Day 29: Easter Sunday ~ The Joy of the Resurrection

Noel Coypel, The Resurrection of Christ

Jerusalem contains the holiest sites of the three monotheistic religions of the world. For the Jews there is the remnant of the Temple of Solomon (the only visible remnant of which is the Western Wall); for the Moslems, the Mosque built atop the great esplanade of Solomon’s Temple; and for Christians, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher—successively built and rebuilt by the Byzantines (4^th Century), the Crusaders (11^th Century), and finally by the Christians of the Middle Ages. Inside this shrine are two of the most venerated Holy Sites of Christians: the place of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Calvary and the Tomb where His Body was buried. Both sites are heavily constructed on. Atop Calvary are the Catholic altar and the Greek Orthodox altar (under which is a marker with a hole through which the pilgrim can touch the rock on which  Our Lord’s Cross stood). At the bottom of that little hill is a massive templet constructed on orders of St. Helena, Emperor Constantine’s mother, within which is the cave, which had been hewn out of the rock, which served as Our Lord’s tomb from Friday evening to the dawn of Easter Sunday, when He resurrected from the dead. Between the two Holy Sites is a flat area where, according to tradition, the Body of Our Lord was laid out on Good Friday after Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea had taken it down from the Cross, to hastily prepare it for burial according to Jewish custom: anointing it with spices (a 100-pound combination of myrrh and aloes that Nicodemus had brought) and wrapped in a linen sheet. This is the anointing stone.

Stone of Unction, on which Christ’s body was said to be laid and anointed after his crucifixion, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?”

Mark 16: 1-3

These women had been waiting to do this last service for Our Lord: they probably knew that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, for all their good intentions and the abundance of myrrh and aloes they had used, could not have done a very good job of anointing the Body of Christ the previous Friday evening—with the haste and the emotion of that moment. As soon as the Shabbat was past, by the evening of Saturday, they bought a new supply of myrrh and aloes, a fresh roll of linen, and awaited the dawn of Sunday, the first day of a new week. And then off they went, as soon as the sun was up.

James Tissot, Roman Guards Watching Over Jesus’ Tomb

At first blush, what they were doing seemed illogical: they knew that there was a huge stone blocking their way to the tomb. What the Gospel account failed to mention—though they must have been aware of it—was the squad of guards that the Sanhedrin had stationed outside the cave, precisely to prevent them from doing what they were intending to do. Yet, they were going anyway. Because when there is love, no obstacles are too big.

For many of us, this Easter represents the dawning of a new era: what some people might be calling the After Covid19 era, giving a new meaning to the initials A.C. of the Gregorian Calendar. Definitely, there will be changes in the way humanity conducts its business after this pandemic would have settled down. It is too early to speculate what those changes might be. However, there are other changes that are more important: the more profound changes in the way we look at God, ourselves and our relationship with Him, and with the world around us. In short, we cannot just go back to the way we were before. For sure there will be a lot of challenges, a lot of obstacles to be overcome: the rebuilding of our world after this pandemic might even constitute the biggest test of our life. It is the boulder at the mouth of the cave; the squad of guards that was stationed outside it. But love conquers all.

And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back, for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him. But go tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.”

Mark 16: 4-7

Jacopo Chimenti, Three Marys at the Tomb

As soon as those women overcame the human arguments against what their hope and their love had been leading them to do, they discovered that those obstacles had been removed. This should be the story of each one of us. Throughout these past weeks of what we have been calling the Corona Retreat, we must have made some realizations; what is even more important, we must have made a few resolutions. As we slowly get back to our normal routine, especially after the lockdown is shifted to a more relaxed quarantine, it is important to resist a more dangerous virus that the devil can unleash: that of discouragement at the face of the gigantic task of rebuilding our lives. Let us always remember those words of St. Paul: He who has started the good work in you, will bring it to completion.  

That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad.

