As I was taking part in the funeral of an elderly priest, it was announced after the Gospel reading that there would not be an Euology due to to the wish of the deceased priest. Instead there would be a sermon on the theme of death and resurrection as the the departed priest wanted it through his testament. As reason for that the preist wrote in the testament that he had lived his entire life in the hope of resurrection, did his priestly ministry in view of it and had motivated people to live in the hope of resurrection. At the fase of the hope of resurrection an Euology was unimportant for him. After hearing a sermon on death and resurrection during the funeral service of this priest I found the mood of the participants, his relatives, friends and parishners very happy and hopeful as if they had experienced a foretaste of the heavenly joy: Strange for a funeral service, but imaginable.
Faith in resurrection and hope of it is the greatest contribution of our being Christian and the greatest hope of being human. Faith and conviction about resurrection after death and the attainment of eternal life let the worldly power, luxury, acknowledgement, achievement, love and praise unimportant. I can not imagine that by death everything is over. The hope of the unending extension of my life makes me happy, hopeful and it helps me to live confident, optimistic, in spite of my mistakes and weakness, defeat and disappointments.
We commemorate today the reasurrection of a young man who was unjustly judged and crucified at the age 33. We commemorate today the transformation of the sorrow of the desciples of Jesus into unimaginable joy as the women brought the news about the resurrection of Jesus. Peter and John were convinced through the visit of the empty tomb.
The resurrection of a diseased human was against the imagination and faith of the Jews. But the jewish people had to acknowledge this unimaginable news and that its consequences had rewrote World history. Today also there happens many things against our imanginations and expectations. The faith in the resurrection of Jesus and the celebration of Easter invite us to acknowledge many happenings of the world, many event, realities, ideas and concepts that are against our own imaginations, knowledge, expectations and wishes and to be open towards it, to be tolerant and hopeful.
The risen Jesus appeared to Mary Magdeline and other women at the grab and afterwords many timest to the Apostles and once to 500 followers of Christ till his assention to heaven. Afterwards the risen Lord appeared to Paul. The appearance of the risen Lord is not a past happening. It is a present reality. We experience in the history of Christianity that Jesus appeared many times in different places, different situations, and different people. Many believers of Christ experienced the risen Lord in a vision or in their personal prayer or personal experiences. Today many experience the presence of Jesus and his message personally in different forms and ways. We are all invited today to a personal experience of the risen Lord.
But the resurrection of Jesus can not be proved scientifically, through the natural methods of natural sciences, medically, biologically nor philosophically. The resurrection of Jesus is an event and a fact to experience perosonally. Since many Jews during the time of Jesus were not ready to acknowledge and accept the happendings beyond their imagination and knowledge they spread stories abot the resurrection Jesus. One mong them was that the desciples took away the body of Jesus as the guardians of the tomp of Jesus slept or the gardner let the body of Jesus to be taken away because he did not like to distroy his garden through the visit of many possible followers of Jeus at his tomb. Those who can not accept and acknowledge happenings of the world beyond their knowledge and imagination and in the perosonal life, events, surprises, unexpected realities, agianst theirown knowledge and imagination they will be unable to believe in the resurrection of Jesus and to confront the risen Lord.
The resurrection of Jesus is for a Christian not only a dogma, a confession of faith, which they are bound to belive and express in the creed, but also a a personal experience, a conviction, a hope. If we are open and tolerant towards the message of resurrection and convinced to live with this happy news of the resurrection of Jesus, our day to day life could be shaped by it.
I wish you and your family, friends and members of the community especially to the sick and week, elder and those who are unable to take part in the easter liturgy a happy and blessed a easter, many joyful surprieses, new and joyful and unexpected happenings and messages, news and events in your personal, family and community life and the blessings of the risen Christ
Fr. Joseph Pandiappallil MCBS