20160329 COMING OUT OF OUR TOMB
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Acts 2:36-41 ©
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On the day of
Pentecost, Peter spoke to the Jews: ‘The whole House of Israel can be certain
that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.’
Hearing
this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the apostles, ‘What must
we do, brothers?’ ‘You must repent,’ Peter answered ‘and every one of you must
be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and
you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise that was made is for
you and your children, and for all those who are far away, for all those whom
the Lord our God will call to himself.’ He spoke to them for a long time using
many arguments, and he urged them, ‘Save yourselves from this perverse
generation.’ They were convinced by his arguments, and they accepted what he
said and were baptised. That very day about three thousand were added to their
number.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
32:4-5,18-20,22 ©
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The Lord fills the
earth with his love.
or
Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia!
The word of the Lord
is faithful
and all
his works to be trusted.
The Lord loves
justice and right
and fills
the earth with his love.
The Lord fills the
earth with his love.
or
Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord looks on
those who revere him,
on those
who hope in his love,
to rescue their souls
from death,
to keep
them alive in famine.
The Lord fills the
earth with his love.
or
Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia!
Our soul is waiting
for the Lord.
The Lord
is our help and our shield.
May your love be upon
us, O Lord,
as we
place all our hope in you.
The Lord fills the
earth with his love.
or
Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Ps117:24
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Alleluia, alleluia!
This day was made by
the Lord:
we rejoice and are
glad.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 20:11-18 ©
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Mary stayed outside
near the tomb, weeping. Then, still weeping, she stooped to look inside, and
saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the
head, the other at the feet. They said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ ‘They
have taken my Lord away’ she replied ‘and I don’t know where they have put
him.’ As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though
she did not recognise him. Jesus said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you
looking for?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have
taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.’
Jesus said, ‘Mary!’ She knew him then and said to him in Hebrew,
‘Rabbuni!’ – which means Master. Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to me,
because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and find the brothers,
and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your
God.’ So Mary of Magdala went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord
and that he had said these things to her.
COMING
OUT OF OUR TOMB
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ ACTS 2:36-41;
JN 20:11-18 ]
Today
is the second day of the Octave of Easter. Are you resurrected
yet? Or are you still in the tomb? If so, why is it that you are still
hiding in the tomb when we are told that the Lord has removed the stone
blocking you from coming out of the tomb? Moreover, the morning star has
set and the light of Christ is shining so brightly outside the tomb!
If
we are still in the tomb, it could be because we are like Mary, who was not
able to let go of the past. She could not let go of the beautiful memories she had of
Jesus who saved her from sin and from living a meaningless life.
She was still thinking of the Jesus of Nazareth whom she loved with all her
heart. She was clinging to the things of this world, to what is
earthly. At the same time, she could not forget the horrible sight and
memories of Jesus who was scourged, mocked, ridiculed and crucified on the
cross. She must have been so heartbroken, not just at the death of Jesus
but the tragic way He died; an ignominious and innocent death.
It
is the same for us too. We are like Mary who continued to cling to our
past, the good old days
when our children were with us at our side but now no more as they are now
living their independent lives. Some of us are in bereavement over the loss of
our loved ones; some are widowed and some of us are sickly. Again, when
we think of the good old days, we cannot but regret that the good times have
passed, and now we are living lives of loneliness and pain. Indeed, it is
the tendency of those of us are who suffering to bemoan the nostalgic times and
wish that we could relive them.
When
we are not ready to move on to a new situation, we become misfits in society
and in life. Sadly,
those who have suffered failures in relationship, who have been jilted or
betrayed in marriage and friendship, are not willing to move on and would
rather give up on relationships all together. The failure to adapt and
change is the cause of our misery. When we continue to look to the good
old days, reinforcing our pains and misery and wallowing in them, we cannot see
the Risen Lord or even the angels that the Lord sends to us. This was
certainly what happened to Mary Magdalene. We read that “still weeping,
she stooped to look inside, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body
of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet. They said, ‘Woman,
why are you weeping?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she replied, ‘and I don’t
know where they have put him.’” She did not even see the angels or know
that they were angels from God who had been sent to help her and console her
with the Good News. We, too, when we are absorbed in our pains and
hurts, we cannot see the light in front of us and the angels God sends to us
through our friends, colleagues, loved ones, the priests and especially the
Word of God and the Eucharist.
