Reflection on the Easter Sunday
April 12, 2020
Josie Gonzalez
“The Empty Tomb”
In my reflection on the Transfiguration of Jesus, I ended by saying, “Let us take the season of Lent in a positive light and welcome Jesus’ resurrection in Easter.” On this note, today being Easter Sunday, let me greet one and all a very meaningful Happy Easter amidst fears and woes of the COVID 19 disease.
Today’s gospel about the “empty tomb” where Jesus was laid to rest clearly tells us about His resurrection as He was raised from the dead and the great response of human faith that the divine revelation evokes. Faith in God for the divine transformation of our Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus Christ . Faith in God that, like the Great Exodus, He will lead us into the light of a new day that will never end.
Yes, a new day, the beginning of God’s new creation. If we journey with Him in this physical world, we will enjoy eternal bliss in Heaven leaving behind our “empty tomb”. My favorite priest counsellor shares the following insight: The tomb is not the final resting place when we die; where Jesus is, we’ll also be; that HE is indeed the way, the truth and the life. If we suffer with Him, we’ll also reign with Him.Truly, if we don’t suffer and die with the Lord, we have no life.
As we celebrate Easter, let us backtrack a bit and see how we journeyed with the Lord in the last 40 days of Lent. Did we die to our old ways during this critical COVID 19 lockdown by helping the hungry, the frontliners, the sick or did we unscrupulously benefit by taking advantage of the situation. Did we help government by heeding its call to “stay home” however difficult and complicated it may have been? Did we abstain from our “favorites” as Lenten sacrifice and chose instead to support a worthy cause? Perhaps a Lenten retreat instead of a beach party during the Holy Week? What was our journey like amidst anxiety, panic, fear and death arising from the deadly disease.
Our earthly existence is but a preview of our afterlife. When we die, only our physical body is laid to rest but our soul is eternal and moves on to the next dimension. Either we go through our own passion and death in this world as we journey with the Lord God and leave behind an “empty tomb” to join our Heavenly Father forever or continue with our old ways with anger, hatred, greed selfishness, envy, pride, lust and suffer eternal punishment in hell. Believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel no matter how long and dark it may be, walk with Jesus, the Resurrected Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
A blessed Easter Sunday!
