Easter Vigil, cycle C

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.