LUKE 24:1-12
SINCE THE BEGINNING OF
CHRISTIANITY, THERE HAS BEEN THE IDEA THAT GOD CREATED THE UNIVERSE
ALONG WITH HUMAN BEINGS, THEN MAN SINNED, THEN GOD SENT HIS SON TO
BECOME HUMAN, SUFFER, DIE, AND RISE AGAIN SO THAT IT WOULD BE
POSSIBLE TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE DONE AND GIVE HUMAN BEINGS THE CHANCE
TO RESTORE THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND GAIN ETERNAL LIFE. OUR
CHURCH TEACHES THAT JESUS HAD TO SUFFER, DIE AND RISE AGAIN SO THAT
WE WOULD BE REDEEMED, SO PART OF THAT IDEA IS TRUE. BUT THERE ARE
SOME PROBLEMS WITH IT. IF THE ONLY REASON GOD BECAME MAN WAS IN
RESPONSE TO MAN COMMITTING SIN, THEN JESUS IS SORT OF A PLAN B, SINCE
PLAN A FAILED. IF THE REASON GOD BECAME MAN, SUFFERED, DIED, AND
ROSE AGAIN WAS IN RESPONSE TO SIN, THEN THE GREATEST EVENT IN THE
HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE CAME ABOUT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING EVIL. IF THE
REASON THE SON BECAME MAN WAS TO TURN AWAY THE FATHER'S ANGER AT HIS
HUMAN CREATIONS, THEN GOD CAN BE CHANGED, AND THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE.
AND SOME OF US STILL HAVE TROUBLE WITH THE IDEA THAT GOD WANTED HIS
BELOVED SON TO DIE A HORRIBLE DEATH.
HOWEVER, A GREAT
THEOLOGIAN IN THE MIDDLE AGES HAD A DIFFERENT IDEA. DUNS SCOTUS SAID
THAT FROM THE VERY BEGINNING GOD INTENDED THE INCARNATION; GOD
PLANNED TO BECOME MAN BEFORE THE BIG BANG HAPPENED, BEFORE THE ANGELS
WERE CREATED, BEFORE OUR FIRST PARENTS HAD EVEN BEEN BROUGHT INTO
EXISTENCE. AND THE REASON FOR THAT? THAT HAS A LOT TO DO WITH THE
MESSAGE OF EASTER.
TONIGHT WE MEET THE WOMEN
RUSHING TO THE BURIAL SITE WITH BAGS OF SPICES. THEIR INTENTION IS
TO REMOVE JESUS' BODY FROM THE TOMB, COVER HIM WITH ABOUT 100 POUNDS
OF FRAGRANT SEEDS AND ROOTS AND LEAVES, AND THEN WRAP HIM UP AGAIN.
WHY? FOR THE SAME REASON WE HAVE UNDERTAKERS. HUMAN BEINGS HAVE
BEEN DOING THIS SINCE PREHISTORIC TIMES THESE WOMEN HAD LOVED JESUS,
HEARD HIS WORDS, EXPERIENCED HIS PERSONALITY, AND NOW HIS LIFE WAS
FINISHED AND THE BODY WAS ALL THAT REMAINED; THEY WANTED THAT TO STAY
INTACT AS LONG AS POSSIBLE.
GOD HAD OTHER PLANS,
THOUGH. THERE WAS NO BODY TO BE FOUND, JUST TWO ANGELS WHO SAID,
“WHY DO YOU SEEK THE ONE WHO IS ALIVE AMONG THE DEAD?” AND WE
KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY. WE WILL HEAR IT FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL
SUNDAYS. HE WILL APPEAR IN A LOCKED ROOM; HE WILL JOIN TWO TRAVELERS
TO EMMAUS; HE WILL TELL MARY MAGDALENE NOT TO CLING TO HIM, HE WILL
STRENGTHEN THE FAITH OF THOMAS; HE WILL FORGIVE PETER FOR HIS
BETRAYAL, AND SAINT PAUL TELLS US THAT HE APPEARED TO MORE THAN 500
PEOPLE, SOME OF WHOM WERE STILL ALIVE AT THE TIME PAUL WROTE THESE
WORDS.
PAUL HIMSELF HINTS THAT
THE RESURRECTION WAS ABOUT MUCH MORE THAN OPENING THE GATES OF HEAVEN
FOR US. HE TALKS ABOUT HOW ALL CREATION AWAITED REDEMPTION; HE TALKS
ABOUT HOW HE NO LONGER LIVES, BUT CHRIST LIVES IN HIM; AND HE TALKS
ABOUT HOW HE AND OTHER CHRISTIANS DO THINGS “IN CHRIST”. PAUL
HAS BEEN TOUCHED BY THE TRUE MEANING OF RESURRECTION. AN ANCIENT
SERMON HAS CHRIST SAYING TO ADAM, “I ORDER YOU, O SLEEPER, TO
AWAKE.I DID NOT CREATE YOU TO BE A PRISONER IN HELL.... RISE, LET US
LEAVE THIS PLACE, FOR YOU ARE IN ME AND I IN YOU; TOGETHER WE FORM
ONLY ONE PERSON AND WE CANNOT BE SEPARATED.” AND EVERY TIME WE
GO TO MASS AND RECEIVE THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS WE ARE ACTING OUT
THE TRUE MEANING OF RESURRECTION; WE ARE ASKING CHRIST TO LIVE IN US,
TO USE OUR BODIES AND MINDS AND SPIRITS TO FURTHER HIS MISSION. WE
ARE ASKING TO BECOME PART OF WHY GOD BECAME MAN.
