Let His Joy surprise us once more!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
When the Risen Lord appeared to the apostles they were not expecting Him. They were surprised. We may ask: Has Jesus not foretold them more than once about his resurrection?
Sure, He did. But His death was so real. The fact paralyzed the attention of
the Apostles. Their beloved master really died. He spoke no more. He was laid
in the tomb. The two disciples who left Jerusalem for Emmaus were utterly down
hearted. Thomas who was absent when Jesus appeared the first time refused to
believe that He is risen. Resurrection is not something to be taken for granted.
It is bound to be a surprise, a glad surprise indeed.
Human beings are generally obstinate in optimism. They give up only when there
is nothing more to support their hope. This total helplessness is felt when
we face death. Death brings silence and darkness. It engulfs everything. There
is no future.
Jesus' resurrection has changed everything. There is still life after death.
There is life without end. The shouts of Alleluia have broken the silence and
the light has dispelled the darkness.
The Liturgical celebration brings back to us every year this breakthrough of
life but it is always a surprise, a joyful surprise. Actually we find ourselves
in a situation not very different from that of the apostles after Jesus' burial.
Our resolution to do better vanished time and again into empty wishes. We do
not do what we know to be good and we do what we know to be evil, as St. Paul
himself confessed.
We preach the sacredness of marriage and the importance of family but the dominating
culture goes in the diametrically opposite direction: disordered relations between
man and woman, the family shaken at its foundation, the lack of desire to have
childrenˇKˇKwhat disaster is all this going to prepare for tomorrow we may not
dare to imagine.
We care for the society. We defend justice and democracy without reticence but
in return we get misunderstanding and rejection. The old policies persist with
new tactics. We are tired, we are tempted to give up, a sense of frustration,
of helplessness.
But Jesus comes again. "Do not be afraid!" He says, "I am the
life and the resurrection. Rise up! I rose up only on the third day after my
burial." So let us get up once more! Let us allow Him to bring us again
this year His surprising glad news!