Luke 24: 13-17

Greg Olsen, Road to Emmaus

This is an amazing scene: those two disciples were overcome by the opposite sentiments compared to the love and hope of the holy women who had gone very early to the tomb. These two disciples from Emmaus were overcome by despair and sadness and were running to familiar terrain: to their old ways. For a while they had enthusiastically followed our Lord—especially with the euphoria of Palm Sunday—but now the chips are down and they are sadly fleeing. And Jesus seeks them out. Isn’t this our situation too?

In the midst of the confusion of this Coronavirus pandemic, Our Lord sought us out—such that despite the constraints of the enhanced community quarantine, we found ourselves with different means for keeping in touch with our spiritual means of formation and religious nourishment. Love found a way and instead of the boredom and gloom that the ECQ originally seemed to forebode, we found ourselves with even more opportunities for prayer and spiritual growth this past month. But now we shall have to get back to reality, so to speak, and what we see are daunting challenges. And the temptation is to just fall back into familiar terrain: our old ways.

But Our Lord will not allow us to flee to our Emmaus. Those disciples did not recognize Our Lord. Why? If they were disciples, they must have seen Him many times, listened to Him many times. Why did they not recognize Him?

Because they were sad.

Sadness is not the same as sorrow. Sorrow is the natural reaction to the inability of obtaining a good, or to the loss of that good: the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, or the failure to land a job or to pass a course. The natural reaction to all that is sorrow. Sadness, on the other hand, is the loss of appetite towards that good: it’s operative despair. It’s the difference between Peter’s bitter tears at the realization of his triple denial of Our Lord, and Judas’ suicidal grief at the enormity of his mistake. Sadness is a loser’s attitude; sorrow is a healthy response to the loss. The disciples from Emmaus did not recognize Our Lord because they were not interested anymore; they had just given up on Him altogether.  But He had not given up on them.

And he said to them, “O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Luke 24: 25-27

Is this not what has been happening these past four weeks? From a situation of loss—loss of income, loss of worktime, loss of plans—God has found a way of making this forced isolation an opportunity for spiritual growth. Since we had all been so busy with our affairs, God cleared up our schedules because He wanted to have some quality time with us. And from the beginnings to the last things, making use of these daily reflections, Our Lord has also interpreted to us the meaning of our existence and how He wants us to deal with Him.

So, they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further, but they constrained him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So, he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?”

Luke 24: 28-32

Matthias Stomer, Supper at Emmaus

Just like the disciples of Emmaus, we too might exclaim: Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures? The realization of our shortcomings, our mistakes, and even our sins should not rob us of our joy. Our Lord paid a high price to obtain our joy for us. He did not die on the Cross just for God to turn a blind eye while we continue with our old ways. What the Resurrected Christ is asking of each one of us is a true metanoia—a change of heart. Just like the disciples from Emmaus, our hearts should be burning with desires for true sanctity: a more radical following of our Lord.

We can end with a final observation regarding the Gospel account of the first Easter Morning. We see the holy women going to the tomb, full of love for our Lord and hopeful that they could overcome the obstacles on their path. On the other hand, we see the disciples of Emmaus bereft of hope and with very little love running away to the safety of their old ways. But where was Our Lady? Neither the holy women nor the disciples from Emmaus had had enough faith. Didn’t Our Lord say that He would rise on the third day? Our Lady believed in that promise; hence she was not going anywhere: she just kept vigil, awaiting her Son. For all we know, at the very moment when the Holy Women were cheerily going towards the tomb, and the disciples from Emmaus were probably setting out for their village, Our Lady was already enjoying the reunion with her Son.

Faith had triumphed over darkness.

Love had triumphed over death.

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri + Guercino, The Resurrected Christ Appears to the Virgin

You ask me to suggest a cure for your sadness. I’ll give you a prescription from an expert adviser, the apostle St. James:

“Tristatus aliquis vestrum?”
—”Are you sad, my son?”
“Oret!” — “Pray!”

Try it and you will see.

The Way, n. 663

Celebrating Mass at the Oratory of the Visitors’ Center of Saxum Conference Center in Abu Gosh, 7 miles from Jerusalem, on the way to Emmaus. October 2019