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Alleluia
Is Our Song
Fr.
George Smiga
11
April 2004
John
20: 1 - 18
We
are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song. These are not
my words but those of the great St. Augustine , bishop of
Hippo, spoken some 1500 years ago at the Easter liturgy. Although
they were spoken in a different language, at a different time
and certainly in a different world, the faith which they profess
is the same as the one we embrace this Easter morning. We
are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song. We would be
hard pressed to find a better lens through which to perceive
the meaning of Easter than this faith assertion of Augustine.
Because as we gather today after 40 days of Lent, after remembering
Jesus' last meal with the apostles, after reflecting on his
unjust death, two questions are important ones for us to address.
Why are we an Easter people? How do we
sing our Alleluia song?
Why
are we an Easter people? Because it is Easter that sets us
apart from every other believer. It is Easter that distinguishes
us from other good and moral people throughout our world.
As Christians we believe that something happened on that first
Easter morning. We believe that Jesus of Nazareth who suffered
a cruel and unjust death, was raised up and glorified by the
power of God. We believe that Jesus became for us the way
to salvation. We believe that Jesus' death and resurrection
is a pattern for our own life. This explains why Easter is
not simply good news for Jesus, but good news for us as well.
For you and I believe that we who are united to Christ through
faith and baptism will ourselves be raised up and glorified.
St. Paul says this so clearly in his letter to the Romans.
“If we have been united with him in a death like his, we will
certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”
Resurrection
and glory are a reality for Jesus. For us they remain a promise.
Yet the reality of Jesus' resurrection and glorification is
the guarantee of our promise. Because we believe that if God
destroyed the evil of Jesus' life and vindicated him from
death, God will do the same for us. Believing this is not
always easy. We can doubt, as did the apostles on that first
Easter morning, whether the announcement of the women from
the tomb is just an idle tale. But for those of us who are
gifted by faith, for those of us who claim the truth of the
resurrection that truth becomes an anchor for our lives. This
is why Christians are always moving from faith to hope. From
faith that Christ was in fact raised and glorified to hope
that the same will occur to us. From faith in believing that
Jesus was has been raised up to hope that there is no pain,
no failure, no hurt that is so great that the love and power
of God cannot conquer it. This is why Christians should be
able to hope in every situation. For if God was loving and
powerful enough to raise one person from the dead, then we
believe that nothing can separate us from God's love and power
to save us.
Easter
then is our identity. We are an Easter people. But how then
do we sing our Alleluia song? There are many ways to sing
Alleluias. We can sing them with our eyes open or with our
eyes shut. The gospel, however, calls us to sing with eyes
open. Even as we proclaim Christ's victory, we keep our eyes
open to the evil that still remains in our world. Even as
we proclaim Christ's victory we do not deny the weaknesses
in our own life, our addictions and our need to grow. Even
as sing the glories of Easter we admit that injustice and
violence remains in our world. The Alleluias we sing do not
deny that evil that remains in our world. They proclaim Easter
joy in the midst of darkness, announcing to a broken world
the promise of Christ's final victory that is still to come.
If
we sing our Alleluias with eyes open, then we are certainly
impelled to be people of compassion and service. For the Risen
One who we proclaim is one who knew pain and suffering. If
we follow him, we cannot distance ourselves from those that
suffer, from those that are marginalized in our society. Instead
we see in the suffering of those around us a reflection of
the suffering of Christ. Such recognition leads us to service.
For the victory we proclaim is one in which we are called
to participate. We contribute through our service of others
to the building of God's kingdom.
So
we sing our Alleluias with our eyes open to all that remains
wrong in our world and at the same time are moved to be people
of compassion and service to establish God's reign. We are
an Easter people and Alleluia is our song. So as we gather
together on this Easter morning we claim Christ's resurrection
and what that resurrection means for our own glorification.
We face the world around us without denial and recommit ourselves
both to compassion and to service. Therefore as an Easter
people let us now stand [ the assembly stands] and
let us with eyes open and with loud voice that reflects the
faith that is our own, sing the song that is ours to sing.
[ the assembly sings] Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia!
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