EASTER SUNDAY 

1.       Each Easter we read the same story of the Resurrection. Yet each year our lives have changed. There are new wars, new atrocities, new heroes emerge. The same Gospel is seen in a new light - the kaleidoscopic colours change. The story of Mary Magdalene at the tomb is O! So new.

          In our time, efforts are being made to insure full equality for all. We work for equality in pay, in job opportunities, in job promotions. In our times, in our patriarchal structure church (which in itself is neither good nor bad) - we seek equality opportunities for all. We seek equality in making decisions and taking leadership roles. In such times, it is an eye opener to realise that all four gospels describe Mary Magdalene as the first witness to the Resurrection. She is the first Apostle of the Good News of the Resurrection. An Apostle= a person who is sent. She is sent to Peter and his companions. She becomes an Apostle to the first Chosen Apostles.

2.       This might not mean a great deal in Toronto or New York. But in one of our Catholic missions in India Empowerment, of  women has come  the hard way.   Last week six goons bashed up one of the women at 11.30 at night for "being too clever, becoming literate, organising women, opening bank accounts etc. This is not a woman's job!!". The local police station refused to file a grievance charge. The hospital refused to register bruises as caused by assault.   But the women want to continue.  And Mary Magdalene’s role is enough to keep these Christian women struggling for their rightful place in our world.

3.       Mary Magdalene echoes our story. She is a sinner and a notorious one at that. We might not be as famous, but our sins do not and should not keep us back from seeking the Lord as Mary did.

          There are so many interesting little details. These may seem to be coincidences. But the Evangelist, St. John put them there with a purpose.

  Like Mary, if we are to seek the Lord it has to be the first thing see do each day. St. John tells us it is very early morning. Martin Luther, the great Augustinian Monk who set the reformation movement rolling, used to say that if he had a busy day, he would pray for two hours. And if the day was going to be extra busy, he would pray for three hours.

 Mary started out while it was still dark. It is not another small detail. It echoes the first chapter of John’s Gospel, “the light came into the world, and the darkness could not overpower it.” It is not a physical darkness but a spiritual darkness that surrounds Mary. She is looking in the tomb, in the grave, among the dead. No wonder Mary cannot find Jesus Christ. Jesus is the light, Jesus is the life. No one finds “Life” in a grave, in a tomb in the cemetery.

4.         St. Paul tells us in the second reading, since we have been raised with Christ we must seek the things that are above. Paul invites us to rediscover the well springs of our human nature that has been redeemed by the Resurrection. In the light of Christ

 there is HOPE in the middle of disasters: a broken marriage, a lost job, a vindictive supervisor.

 there is JOY in a peaceful rather than a violent response to an injustice, to brutality.

 there is COURAGE in situations of discrimination: be they racial, sexual orientation, new immigrant, difficulty in speaking English here in Toronto, when you are mistaken for a Muslim or a Jew.

In the Light of Christ,

the agony of the Cross

the folly of giving up Ambition

the compassion in the Violence of this world

takes on a new, valid and legitimate meaning.

5.         And so we return to Mary Magdalene. At first, she fails to find the Lord. One of the reasons being that she has her own agenda. But the way God thinks is quite different from the way humans think.

1.         She has come to the tomb expecting a dead Jesus

2.         Like the apostles, she has not understood the Lord’s message

3.         Her faith is no looking for the Risen Jesus, - she searches for a dead body

4.         She wants to give “it” a proper burial.

We too have our own agendas when we search or pray to the Lord. When we pray for our Civil Leaders, our Church Leaders, ourselves, we advise God what to do. We do not just pray for these Leaders or ourselves. We pray “that they may have...” as if God needs advice on what they Leaders should have and how they should behave. As long as we have our agendas, the Risen Jesus might be standing before us and we will fail to see him.

6.         But then in a clutch situation, it is always Jesus who sees us through. Jesus comes to the aid of Mary, he calls her by her name and Mary passes from spiritual darkness to light. As Anne Murray says in her Song, “You needed me” Jesus called her by her name, gave her dignity, put her on a pedestal and even called her friend.

Lent is over and the Resurrection is here. We think that we can relax. We can pick up a packet of cigarettes, reach for a candy bar, tinkle ice in a glass and pour a stiff scotch - pick up on all the things we gave up for Lent. But we find that the journey through Lent ends and a new Journey begins. Mary Magdalene is made a missionary, she is made an Apostle. Missionary today is linked with conversion and in reality, it has nothing to do with that. Missionary simply means spreading the Good news. We too have the same mandate. We each have to play a vital role in the opening of faith, in the dawning of faith of those with whom “we live and move and have our being.” 

It is through what we say and how we live and the faith we profess,

It is by the way we pay attention to those around

It is by the way we treat each other

that others will hear the Good News - the fact that Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.

“I can see clearly now, the dark has gone.”