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Gospel: John 20: 1-9
On the first day of the week,
Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don’t know where they put him.”
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.
For they did not yet understand the Scripture
that he had to rise from the dead.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Two years ago, twenty-five parishioners and I made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. When we were in Jerusalem, we climbed the hill of Calvary, the place where Jesus was crucified. We even touched the rock that once held his cross!
After a prayerful moment of silence, we journeyed back down the hill to celebrate Mass at his empty tomb. Imagine that: the grave that once held our Lord’s body captive is now an altar where Catholics celebrate Mass.
It was one of the most spiritual experiences of my priesthood. We were at ground-zero, the place where it all happened.
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In some ways, the darkness of Good Friday still haunts the land Jesus once called home. We’ve all seen horrific images of war and violence in Israel and Gaza, where entire families are starving, crying out in anguish, and dying in despair.
Such a grim reality reminds us that while the empty tomb is just a stone’s throw from Calvary, the inner journey from Good Friday to Easter Sunday – from horror to hope, from disbelief to belief – can span a lifetime.
Faith is a journey, often a series of questions, answers, and still, more questions.
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Consider the journey of Mary Magdalene in today’s Gospel. She’s one of the few women, who along with the Apostle John, remained by our Lord during his final hours.
She witnessed the horror of Calvary. She wept as Nicodemus laid him in the rock hewn tomb. Then she waited three long days for the opportunity to go and anoint his body.
John tells us that Mary, “went while it was still dark,” before sunrise with the bitterness of Christ’s death fresh in her heart.
She went expecting to face an obstruction – a large stone placed in front of his tomb. But, to her absolute surprise, the stone had been rolled away!
Symbolically, that “stone” represented every obstacle preventing her and the others from believing – their fears, their doubts, their overwhelming sense of helplessness had been rolled away.
Something happened. The tomb was opened.
Though she does not fully understand yet, Easter begins growing in Mary’s heart.
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What does she do next?
She runs to tell the others.
This is what happens when the joy of Easter starts becoming real. Even when we don’t fully understand who Jesus is, or what he has done for us, we have to share the Good News with others.
“Could it be? Could Jesus be alive again, even now? Has he opened a way to new life after death?”
Imagine standing in front of the empty tomb this Easter morning. What do you see?
Is there a stone still rolled in front of it, some obstacle blocking your belief? Or has the reality of Easter awakened in your heart?
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Now imagine entering the tomb.
As we look around, Christ’s body is nowhere to be found. His burial cloths lay wrinkled on the ground, as if his body evaporated, passing right through them.
This image was used by early Christians to explain what happens in baptism. Traditionally, when a person was baptized, they were plunged underwater, reminding them that they have been buried with Christ – spiritually, placed in his tomb.
Upon being pulled out of the water, they’d receive the same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead.
“For if we have died with Christ,” Paul tells us, “then we shall also live with Christ… for the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.”
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This is what Easter is all about.
It’s a journey from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. Christians do not deny the pain or suffering present in our world. But we never despair.
We do what we can to alleviate the burdens of others, while rejoicing in the truth that Christ has conquered the grave. He has overcome death!
May the power of his Spirit fill our hearts – and those of Christians in the Holy Land – this Easter morning so that, like Mary, we may come to see and proclaim with great joy, “He is Risen! Alleluia!”
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Image credits: (1) The Vine Church (2) JW.org (3) FreePik