Resurrexit Sicut Dixit!

Resurrexit Sicut Dixit! He has risen as he said! My friends, this Easter Sunday is the culmination of the highest liturgical celebrations in the life of the Church: the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and thus, we must rejoice and ‘give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever.” This Easter Sunday, our savior’s triumph over death makes it clear for us that God is just and keep His word; and for us who are on the way, the resurrection of our savior establishes us firmly in hope.

Now, the gospel we heard today is full of Theological themes that we should understand. In the early morning of the first say of the week, that is Sunday, Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb of Jesus. It was not only early in the morning but was still dark. The Evangelist was very careful to describe the scene in this way since the darkness is a reference to the book of Genesis, in particular the verse “let there be light” since it signifies that a new creation – a miracle-- is about to happened. And it is no different in the Gospel today. That miracle which we read happened in the early morning when the sun was coming out is the Resurrection of Jesus whom Mary Magdalene saw on the cross a few days before. Not only this, but the stone had been taken away. The stone is a presentation of the barrier between life and death, and it can only be God the Father who could destroy – or open in this case—that barrier between life and death.

 One must wonder why is it that Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene in the first place? Fulton sheen says that it was fitting that Mary Magdalene was the first one who saw Jesus since only a repentant sinner, who had herself risen from the grave of sin to the newness of life, could fittingly understand the triumph of life over death. Or as St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us, “Just as a woman had announced the words of death to the first man, so also a woman was the first to announce to the apostles the words of life.” And this is exactly why St. Mary Magdalene receives the title of “The apostle to the Apostles.” To be an apostle simply means to proclaim the Risen lord in word and deed. 

Just as Mary Magdalene was meant to be an apostle and proclaim the Risen Lord, we too my friends, are called to do the same! St. Paul makes it clear, “that the resurrection of Christ should make a difference in our lives.’ The Christian cannot be content to be and to live as the pagans around him are and live. ‘As Christ has risen from the dead through the glory of the father,’ he writes to the Romans, ‘so let us walk in the newness of life,’ and further, ‘Christ who has risen from the dead does not die again… so esteem yourselves to be dead to sin, alive to God.’” Today, more than ever, we are living in dark times: the persecution of Christians around the world, the attempt to destroy history, the government dictating what the Church should do, the taking away of life, the separation of families, the inability to feed the hungry and welcome the stranger, the list goes on and on. So, more than ever, we are called to be apostles full of hope and faith that Just as Jesus destroy the chains of sins, we will join him and sit with him in heaven. 

In the gospel, too, we heard of peter and John running towards the Tomb. They wanted to see for themselves what Mary Magdalen came to tell them. My friends, He is no longer in the tomb, for He makes himself know to us in the Eucharist. One time, During Mass at the seminary, the priest ran out of consecrated hosts, so he had to walk back to the altar to get more. He still had some people that were waiting to receive communion. One of them did not realized father had run out of the Eucharist, so he ran and chased the priests to ask Him for communion. My reaction was to immediately laugh, but in thinking more about it, I came to realize that what I had just witness was the perfect example of how we must live our Christian life. For my brother seminarian, his hunger for Jesus was clearly evident. He desired to receive our Lord and be intimately united with Him that he did not hesitate to chaste after Him. Just as peter, John, or my brother seminarian ran, we must also run to the altar and receive the Risen Lord in the Eucharist for he promised that whoever ate of his body and drank of his blood will have eternal life. God is just and keeps His word, and if he resurrected as he said he would, do not be surprise that in receiving him, we will have eternal life.