ALLELUIA CHRIST IS RISEN!

03-31-2024Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

Our hearts are full of joy and hope as we celebrate Easter, the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose Passion and Death we commemorated on Good Friday. Easter is a season of joy and hope. We are joyful because God triumphed over the evil of death in the Resurrection of His Only Begotten Son. We are hopeful because having died with Him in our baptism, His Resurrection provides the much-needed assurance that we shall rise with Him in our daily endeavors and ultimately after our earthly sojourn (as long as we remain faithful to our baptismal promises). Just as the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem restored the dwindling flame of faith among His disciples, so will the celebration of it in our time rekindle and invigorate the dying flame of faith, hope and love in our individual selves, in our community, and in our faith assembly.

Our joy and hope are not built on an incredible myth or a fictitious story that has value only in its lesson. We are joyful today because we know that the Resurrection of Christ is a historical fact that transformed not only His Apostles but, in fact, the whole world. Our evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus is not reliant on an empty tomb on the first day of the week after Christ’s death, or in the testimony of Mary of Magdala that Christ was no longer in the tomb. Our greatest proof for the Resurrection is in the dramatic transformation of the Apostles from men who were justifiably afraid of the Jewish authorities that crucified Christ, to men and women of unflinching and uncompromising faith who stood up to the same authorities, disregarding threats to personal safety and braving persecution in their defense of the truth of the Resurrection. Something must have happened that turned the fearful men from Galilee into fiery preachers prepared to go to the ends of the earth, embrace persecution, and ferociously tell the story of Jesus Christ who had risen from the dead. There can be no other explanation to this dramatic transformation other than that Jesus truly rose from the dead and that the Apostles saw and recognized Him as the same Christ with whom they lived, by whom they were taught, and whom they saw buried in a tomb after dying on a cross. Just as the Resurrection of Jesus transformed the Apostles so dramatically and positively, so do we hope that our lives would so totally be transformed that those who knew us when we fraternize with sin would not be able to recognize the new person redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb that each of us shall become.

It is worth noting that those who celebrate the Resurrection of Christ ought to arrive at the joyful celebration of our transformation through the path of charity. The events of the day of the Resurrection lend credence to this assertion. It was in the process of attempting the charitable act of anointing the body of Jesus that Mary of Magdala stumbled on the fact of the Resurrection and so became the first Apostle. It was only when the two Disciples who were on their way to Emmaus invited Jesus to spend the night in their lodging and presented Him with bread that they were able to recognize Him in the breaking of bread. Only on our way to charity, only in our effort to love shall we encounter, understand and be transformed by the transformative power of the Resurrection.

May the Risen Lord bring to life and reinvigorate every ailing facet of our lives and may the world be set on fire with the love of the Resurrected Redeemer.

Please be kind and may God bless you.

Happy Easter!

Fr. Manasseh