the universe and its origins. And yet, because ultimately we are those whose life on earth Jesus shared and for whom he died, like Paul, all we as Christians want is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and to share his sufferings by reproducing the pattern of his death (Phil 3: 10).

Our faith tells us it is not we who live, but Christ who lives in us, the same Christ who will die no more. If there is no resurrection, Christ has died in vain. Like the disciples to whom Jesus appeared on the road to Emmaus we recognise Jesus in the breaking of the bread every time we celebrate the Eucharist. Through our own faithful witness to our faith in the power of God to conquer death and to bring all who believe to eternal life, the work of salvation continues.

God raised him on high and gave him the name which is above all other names so that all beings in the heavens, and on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2 9-11).

Lord, we believe that you are risen, that you live in us, and that you call us continue your mission on earth. Grant us the grace to respond with courage and generosity.