The Promise of The Resurrection – Fr Alexander Kurien

OCP News Service – 20/4/14

Rev. Fr. Alexander J. Kurien
Director, Office of Strategic Planning
United States Department of State
United States Government
Washington D.C.

Through the resurrection, there is a way out of our personal tombs of pain and suffering, of cynicism and despair, if only we will open our eyes, sit up, and see how the stone has been rolled away by a power far beyond our control. As Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount, “Do not worry about your life…for…indeed your heavenly Father knows what you need.” The cycle of life and death and resurrection that Christ embodied is mirrored in common, trustworthy cycles of the universe: The sun goes down, but the sun also rises. If winter comes, can spring be far behind? Human desperation and hopelessness are real, yet they can also be transformed into human aspiration and hopefulness.
My spiritual father from the Seminary once told me a story about a prisoner he regularly visited: “Chris lived in a dingy red-brick building in the heart of the city. Enclosed by walls, with bars on the upper windows, it was more like a cave than a home. Only a teenager, he had been convicted of sale and possession of narcotics. He was also a thief and a liar. For almost a year, he met together every Thursday in a small room on the second tier of the cellblock. They talked about prison, parents, children; they talked about Darwin, Newton, Einstein; they talked about life, love, hope and truth. They were never aware of the HOLY in our midst. During his final month of prison, Chris enrolled as a special student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After his early release, he became a full-time student in chemistry. When he graduated with honors from MIT, his father and mother thanked him, and by Chris, himself. It was pleasant to receive the accolades. But how the stone had been moved from the cave’s entrance — was impossible to tell. A resurrection is always a mystery — though it happens every day.”

God, we have such a hard time ‘getting it. Every year we listen again to the story of Easter and still we look around us, puzzled. We are still concerned: who will roll away the stone at the entrance to our tombs? We see that there continue to be wars and refugees from wars – cruelty and oppression, violence, accidents, and sickness. Who will roll away these stones from their lives? We are horrified at the ways poverty and indifference set up ever-expanding slums. We hear people cry out, with rage on their tongues and hurt in their eyes. Who will roll away their stones? God, we are not even clear what side of this stone we stand on. We feel its mass of pain and fear and bitterness pressing against our hearts. We feel victimized, not quite good enough, and very much alone. Are we in the clutches of death within the cold, dark confines of a stony tomb? Or, are we dazedly walking in an outer world made meaningless because love and wisdom and life itself lie buried? We face the Easter Sunday with our questions and hope, with despair over our faults and the evil around us, with deep yearning for joy and goodness and life. We come not knowing who will roll the stone away or how? We come to Easter, and discover that the stone is rolled away. We thought, somehow, that it was all going to be left up to us, and here the stone has been moved by nothing we said or did or prayed, but only through the gracious power of your love, God.

In today’s gospel lesson, Mary Magdalene comes to Jesus’ tomb while it is still dark on Sunday morning. According to Mark’s gospel she has brought spices to anoint Jesus’ body. But she has a major question on her mind: “Who will roll away the stone…from the entrance to the tomb?” When she arrives, though, she sees that the stone has already been rolled away. As John reports, she’s confused and runs to get Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loves. None of them really understand what it means, and even think it’s likely that the grave has been robbed. Mary exclaims, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”

Jesus himself must have been confused — or at least the human, pre-Easter, pre-Resurrection Jesus must have been confused — for on Friday he’d said to a criminal crucified with him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Now the resurrected Jesus emerges from an earthly tomb on Sunday, with forty more days in this world before his Ascension into heaven. And according to the Apostles Creed, he spent those three days between his death and resurrection, not in paradise, but “descended into hell.” God, we have such a hard time ‘getting it.’ Every year we listen again to the story of Easter and still we look around us, puzzled. We come to Easter, and discover that the stone is rolled away. The stone has been moved by nothing we said or did or prayed.” Resurrection is always a mystery — though it happens every day.” As Jesus’ says in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before he dies, “Father…not my will but yours be done.” The stone is somehow rolled away and resurrection occurs, not only two thousand years ago in Israel, but here and now every day, beyond our reach and control — but we do need to open our eyes, sit up, take notice, and then walk forward into the new world.

The Easter message is to find the open door and actively to walk through it. The Easter message is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, not one completely of our making or completely under our control, but we need to walk toward the light. The Easter message is foreshadowed in today’s reading from Isaiah, where the Israelite community has been oppressed and exiled in Babylonia for decades: “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord! Awake, as in days of old…So the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads…and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Easter is the story of the stone rolled away, of the open door. Open doors mean opportunity, and closed doors mean disappointment. Open doors mean adventure in new, transformed worlds. Closed doors mean the end of the road. It’s Easter now — the day we celebrate being past all the pain of the passion. The open door lies ahead. Resurrection is always a mystery — though it happens every day. Wishing you and your family a blessed Easter. May His Peace and Joy reign in your daily Christian life.

Source:
OCP News Service