Gospel Mk 16:1-7
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint him. Very early when the sun had risen, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb. They were saying to one another, “Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back; it was very large. On entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were utterly amazed. He said to them, “Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. But go and tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.'”
Homily
There is a saying that I learnt when I was quite young. It is this; “Love has reasons that the reason never understands. I have thought of that saying when women who have been physically abused tell me that they are going back to their man because they love him. I have thought of that saying when a young woman tells me that she is going to marry her fiancé who is HIV positive. I thought of this saying when I read the Gospel story for this Easter Vigil.
According to the gospel Jesus would have been dead for three days, already according to the natural order of things decomposition would have set in, yet these three women, “Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint him.” They will of course be confronted by serious obstacles; who would roll the stone away from the tomb; what would the chief priests and religious leaders say about their going to the tomb and entering it. They had already had Jesus executed as a common criminal; What about the defilement they would incur by touching a dead body? Either their love blinded them to these realities or they just did not care about the consequences of their actions. They loved Jesus and were going to do this last kindness to him in spite of the difficulties and the consequences which might follow their actions. Their love of Jesus which impelled them to go to the tomb would however have surprising consequences. The stone is already rolled back and on entering the tomb there is a young man sitting on the right side which is where the body of Jesus would have been placed. He tells them that the one they seek is risen, has gone before them to Galilee and that they are to tell Peter and the disciples the good news; “He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.'”
There are men who start taking viagra shop more than the recommended dosage may lead to certain complications. Be regular for some habits- It order cheap cialis pdxcommercial.com is better to be regular on some habits that nourish your love with each other. While there can cialis rx be many ways to improve your sex life. There is one human study pdxcommercial.com generic levitra cialis showing a reduced intake of about 1000 calories per day. It is as if the women are engaged in a treasure hunt. Where they think they will find the body of Jesus there is nothing and they are given a new and surprising clue; He is alive and is waiting for you in Galilee. What would the women have thought; they saw him dead. They had taken his body down from the cross. They had laid him in the tomb. Now the tomb is empty and the surprising news; He is alive and is waiting for you in Galilee. The verse following this passage tells us, that the women were afraid. Afraid of what? Probably of being totally disappointed once again. They must have asked themselves; should we believe? Should we go on to Galilee? As in all treasure hunts, it is only those who keep on seeking who attain the treasure. We know the rest of the story. The women and the disciples kept on seeking and they found the treasure, or perhaps we can say the treasure found them, Christ, raised from the dead! I suppose the women kept on seeking because “Love has reasons that the reason never understands.” And the natural consequence of this is what I call “stick-at-itiveness”
It appears to me that the culture in which we live does not value “stick-at-itiveness” or perseverance. Technology and human inventiveness have made life very easy for most of us and so the capacity to keep searching, especially when the prize appears to be very elusive, seems to have been lost. Human experience tells us however that only when we persevere can what we seek be ours. This is true in all spheres of life, be it the academic, the sporting, the entrepreneurial, national and indeed the religious. Where national life is concerned we are inclined to throw up our hands and say that trying to live in T&T is not worth it, or we retreat into ourselves and take no part in national life or country building. In fact we all know many persons who have opted out and at times for what may seem to themselves and others to be valid reasons. If T&T is to improve we have to love this island of ours and be true true patriots in spite of the disappointments with the education system, the political and judicial systems, the public and protective services and even the church because “Love has reasons that the reason never understands”. A look at our history in T&T will show us that there have been persons in the past who have loved Trinidad & Tobago like this in spite of the multiple disappointments and multiple setbacks, in spite of jail terms and rejection. The lives of the Butlers, Cola Rienzi’s and Cipriani,s can all attest to this. I can remember Archbishop Pantin saying, at a time when many were leaving, citing the high levels of crime and the general lack of security, that he was not going anywhere. I assure you of the same. As the calypsonian says “Na leaving”
Where the religious is concerned, all of us have to be engaged in the treasure hunt which is the following and discovery of Christ. Like the disciples, we are apt to be disappointed many times, not least of all because of our own inability to be faithful to the quest. We abandon the quest so often because the lure of power or self aggrandisement or pleasure gets in the way; or because of the fear of the possible consequences of our actions. Yet the lives of the saints tell us that it is only by returning to the quest as often as we need to and by being faithful to it that we discover Christ and begin as St. Paul says, to make Christ’s mind our own. May this celebration of Easter give us the grace that we need to be faithful to the quest, then like the disciples we shall indeed have the experience of the Risen Christ.
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, your faithful disciples, especially the women continued to seek Jesus in spite of the disappointment of Good Friday. Because of their fidelity, they were rewarded with the experience of the Risen Christ. Help us the present day disciples to be faithful to the quest so that to us also Christ may reveal himself,’ so that we too may have the experience of the Risen Lord. We ask this through the intercession of Mary our Mother who remained faithful to the end and through the Same Jesus Christ, the Risen One. Amen
