Christ in Our Midst

“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.” We have just sung this line in the responsorial psalm. And indeed we have a very strong reason to rejoice and be glad: the Lord is risen. He is truly risen. This is a landmark of our faith. Of course, we all believe in the resurrection. But for the disciples during Jesus’ time, were they expecting his resurrection after his death?

Let us now try to consider today’s gospel reading. In the opening of this particular passage, Mary of Magdala is described going to the tomb early in the morning, while it was dark. Why did she go that early? One possible answer to this could be that she was moved by her deep sorrow and grief due to the tragic death of Jesus, their Master. Here we could understand Mary Magdalene by relating it to our experiences of the pain of separation perhaps due to a death of loved one, an experience of abandonment or broken relationships.

When I was reflecting upon this Gospel passage I recalled my experience which I could consider as the most painful one in my life. It was the moment when my father died 15 years ago. He was a good father, a good provider, and a good friend. At that time when he passed away I couldn’t understand yet why it happened. Why did God allow such thing to happen? Because of my deep sorrow I considered my life then as covered with darkness. I was not immediately able to grasp the wisdom of that event. But as the years went by I gradually understood its value. Through that experience I realized that even though my father is no longer physically present with us, his values still live on in our family.

The evangelist in this passage gives us a visual description to Mary’s experience — “it was early in the morning, while it was dark.” This could be symbolic of her experience. If you have noticed, during an early morning there is a gradual transition from darkness into light as the sun of day comes in. This could be similar with what happened to Mary Magdalene at this moment. Because of her sorrow there was darkness. When she saw that the tomb was open her immediate conjecture was that Jesus’ body was stolen. It was only later that she understood that Jesus has risen.
Mary Magdalene went quickly to the disciples to tell them what happened. Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved hurriedly went to the empty tomb. When that disciple entered in, he saw and believed. The empty tomb then was a hint that Jesus has risen. It is through the eyes of faith that we could understand this reality. But what is the significance of the empty tomb? In this very day when we are celebrating Christ’s resurrection, why are we focusing our attention to this passage? Why not focus our attention to the resurrection appearances of Jesus?

There could be two possibilities to explain why the tomb became empty: either Jesus’ body was stolen or he has risen. It was the flaring news on that day. But the burial cloths are still there, thus the disciples could believe that Jesus is truly risen. They still could hardly understand that the resurrection is the fulfillment of Jesus’ words and deeds. The resurrection is the summit of the Paschal Mystery, the whole life of Christ.

The empty tomb could also be a sign that through the resurrection, Christ’s presence transcends all reality. Meaning to say that Christ’s presence is no longer bounded by space and time. Time and space could not hinder our encounter with Christ. The empty tomb could be a symbol of our perception that the Lord is seemingly absent during the very lowest and sadist times of our life. But on the other hand, the empty tomb is most significantly a sign that the resurrected Christ lives with us and abides in us even in our experience of darkness and emptiness.

What is most challenging here on our part is the commitment to live the “risen” life in Christ. Through our baptism, we became partakers of Christ’s life. In our baptism we rise with Christ. As we celebrate today the resurrection of our Lord, it is just fitting to renew our baptismal commitment. How far have we gone as sharers of the life of Christ? As baptized Christians, have we let the world feel Christ’s presence through our service and witnessing? These questions need not be answered by mere words but by deeds in a more concrete way.

Amidst the emptiness and darkness of our socio-political situation, how did you respond? Is it by remaining indifferent or by dynamic activism? If we keep the faith in Christ’s resurrection as baptized Christians, then we all partake in the commitment of making our present society experience the presence of Christ. May our rejoicing then would not only be focused on our remembrance of the resurrection event but also on the joy and gladness brought about the presence of Christ in our midst, here and now.