For
others, it is their sins that prevent them from seeing the new life. They have not completely given
up their sins. St Paul reminds us of the need to get rid of the old yeast
of sin so that we can be fresh dough. (cf 1 Cor 5:7-8) If we
are not ready to give up our sins, such as anger, revenge, lust, envy, sloth,
greed and gluttony, we cannot find life. Without giving up the sins that
we cling to, we remain slaves to all that is negative and destructive of our
happiness and freedom. No one who is under the bondage of the Evil One is
free to be happy. No one can sin and be truly happy because deep in his
heart, he knows that he is not just cheating others but himself. He would
have no confidence to stand before God with a clear conscience. (cf 1 Jn 3:21) So we
must resolve to throw out all that remains of our pride and selfishness so that
we can renew ourselves in the power of the Risen Lord.
St
Peter made it clear to the Jews that they must repent and be baptized if they
want to enter the Promised Land. Peter answered, “You must repent and every one of you
must be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins,
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise that was made is
for you and your children, and for all those who are far away, for all those
whom the Lord our God will call to himself.” We must make a decision to
turn away from our sins and what that binds us to the past. That was what
happened to Mary as well. When her eyes were turned away from Jesus, she
could not recognize Him, thinking that He was the gardener. She said,
“Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go
and remove him.” To be baptized means that we enter into the tomb of
Jesus and rise up again, washed clean of our sins and our past; and put on the
new garment, the new creation that we are called to be. (cf Eph 2:10)
But
we might say to ourselves, “we have no strength” to do it. We want to come out of our tomb
but we find ourselves powerless. We want to forgive but we cannot.
We want to make ourselves useful but we are lazy and selfish. We want to
be generous but we are afraid to letting go of our wealth and
possessions. We want to serve but we are not willing to share our time
and leisure with others. We want to live a simpler life but the enticement
of money, glory and power overwhelms us. So we are trapped by our sins
and the lack of the capacity to break free from our clutches, like the crippled
man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple.
That
is why we must turn to Jesus. He has already removed that stone. But now we need to
get out of that tomb. This also needs His help because we are still too
crippled to come out by ourselves. We can now see the light outside the
cave shining into our tombs, but we are not able to climb out. This was
what Mary did when the Lord drew her towards Him. “Jesus said, ‘Mary!’
She knew him then and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbuni!’ – which means
Master.” We need to hear the Lord speaking to us intimately and
personally if we are to break free from our chains. St Paul said it for
himself when he wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I
who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I
live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2:20)
Only
when we can come to the conviction that Christ loves us, we cannot be set free
from our past and bondages. That was what Jesus said to Mary after calling her
name. He said, “Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to
the Father. But go and find the brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my
Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” We cannot let go
of our straws unless we have found the cross of life. We cannot let go of
worldly enjoyments unless we have tasted the joy of love, the peace of a clear
conscience, the freedom of surrendering our lives to God as we give ourselves
in love and service, not thinking about ourselves and our security but that of
others.
So
if we want the Lord to enter into our lives and lead us out of the tomb which
is now opened, we need to be like Mary Magdalene, pondering the love of Jesus
for us. Only
when we contemplate what the Lord has done for us, how much He has suffered
innocently and died for our sins, will our hearts then be converted like that
of the Jews. It was only when they heard Peter’s discourse of how they
killed and crucified the Lord and Messiah that “they were cut to the heart and
said to Peter and the apostles, ‘What must we do, brothers?’” So we must
open our hearts, our ears and our eyes in prayer and intimacy with the
Lord. When we realize how our sins continue to crucify the Lord even
today and how we are hurting Him, because we are hurting ourselves and those whom
He loves equally, then our hearts too will be cut to the quick and
repent. If we turn to the Lord and seek forgiveness, then St Peter says
that we will receive the Holy Spirit who will then give us the resurrected life
of Christ. With the Holy Spirit in us, the Father and the Son living in us, we
are in Him as He is in us.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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