THE PEOPLE DESIRING LIGHT


EASTER SUNDAY   

Acts 10:34,37-43; Ps 118:1-2,16-17,22-23; 1 Cor 5:6-8; Jn 20:1-9

The Dawn of Light in Us

Saint John’s presentation of the resurrection narrative is slightly different from Saint Matthew’s. Instead of the group of women that came to the tomb in the early hours of Sunday, John gives us only Mary of Magdala, who came alone to anoint the body of Jesus Christ. What immediately comes to us in this presentation is the importance of a desire to see Jesus Christ and to be with him. This is what Mary of Magdala represents for us. This aligns with what we have seen and presented as lacking in Adam and Eve, and in all of us, their children, that prevents the completion of God’s work of making us in his likeness. The desire to see Jesus Christ and to be with him is what characterises a Christian as a renewed human person. This desire consumed Mary and determined her preoccupations. It kept her awake through the night, and at the first sign of dawn on Sunday, she rushed to the tomb to anoint the body. Full of loving concern at the emptiness of the tomb, she rushed to the apostles to complain. “She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,’ she said, ‘and we don’t know where they have kept him.’” Mary’s desire is still physical, for its object is the physical body of Christ. It has a spiritual quality, though, because the Person of Christ is its end. She desired Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word.

The same desire to relate to God and commune with him was in the Centurion, Cornelius, and his household, but in a general or confused manner. Hence, the angel of the Lord appeared to him, requesting that he send for Peter to clarify the matter. When Peter arrived, he directed their desires to Jesus Christ as the Saviour of all humankind. “You must have heard about the recent happenings in Judaea; about Jesus of Nazareth and how he began in Galilee, after John had been preaching baptism. God had anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil.” Cornelius and his household desired to know and worship God, but Peter told him of the man Jesus Christ, his life, death, and resurrection. It is through hearing these and believing what we heard that our desire to know and love God would be fulfilled. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is proof of God’s approval of his life and death, as Peter informed Cornelius. Faith in the resurrection of our Lord causes the divine light to dawn in our hearts. The divine light of Christ's resurrection, through faith, drives away sordid desires in us and purifies our desires by directing them to God alone. This is why light is central to our celebration of Easter as represented by the Paschal Candle.

Once our desires are set right by the light of faith in the word of God, we will eat and drink in his presence. “Now we are those witnesses—we have eaten and drunk with him after his resurrection from the dead—and he has ordered us to proclaim this to his people and to tell them that God has appointed him to judge everyone, alive or dead.” About the danger of harbouring the least sinful desire in us, Saint Paul writes to the Corinthians, saying: “You must know how even a small amount of yeast is enough to leaven all the dough, so get rid of all the old yeast, and make yourselves into a completely new batch of bread, unleavened as you are meant to be.” It is by constantly celebrating our Passover or bearing it in mind that we are able to successfully remove sinful desires. This means having the Passion and death of our Lord always in mind, letting it set our hearts aflame with love for God. This is the reason we celebrate our Eucharist constantly. Let us celebrate it now with renewed joy on our Easter morn.

Let us pray: O God, who on this day, through your Only Begotten Son, have conquered death and unlocked for us the path to eternity, grant, we pray, that we who keep the solemnity of the Lord’s Resurrection may, through the renewal brought by your Spirit, rise up in the light of life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.   

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