Easter Sunday, Year A
Theme: Have You Mourned Before Easter? 復活節前你哀慟了嗎？
The Church assigns forty days for the elected to prepare themselves for their baptisms. This is called the Lenten Season which those who were already baptized also have to make use of. Instead of preparing for baptism, the baptized do the same things the elected do to renew their spiritual life. So, the whole Church prays, fasts/abstains and gives alms to the needy particularly in Lent. With these traditional practices and pieties, such as Stations of the Cross and retreats, the elected examine their decisions to follow Jesus while the baptized attempt to rebuild their relationships with their Saviour. Easter is supposed to be a joyful season for all Christians, in particular the newly baptized. Through baptism, the elected becomes a Christian and a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). He is leading a new way of life in the spirit of the Beatitudes. He’ll find support in a community of redeemed people served by ordained ministers! Through prayers, bible studies, sacraments and charity services etc., he’ll build up an enriching relationship with Jesus Christ and is infused with His saving graces …
Alas! We’re living in a world contaminated by sins. In fact it is easier getting “dirty/old” than keeping “immaculate/new” in such an environment! If joyfulness is a measure of the possession of this newness, I’m afraid many a Christian would have difficulty to be joyful in Easter as he matures gradually and surely! We cannot simply brush this feeling of “a lack of joy” aside as something inessential because among the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit, “joy” occupies the second position (Galatians 5:22)! Put yourselves in the shoes of Christians in Ukraine. Are you able to find joy when you are shrouded in the cloud of a war which has been dragging on for over a year and its end is controlled not by you but by the super powers in the world? Or one of my friends whose son died of tooth cancer after several years of agony! Don’t tell me it is a test of the faith of the people concerned. This interpretation might be correct in that latter case but it is insensible. Applying such an interpretation in wars is simply wrong! If it is not a matter of faith, where else can we turn?
The word of the father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son came to mind, “But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found” (Luke 15:32) Thus, the joy of Easter is one of finding the lost and resurrecting the dead! Then we need to examine how much we are lost/dead in the previous year before this Easter. How much have we mourned and grieved for our loss/death?
On Good Fridays, we mourned and grieved for the Passion of Christ on the cross, in particular His being pierced. The Son of God came to fulfil the prophecy of the prophets (Matthew 5:17), this time Zechariah who says, “When the inhabitants of Jerusalem look on him whom they have thrust through, they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and they will grieve for him as one grieves over a firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10). Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Jerusalem symbolizes the Kingdom of Heaven. Her inhabitants symbolize the People of God on earth today. On Good Fridays, the Church mourns and grieves for the Passion of Jesus Christ, but NOT as an only child or firstborn because Christ is head of the Church, the husband of the Bride! Only God the Father would mourn for Jesus Christ as the only Son and grieve for Him as a firstborn. Thus, in a miraculous way, God the Father mourns for His only begotten Son through the Church in our annual Good Friday liturgy! A more appropriate candidate comes to mind --- my friend whose son died of tooth cancer. He and his wife definitely mourned and grieved for their firstborn. The day on which they saw their son die must have embodied in their life the very first Good Friday in history. They must have their full share of mourning and grieving. Where would their joy come?
The words of Martha came to mind, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day” (John 11:24). That means my friend’s joy would arrive only on the last day. In the meantime, will he continue to mourn and to grief like someone with no faith? Or the Holy Spirit would console him in a mysterious manner!
A song came to mind. It is very soothing and expresses deep faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The lyrics is drawn from the book of Job, “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God” (Job 19:25-26, KJV). I hope you enjoy this song like most of us do.
This song is surely a dose of ointment that lightens my friend’s pain but only for a while. It is unable to bring back his son whom the cancer has destroyed. To a certain extent, the cancer has also bitten away part of his being. While he mourns the loss of his son on Good Friday, I pray that he is able to see that the Lord is actually carrying the cross of his son, taking upon Himself the tooth cancer of his son so that in the end my friend’s son might live. I also pray that the Lord’s sacrifice is able to fill the void created in him by the death of his son. I genuinely trust in the merciful Lord for carrying our burdens because He says, “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). On one level, the Lord instructs us to serve the marginalized and the needy in our society. On another level, the Lord pledges to stand by the victims and sufferers and to lighten their burden just like what Simon the Cyrenian had done to Him (26:32). This is what we celebrate on Sundays, His resurrection. St. Paul teaches us that “Christ died and came to life so that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living” (Romans 14:9). He has risen to honour all His pledges to us, His Bride. Amen.
Brethren! Have you lost anything in previous year or before? Have you suffered frustrations and pains? Surrender and allow the merciful Lord to embrace you with His eternal bliss. Amen.
God bless!
2020 Reflection
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