AT THE BEGINNING OF
TONIGHT'S LITURGY WITH SOLEMN PRAYERS THE NAILS WERE PLACED IN THE
PASCHAL CANDLE. THEN A NEW FIRE WAS KINDLED, AND THE CANDLE LIT FROM
THAT FIRE. GOD BECOMES MAN AND BRINGS SOMETHING NEW INTO THE WORLD.
AND AS THE CANDLE WAS CARRIED DOWN THE AISLE, THE FLAME WAS SHARED
WITH ALL OF US AND THE DARKENED CHURCH WAS LIT UP BY THAT NEW FLAME
THAT HAD BEGUN AS A TINY SPARK. DARKNESS WAS CHANGED TO LIGHT AND
YOU CAN'T GET A MORE FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE THAN THAT. AND THAT IS WHY
GOD FROM BEFORE THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE INTENDED INCARNATION.
HIS PURPOSE, ADMITTEDLY MYSTERIOUS, WAS REVEALED TO PAUL; IT WAS TO
TAKE ALL THAT WAS AND TRANSFORM IT, TO MAKE IT ONE WITH HIM. AND
THIS IS THE MISSION OF JESUS. GOD BECOMES MAN; THE DIVINE BECOMES
UNITED TO OUR MATERIAL UNIVERSE. AND NOW THERE IS POWER TO TAKE WHAT
MEANS NOTHING AND TRANSFORM IT, TO DRAW IT ALL UP INTO THE DIVINE.
THAT'S WHAT LOVE IS ALL ABOUT – UNION – OR BETTER, RE-UNION.
AND RESURRECTION FOR YOU
AND I IS FAR MORE THAN A GUARANTEE THAT OUR BODIES WILL RISE AGAIN –
FOR AS SAINT PAUL SAYS, THE SPIRIT THAT RAISED JESUS WILL ALSO RAISE
THOSE OF US WHO ARE IN JESUS. BUT FAR MORE, BECAUSE JESUS LIVING IN
US CONTINUES THE GREAT WORK OF BRINGING ABOUT HIS KINGDOM.
ONE OF JOHN PAUL II'S
FAVORITE THEOLGIANS WAS KARL RAHNER. RAHNER IN ADDITION TO BEING A
BRILLIANT THINKER, WAS A MYSTIC, AND HE DESCRIBED A VISION. HE HAD
FOUND HIMSELF OUTSIDE HIS BODY, RISING HIGHER AND HIGHER, UNTIL THE
EARTH WAS JUST A SPECK. SOON THE SOLAR SYSTEM WAS BARELY VISIBLE,
AND EVEN THE GALAXY. FINALLY HE MOVED BEYOND ALL THAT IS OUTSIDE THE
UNIVERSE, AND WHEN HE LOOKED AT THE UNIVERSE HE SAW THE FACE OF
CHRIST. THAT IS GOD'S GOAL – WHEN JESUS IS LIFTED UP, HE WILL DRAW
ALL THINGS TO HIMSELF.
DO NOT SEEK THE ONE WHO
LIVES AMONG THE DEAD. SEEK HIM AMONG THE LIVING, AMONG THOSE WHO
BEAR HIS NAME, WHO HAVE BEEN WASHED IN HIS BLOOD AT BAPTISM, WHO HAVE
EATEN HIS BODY AND DRUNK HIS BLOOD. SEEK HIM IN THOSE AROUND YOU.
BUT ALWAYS SEEK HIM IN YOURSELF AS YOU GO ABOUT CONTINUING YOUR PART
OF THE PLAN THAT WAS IN GOD'S MIND BEFORE TIME BEGAN – TO HEAL THE
WORLD, TO MULTIPLY LOVE, TO MAKE EVERYTHING NEW AS GOD'S LOVE FLOWS
THROUGH OUT INTO THE WORLD. THE RESURRECTION MEANS THAT EVERYTHING
YOU DO WILL BE PART OF WHAT GOD HAS BEEN DOING SINCE THE BEGINNING,
AND A TIME WILL COME WHEN YOU WILL SEE HOW JESUS WORKING IN YOU
ACCOMPLISHED AN INDISPENSIBLE PART OF THAT PLAN.
