Easter Sunday
Cycle C
March 27, 2016 7:30pm
(Vigil), 10:00 am and 12:00 noon
Saint Margaret Parish, Bel Air
We Are Afraid
This
past Wednesday, two groups of students from the John Carroll high school left
for Easter study trips – one to France and the other to Italy.
Naturally,
these trips had been planned for a long time.
But on Wednesday, there was fear.
The
terrorist attacks had happened in Brussels and all of Europe was on high
alert. So the campus ministers of the
school asked for one of us priests to come over and pray with the students and
the faculty members who were going.
Father
Nicodemus went over and did this. Now this
kind of fear is fairly prevalent today.
We
are all horrified by terrorism and afraid of it. We might also be afraid of other things, like
our financial future or a doctor’s report and on it goes.
With
these fears, we need to make appropriate responses. For example, we as a country need to protect
ourselves and we as individuals need to be prudent about our finances.
So
some fear is appropriate. And some
response to fear is appropriate.
The Resurrection and Fear
Now, with that context, I notice that in many of the
gospels about Jesus’ resurrection, we also see fear, but we hear the
exhortation not to be afraid.
Tonight’s/today’s passage says that the women who go
to Jesus’ tomb are terrified. Another
account of the resurrection says that the guards at the tomb are terrified and
that Jesus’ disciples are afraid.
And repeatedly, in these stories, the response from
an angel or from Jesus himself is: “Do
not be frightened.” “Do not be afraid.”
So, what is being communicated here? What is being said to us here?
“Do Not
Be Afraid”
I think that there are ways that we, here on Easter
Sunday, need to listen to the words of Jesus: “Do not be afraid.”
First, do not be afraid to believe. Believe that there is an Almighty One beyond
this earth.
Believe that the continual yearning always for something
more that is deep within us doesn’t just relate to more money or the latest iPhone. Instead, believe that this yearning for more has
been planted within us by our Creator and that this leads us to God who will completely
satisfy this desire for more.
And then, do not be afraid to hope. Dare to hope in the simple mystery of a seed
going into the soil and then sprouting to produce plants.
Dare to hope in the mystery of dying to self – of saying “I am sorry” – a mystery of dying that
leads to new life for me and for a relationship. Dare to hope that life can in the end win out
over death.
And finally, do not be afraid to love. Be willing to love by giving of our time to
family members or friends.
Be willing to love by letting go of some of our
preferences or comforts to help someone who is in need, even if we do not know
them. Be willing to love by sacrificing
what is just for our own good for the sake of the common good of all.
The Message of
Easter
So, I think that “Do
not be afraid” is a core and helpful message of Easter.
Do not be afraid to believe, to hope and to love. If we heed this, then we will experience an
entirely different quality of life.
Appropriate fears will not dominate us or lead us to
destructive behavior. Doubts and
questions will become secondary.
We will feel more and more alive. We will experience a fullness of life that
will make resurrection very real and almost natural.
This will happen if we are not afraid to believe, to hope
and to love. This for me is what Easter
is all about.
Happy Easter to all of you!
Readings: Acts 10.34a,37-43
I Corinthians 5.6b-9
Luke 24.1-12
