April 08, 2007 EASTER

Acts 10: 34-43 Psalm 118 Colossians 3: 1-4 John 20 : 1-18

We are all witnesses

1. Our first reading starts half way down the Acts of the Apostles with Peter preaching to Gentiles. He says to them, “You know the message God sent to the people of Israel.” They should have stopped Peter right there. But Peter old man, we are Gentiles not Israelites ! Peter carries on because, Peter has to bear witness. A word that appears several times in this small passage. As Christians, we too are called to Witness that Christ has died, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again. We are called to witness to the resurrection, a word that quite expectedly appears in all three readings and in the Gospel Sequence, which we unfortunately do not sing.

2. And so I thought it would be fitting that I too should witness. I had a wonderful Holy Thursday Service at a neighbouring Church. It is a bilingual church: English and Tamil. Since the priest had to do the Holy Thursday service twice once in each language, I offered to help him out. It was very devotional, and the people were appreciative, but I felt cold and unemotional. It had nothing to do with the weather and the wind chill factor. The good Friday Service was also very devotional for the people. The children brought the Passion alive with their innocence and simple faith. But I had a sort of out of the body experience. I was celebrating the Good Friday Service, but I felt a major part of me sitting in the pews and observing myself saying: “Does this mean anything to you and to your life?” It was quite disturbing.

3. So in the evening after the 3:00 pm service and the Way of the Cross was over, I sat in the Church praying that this whole Easter Mystery would make sense. The church was quiet but so was my soul. At that moment I could not care less whether Christ had died or whether Christ had risen. I felt nothing, nada, niente, ninguna cosa...

And then there was a noise in the Church, it was irritating, it was disturbing. There were only about 12 people praying quietly in the church, but nearly all turned around. A young man with Turret’s syndrome - a part physical and part mental disability was being brought by his mother. I thought he was trying to say Amen, but could barely get the “A” out ! I might have been mistaken. He was loud and he was uncoordinated. It was then I had a glimpse of the risen Lord. (alternate to the Turret syndrome story at the end)

4. Like Peter and the Apostles, we want Jesus to come in a perfect package. We want him to cure the lame and blind and deaf. We want him to cure the sick, especially our families if they have cancer, Alzheimers, Parkinsons or some crippling sickness. But Jesus has a sense of humour he does not come in the way we expect him. He is the God of Surprises.

We would have expected him when he rose from the dead,

to appear to the Scribes and Pharisees with “Did I not tell you that you can destroy this temple and in three days I will rebuild it.”

to appear to Pilate and say, “Did I not tell you that you do not have power of your own, unless it was given from above.”

to appear to the Apostles and say, “three times I warned you that the Son of man must be lifted up”

so he appears to Mary Magdalene. Was she the sinner? She was definitely a woman and she has the first recorded appearance in a patriarchal world.

I would like to see the Risen Christ in a perfectly harmonious choir, in well trained altar staff, in perfect liturgies, in moving homilies, in a church where you do not have to say, “please hold on to your purse and valuables during Mass.” And so the Lord rises in the body of an intimidating six footer with a physical disability.

5. Here in the Church, I wanted a God of Consolation and a God of Fire to warm my cold and indifferent spirit. I received a Turret syndrome young man who disturbed my quiet. It is not all about me, but all about the Lord. Once HE is lifted up, he will draw all to himself. Here was the Turret syndrome young man, by worldly standards, he is broken and wounded, but that is what Thomas will call for next Sunday: “unless I can put my hands into his side, and my finger into the holes, the nails have made I will not believe.” This Good Friday night, here was the broken body of Christ. Strangely enough many would say, if God was so good why did God allow this. Perhaps because there are people like me, who are cold and dead and need to believe - and when we see brokenness, we recognize that Jesus has truly risen.

6. I am sure that many of you will be able to Witness in a similar manner. Today I rejoice and say: Alleluia Christ is risen. But then the cycle will continue again: the SS cycle, no it has nothing to do with the Nazi symbol of cruelty. The SS stands for sin and suffering. Our sins cause suffering, and the Suffering of Jesus, and those who believe in him cause healing in the way we accept them, live with them and learn to realize it is a part of our real life situation. We do not choose suffering for suffering sake, otherwise we would be masochists. We will sin and we will be healed by the patient forbearance of others.

7. The Church was once again quiet, and I was just giving thanks, when a baby started to cry and broke the silence again - but this time, I was not annoyed or angry or irritated, I smiled. Every baby is a sign that God has not lost faith in humankind. We humans are called to die, and to rise again, because Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.

Alternate to the Turret syndrome Story:

I remember saying Mass one time for a gathering of people, and in the middle of the homily, this poor woman, the town drunk, came up the middle of the church, talking to herself. She climbed in over everybody, and took her place in the front seat. She began to interrupt some of my words of wisdom, and the eyes of everyone in the church were on her, and if looks could kill, she would have died on the spot. Thankfully, no one attempted to remove her, and she fell asleep.

I myself was holding my breath, hoping that she might be accepted as she was, because if I ever come across the body of Christ without the wounds, I know it is a phoney. And here was one of the wounds, and it would have been very wrong to be so religious and pious, that she was not welcome among us.