12 April 2020
Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord
Societies and cultures are defined by the narratives they tell and teach. For the ancient Greeks, Homer provided the fundamental plot for Greek civilization. For the Romans, Virgil’s Aenid gave shape to Roman identity. Today, Easter Sunday, we hear the fundamental narrative of Christianity, the resurrection. Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb “while it was still dark,” a literary indication that the full light of revelation had yet to dawn. When Christ makes his resurrected presence known to his apostles, the truth arrives like the bright morning sun. God’s action in the world triumphs over evil. This was, for the Apostles of Jesus, a familiar narrative. Just a few nights earlier they celebrated the Passover and recalled God’s salvific work liberating the Jewish people from bondage in Egypt. The resurrection was a revelation of God’s power through the person of Christ that took and continues to take, some time to fully understand. We will only fully appreciate it at the end of time. In the meantime, the Apostles realized that God’s full power of life over death and our participation in this final victory was given to humanity by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. This narrative shaped and continues to shape Christian society. It is a “world view,” a framework by which we as Christian’s look at the world. It can be a challenging world view and as Paul writes, “in the eyes of the foolish” it may seem to be absurd. In times such as these, which often repeat the trepidations of our earthly life, we recall in faith and look with hope, to the ultimate redemption of the world in Christ. In the meantime… wash your hands.