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Blog: April 4,2021

Fr. Jeff and others share reflections on the Sunday readings.

Sunday, April 4, 2021

“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.”


Something remarkable, unbelievable has happened. Can you feel it? In a world of hero movies and suspenseful thrillers, we are often hit over the head with the important stuff. It’s all epic battles and amazing special effects. In the story of God and humanity, the climactic culmination of Act II (Act I: A People of Promise, Act II: Everything Changes, Act III: To the Ends of the Earth) happens off screen. In the dark before dawn, in the quiet and the stillness, the Word of God whispers new life. Not God in the strong and violent wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but in the still small voice, the light silent sound, the intimate whisper. It is how I imagine the voice of God at creation, almost inaudible, whispering within the love of the Trinity, “Let there be light.” And there was light. The resurrection is the voice of a new creation, spoken under the darkness of death, whispered within the love of the Trinity, “Rise.” And the stone was rolled away. Eternity has opened wide. The great chasm has been crossed by love. Listen in the silent depths of your heart. Can you feel it?


This is God’s moment, shrouded in mystery. And it is our moment. The baby born in Bethlehem was an ordinary human. And an extraordinary God. Emptying himself, the Son of God became incarnate, one of us in all things but sin. Yet, he took upon himself our curse and was nailed to a tree, death upon a cross, the innocent for the guilty. Jesus embraced all the consequences of our disobedience, selfishness, and sin. More than that, Jesus embraced us. He loved us more than death. As the old saying goes, nails didn’t hold Jesus on the cross, love did. He offered himself as a sacrifice for our sake, gave himself completely as a gift, and fed us his very life, his whole self: body, blood, soul, and divinity. The once and for all sacrifice, gift, and life of Jesus is made present to us in the sacramental reality of our Eucharist. Every mass we celebrate connects us to the eternal God in communion, unity, and love. The Church tells me to say he prayers of the mass, especially the Eucharistic Prayer, in a “loud and clear voice.” I am tempted, however, at the very words of Jesus over the gifts of bread and wine, to whisper, with the intimate whisper of creation and a new creation, with the voice of love, “This is my body.” And so it is. 


Jesus is alive! The curse is broken and the Spirit gives life. We are alive in him! We are an Easter people! This past year has been a journey through darkness. For many, the pain of death has been inescapable. We have isolated in the tomb of social distance, wallowed in the grave of fear, wandered in the desert of division and discord, and found our crosses to be heavy burdens hard to carry, but we have not journeyed alone. God has been with us, the Spirit filling our broken vessels, Jesus encountered in the privileged pain of our crosses. The tomb will not hold us. It may not yet be dawn (how I wish the sun were blazing!), but the sky is getting brighter. There is light. The stone has been rolled away. The mystery of Jesus’s passion and resurrection, present on our altar, gives us life and hope. And so it is. We rise. This year, it is a hard won joy. Yet, with sober determination and somber reverence, we praise the Lord! Jesus Christ is risen! Alleluia!