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What
Is So Good About Easter?
Fr.
George Smiga
Easter
Sunday, 2005
John
20:1-18
It
is Easter. But it seems like we were celebrating Christmas
only yesterday. Now I know that Easter comes early this year,
but I don't think that the early date is the whole of the
explanation. The truth is that Christmas remains in our minds
because it is easier to celebrate Christmas than Easter. Look
at the Christmas story. It is clear; it is peaceful; it is
well defined. In the Christmas story, you know where Jesus
is—he is in the manger. You can say, “Look, there is where
to find him. See him, touch him, love him.” Easter is more
elusive, more nebulous. There is very little of serenity and
peace in the Easter stories. Instead we find people scurrying
about, frightened, conflicted, confused.
Look
at the images of Christmas: a star, a silent night, shepherds
in the fields, a lovely baby, a mother's constant care. Then
look at the images of Easter: grieving women, an earthquake,
angels pushing stones around, and Jesus suddenly appearing
and then as easily disappearing. You can focus on Christmas.
You can see the baby. You can sense the peace and the love.
But Easter is more difficult to take in. Easter challenges
us to believe. It dares us to accept a goodness that is greater
than anything we could imagine.
What
is that goodness? What is the good news of Easter? It is important
that we get this straight. Yes, it begins with Jesus' resurrection,
but that is not the whole story. It starts on the first Easter
Sunday, but it does not end there. From the earliest times,
Christians have believed that Jesus' resurrection was only
the first step in a much larger plan of God, a plan to establish
the kingdom of God. In God's kingdom evil would no longer
exist. Jesus' resurrection was the first step in God's action
to eliminate evil, suffering, and pain from our midst. It
is only when we understand that, that we understand why Easter
is good news for us, why we sing Alleluia today. We rejoice
on Easter because we believe that God has begun to eliminate
the evil from our world.
Now
that is the truth of Easter, but it is a hard truth to accept.
It is no wonder that so many people are more comfortable with
the simpler and smaller truth of Christmas. To believe that
God is in our world destroying evil, that God has begun to
eliminate all suffering and pain from our midst, is a large
step to take, a big truth to swallow. Any one of us could
say, “Look at the wars and violence present in our world.
Are you telling me that God has begun to establish the kingdom?
Look at the misunderstandings between countries and in the
pain within my own family: manipulation, self-interest, unresolved
hurts. Are you telling me that God is destroying the evil
in my world? Look at how I struggle with fear and sickness
and loss. Are you telling me that Jesus' resurrection really
makes a difference?”
You
see, the challenge of Easter is that we believe that God has
begun to destroy the evil of the world even as that evil still
continues around us. It is no wonder that it is so difficult
to accept the truth of Easter. It is no wonder that Easter
remains for so many a weak sister to Christmas. We must be
courageous enough to believe in the hopeful truth that God
is establishing the kingdom, that God is conquering death.
How
do we do it? How can we swallow the difficult truth of Easter?
St. Augustine comes to the rescue. St. Augustine says, “Give
me a lover and you will understand the resurrection.” Give
me a lover and you will understand the resurrection. Augustine
is right. The truth of Easter, the truth of the resurrection,
is something that can only be seen with the eyes of love.
You cannot reason to it. You cannot argue to it. You can only
accept the truth of Easter when you enter a relationship,
when you accept that God loves you as a son or daughter. It
is then that you see clearly, that you understand deeply something
that you could never comprehend merely with your mind.
Now,
you can test this through your own experience. Think of a
time in your life when you truly loved another human being.
Think of a moment when that love was tangible and real. Was
there not a mystery in that moment? Was there not a gift that
you could never completely explain? You still saw all the
things that were present in your life before, but did not
love make them different, deeper? Have you ever noticed how
lovers can overlook issues that seem very important to other
people? Lovers are often challenged by those who say, “Isn't
she a little old for you? Doesn't he bring a good deal of
baggage? Are you sure you want to relate to this person?”
When those questions are posed, lovers always answer in the
same way— yes. . . but. Believers use those same
words when they try to understand the truth of Easter. Is
there violence and war still in our world? Yes … but I believe
in a God who is still establishing a kingdom of peace. Do
I have my share of misunderstanding and stress and resentment
and unresolved issues? Yes … but I believe in a God who loves
me and is leading me to life. Do sickness and violence and
death still occur around me? Yes … but I believe that God
raised Jesus from the dead, and that that same God loves me
and is my hope.
Clearly,
Christmas is an easier sell, a more popular celebration. But
it is Easter that is at the heart of our faith, at the center
of the gospel. And only lovers can understand the truth of
the resurrection. It is only when we accept God's love for
us and stand in that love that we, despite all the things
that are wrong with our world and our lives, can nevertheless
perceive our God establishing the kingdom. It is only when
we stand in that love that we can understand Easter. It is
only when we stand in that love that we can sing, “Alleluia.”
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