Easter Joy and Courage with God Centered Life

Easter Vigil Mass: Matthew 28:1-10

(The Resurrection of Christ, Noël Coypel, c. 1700)

Listen to my Audio Homily

Grace and peace to you my dear brothers, sisters and dear children,

As you watch this live streaming of the Easter Vigil Mass in your homes or apartments, you are very much present at this liturgical service even though we cannot see you in person. As you see us, you must be thinking what is this all about during the lockdown. Perhaps some sort of fear, anxiety and grief must be in your minds with the uncertainties of our life and existence. Easter vigil Mass always fascinated me since my childhood, because this special service happened in the night, the calmness, the candles, the burning of fire, the incense, holy water, the falling of melted candle on the hands and fingers, darkness of the evening and so forth, gave a perfect reason to enjoy the solitude and beauty of this Holy Eucharist. Perhaps you may be having your own childhood experiences to complement mine. 

However, my dear friends with our changed circumstances as we are almost like under house arrest, we are trying to live that experience of Mary Magdalene, the other Mary, the close disciples of Jesus. It seems to us, passion of our Lord is long and unending, suffering of the friends and close relatives of Jesus looks like are not getting over from their lives. Tiredness of the evening and darkness of the night are frightening. Just as St John’s Gospel reads “And behold there was an earthquake” we too must be shaken up by this corona earthquake. We do not know where to run and escape? Where to hide? 

In this context, there is a strong source of strength expressed by the angel to the women, “Do not be afraid.” Yes, “do not be afraid”, should be our mantra in a very particular way. The Bible uses 365 times the words connected with “do not be afraid expression” as if every day we should carry with us the word from the bible. Prophet Isaiah Ch 41: 10 says “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness.”

At Easter God insists, “Do not be afraid,” When the disciples were in the boat and the boat was struck by the storm, disciples of Jesus wake him up from his sleep. The very first words that he used was “why are you afraid. Have you no faith?” (Mk 4:40).

Therefore, first and foremost the Easter of 2020 tells us so emphatically, “Do not be afraid, but have faith.” Speaking at the extraordinary moment of prayer at the Urbi et Orbi in an empty square of St Peter’s on 27th March, Pope Francis said “We find ourselves afraid and lost. Like the disciples in the Gospel we were caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm. We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other. On this boat… are all of us.” 

At the loss of Jesus their teacher and Master, at the death of a close friend and relative, Mary Magdalene and other women did was to stay together and search for him. Gospel of St. John speaks so vibrantly about how these women and disciples were looking for Jesus even after his death. The consoling thing is that they were able to find him, they were able to get back to that courage which no one would take away from them. Not only that they would give witness to Jesus the Risen Lord by emptying themselves completely even giving their life to what they believed in him.  This is the faith that the Risen Jesus asking each of us today. 

The second aspect this Easter brings us is joy. A simple definition of a Christian is: he or she is a joyful person. A happy person, a person of consolation, a person of peace and serenity, a person of resilience and creativity, a person of magnanimity and generosity, a person who sees the joy in the other and participates as if it is his joy. In a world of hatred, jealousy, unforgiveness, envy, malice, evil, wrong doings, war, revenge, the Resurrection of Jesus calls to be people of Joy, people of solidarity.  A joy that no one can take away from us. So, let us be joyful. Joyful in Jesus.

The third aspect of this Easter brings home is that he or she is not self-centered but other centered, in other words, God centered. The destiny of each one of us not an end in ourselves but in God.  The future of the humanity is not inward looking but outward looking, looking at God the creator and Master of this world. Psalm 146, verse 2 puts it so beautifully “Don’t put trust in mortals, princes but in the Lord.” Psalm 23 says, “Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures”, and this Psalm ends by saying “surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord.” This world is passing and what remains is God’s spoken Word through the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus. He did not cling to his divinity St Paul writes to the Philippians Ch 2 versus 6-11, “but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. self-emptied himself”, That is why he was raised up. 

The moment we start to look at our successes, our achievements, our own ends, we see no end in God at all. We miss the point terribly. God becomes the center of our life with the resurrection episode of Jesus. When we are with the Lord, he never allows us to loose, he never keeps us away, but keeps us in the words of prophet Isaiah in his bosom Chapter 40:11 “He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.” What kept the disciples of Jesus and his friends was this, that they kept the memory of Jesus as center of their lives.

So, my dear friends, as you are in front of the screens seeing this beautiful service telecast, we pray earnestly to the Lord, that the Risen Lord fill us with his courage and strength, make us people of joy and solidarity, thus we may always be God centered. For this grace we pray at this Mass. Amen

- Olvin Veigas, SJ

Easter Vigil Mass, 11 April 2020