Easter Sunday Reflection
Easter Sunday Gospel
LK 24:1-12
At daybreak on the first day of the week the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them. They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground.
They said to them, "Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day." And they remembered his words. Then they returned from the tomb and announced all these things to the eleven and to all the others. The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles, but their story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone; then he went home amazed at what had happened.
Reflection
Today is the day, the feast of all feasts! The day we have been preparing for throughout Lent and Holy Week has come! Let us rejoice and sing with everything we’ve got: The Lord is alive!
Every year, I find it a bit hard to enter into the celebration of Easter. Usually, it comes after a Lent full of failed attempts to live more virtuously. I go into Lent with high hopes of making real changes in my life, and I try, but I never live up to my expectations. So Easter usually feels bittersweet for me. It’s the feast of all feasts; so, yes, I am filled with joy, but I also am filled with regret. Could I have done better? Did I waste the Lenten season? I didn’t prepare well enough—am I worthy enough to partake in the day's celebration?
I read the words that the angel said to the women on that first Easter morning and my heart aches.
“Why do you seek the living among the dead?”
He is saying these things to me today too. Why are you dwelling on the things that are dead? Lent is over and Easter has come whether I was ready or not. The fact is, His Resurrection does not depend on how well I stuck to my Lenten sacrifices. He is alive! It is a free gift for me that I cannot earn.
That is where I find my joy on Easter morning. Whether I feel it or not, I know my saviour lives. Jesus is found among the living. He is inviting me and you today to trust him with those things that weigh us down. Leave them in the empty tomb and then rejoice in the man who has conquered death. He is risen!
Jesus, I lay all my failures and the dark places in my heart at your empty tomb. Give me the grace to leave them there and to let my heart rejoice in the mystery of your resurrection!
