20150405 FULLNESS OF LIFE HIDDEN IN CHRIST
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Acts 10:34,37-43
©
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Peter addressed
Cornelius and his household: ‘You must have heard about the recent happenings
in Judaea; about Jesus of Nazareth and how he began in Galilee, after John had
been preaching baptism. God had anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with
power, and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing good and curing all
who had fallen into the power of the devil. Now I, and those with me, can
witness to everything he did throughout the countryside of Judaea and in
Jerusalem itself: and also to the fact that they killed him by hanging him on a
tree, yet three days afterwards God raised him to life and allowed him to be
seen, not by the whole people but only by certain witnesses God had chosen
beforehand. Now we are those witnesses – we have eaten and drunk with him
after his resurrection from the dead – and he has ordered us to proclaim
this to his people and to tell them that God has appointed him to judge
everyone, alive or dead. It is to him that all the prophets bear this witness:
that all who believe in Jesus will have their sins forgiven through his name.’
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Psalm
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Psalm
117:1-2,16-17,22-23 ©
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This day was made
by the Lord: we rejoice and are glad.
or
Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia!
Give thanks to the
Lord for he is good,
for his
love has no end.
Let the sons of
Israel say:
‘His love
has no end.’
This day was made
by the Lord: we rejoice and are glad.
or
Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord’s right hand
has triumphed;
his right
hand raised me up.
I shall not die, I
shall live
and
recount his deeds.
This day was made
by the Lord: we rejoice and are glad.
or
Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia!
The stone which the
builders rejected
has
become the corner stone.
This is the work of
the Lord,
a marvel
in our eyes.
This day was made
by the Lord: we rejoice and are glad.
or
Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia!
EITHER:
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Second reading
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Colossians 3:1-4
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Since you have been
brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in
heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on
heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth, because you have died,
and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is
revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your
glory with him.
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Sequence
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Christians, to the
Paschal Victim
offer
sacrifice and praise.
The sheep are
ransomed by the Lamb;
and Christ, the
undefiled,
hath sinners to his
Father reconciled.
Death with life
contended:
combat
strangely ended!
Life’s own Champion,
slain,
yet lives
to reign.
Tell us, Mary:
say what
thou didst see
upon the
way.
The tomb the Living
did enclose;
I saw Christ’s glory
as he rose!
The angels there
attesting;
shroud with
grave-clothes resting.
Christ, my hope, has
risen:
he goes before you
into Galilee.
That Christ is truly
risen
from the
dead we know.
Victorious king, thy
mercy show!
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Gospel Acclamation
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1Cor5:7-8
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ, our passover,
has been sacrificed:
let us celebrate the
feast then, in the Lord.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 20:1-9 ©
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It was very early on
the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb.
She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to
Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. ‘They have taken the
Lord out of the tomb’ she said ‘and we don’t know where they have put him.’
So Peter
set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the
other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down
and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter
who was following now came up, went right into the tomb, saw the linen cloths
on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not
with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other
disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed.
Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that
he must rise from the dead.
FULLNESS
OF LIFE HIDDEN IN CHRIST
05
April 2015, Easter Sunday
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: ACTS 10:34.37-43; COLOSSIANS 3:1-4; JOHN 20:1-9
What is
the meaning of life? Why is there suffering on earth, especially innocent
suffering? What are we living for? Where do we come from?
What will happen when we die? These are the questions that confront
humanity. To live meaningfully and joyfully and passionately, we need the
answers to these questions.
St Paul
tells us that “the life you have is hidden with Christ in God.” What does
he mean? It means that Christ is the answer to all the riddles of
life. He is the answer to all our questions. In His passion, death
and resurrection, all these questions are answered definitively. The paschal
mystery is the answer to all that we are asking in life.
In the
first place, the passion and death of Christ reveals the love of Jesus the man.
He gave Himself completely to the service of God and man. He was
tempted like us all but without sin. He suffered with us in our
humanity. He did the will of the Father using His human will and suffered
the cross and the crucifixion. Most of all, He died for God and for us.
Yet, in spite of the injustices He received, He forgave us all and asked His
Father to forgive His enemies. Christ is a man who lived totally
for God and for His fellowmen. Indeed, with the psalmist, we say, “Give thanks
to the Lord for he is good, for his love has no end. Let the sons of Israel
say: His love has no end.”
Indeed,
the passion of Christ might convict us that Jesus is a good man. But
because He died a tragic death, it will only cause more confusion. How
could God allow a good man to suffer innocently and be put to
death? This only contradicts the goodness and power of God’s
love. Christ’s death only proves His love for us. It does not
prove that what He said was true or that He was God. He could have been
misguided. Hence, it is no great deal to believe that Jesus died for
us. He could have died for a wrong cause or died in vain.
But the
great thing about Christians is that we believe He is raised. “Now
I, and those with me, can witness to everything he did throughout the
countryside of Judaea and in Jerusalem itself: and also to the fact that they
killed him by hanging him on a tree, yet three days afterwards God raised him
to life and allowed him to be seen, not by the whole people but only by certain
witnesses God had chosen beforehand.”
The
resurrection of Christ vindicates all that Jesus taught, did and claimed. The
resurrection was the Father’s seal and endorsement of Jesus’ deeds and words.
By raising a condemned criminal and heretic to life, it means that all that
Jesus said and did were true. Only because of His resurrection, are
we certain that He is truly the Son of God as implied by His teaching, works of
miracles and compassion.
In the
same vein, His death is not just the death of Jesus alone but the manifestation
of the love and mercy of the Father. It was the total emptying of the
Father’s love for us. It shows us the depth of God’s love for us
all. In His death and resurrection, it shows us that God is unconditional
love. God’s love triumphs over hatred and sin. His death demonstrates to
us that love is the last word, never unforgiveness or hatred or revenge.
But God
is not only love. If love cannot overcome death, then love is also quite
meaningless. God shows Himself omnipotent over death. Death,
the last enemy of man, has been overcome. Death has no power over
Him. Death, the most feared of all enemies, especially for the modern
man, is now seen as an illusion. There is no death but only immortality
and most of all, the resurrection of the body. Hence, we can live a
life of total freedom from the fear of death. That being the case, we
know that love is eternal and therefore it is worth loving on this earth
because this love will be carried through to eternity. Indeed,
today we can rejoice and pray with the psalmist, “This day was made by the
Lord: we rejoice and are glad. The Lord’s right hand has triumphed; his
right hand raised me up. I shall not die; I shall live and recount his deeds.”
For
this reason, Easter is truly the centrality of our faith and the most important
celebration of the Church’s year. Christian Faith stands or falls with
the belief in the resurrection of Christ. This is the basis of
Christian Hope. The certainty of this Hope brings joy because we have
discovered the meaning and purpose of life, our destiny and our goal even in
the midst of suffering and pain in this journey of life. Christ has
revealed the fullness of the meaning of life. Truly, He is the Way,
the Truth and indeed, the Life.
This
life is still hidden in Christ. What must we do to make this life our
own? For His life to be ours, we must make His life our own. How do
we do this?
Firstly,
we must remove the stone that prevents us from seeing the Risen Lord. “It
was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of
Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the
tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus
loved.”
What is
this stone that the angel removed? It is the stone of sin, selfishness
and a life of malice and wickedness. St Paul wrote to the Corinthians,
“You must know how even a small amount of yeast is enough to leaven all the
dough, so get rid of all the old yeast, and make yourselves into a completely
new batch of bread, unleavened as you are meant to be. Christ, our Passover,
has been sacrificed; let us celebrate the feast, then, by getting rid of all
the old yeast of evil and wickedness, having only the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth.” So long as we hold on to our sins, we cannot
find joy and meaning in life. We must decide to live a life of
truth, integrity and justice.
Secondly,
this stone also refers to the stone of unbelief and ignorance. Mary
said, “‘they have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don’t know where they
have put him.” We note too that St Peter, although he “went right into
the tomb, saw the linen cloths on the ground, and also the cloth that had been
over his head…”, but there was no mention of belief. On the contrary, the
evangelist noted, “Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching
of scripture, that he must rise from the dead.” Unbelief sometimes
springs from pride of the intellect, and sometimes from the dullness of the
mind and ignorance of the intellect because of the consequence of sin.
When we
sin, we are living in the tomb. When we live in ignorance of our future,
we have no direction in life. There is no light, no love, no life and no
purpose. Are you having the fullness of life or are you still in
the tomb? It is the tomb of fear that hinders us from venturing
out. Once we give up our sins of selfishness and pride, and come out of
the tomb, then we can see the shining light again. That light is Christ
as we sung so beautifully at the Exultet on Easter Vigil.
We must
now walk in the light and in the life of Christ. This means to live
the life of tomorrow today, as St Paul exhorts. “Since you have been
brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in
heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on
heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth, because you have
died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ
is revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your glory
with him.”
How?
Firstly, we must live a life of integrity by being faithful to our vocation and
God’s will, like Jesus. Jesus has shown us the way of fidelity to God’s
will unto death. He was true to Himself. He did not go
against His identity as the Son of God. He was faithful to His
vocation as the Son of the Father. We too must also be like
that. We cannot do what we like but only do what is right.
Secondly,
we must do good and give our lives for the service of God and others, like
Jesus, as the first reading tells us. We read that the life of Jesus was
purposeful and meaningful because He was a man for others. It is said
that those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘what’.” As
of Jesus, we read, “God had anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power,
and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing good and curing all who
had fallen into the power of the devil.” It is our task to deliver people
from their bondage and their slavery to poverty and injustices and sin.
We need to die for others. “The snake which cannot cast its skin has to
die.”
In this
way we become witnesses of the Risen Christ, not simply by our words but by our
lives. Like the apostles, we could also say, “Now we are those
witnesses – we have eaten and drunk with him after his resurrection from the
dead – and he has ordered us to proclaim this to his people and to tell them
that God has appointed him to judge everyone, alive or dead. It is to him that
all the prophets bear this witness: that all who believe in Jesus will have
their sins forgiven through his name.” Let not the words of Friedrich
Nietzche be directed at us when he said “I cannot believe that Christ is risen
because I see you all still dead.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
© All Rights Reserved
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