At Easter we proclaim ‘This is the day that the Lord has made, we rejoice and are glad’. Easter is the work of God and the gift of God to the whole of creation. This indeed is the work of God’s creation, not of human beings.
After the crucifixion of Jesus, all must have seemed ended, to his mission and to his very life. St Luke tells us that two of the followers of Jesus were on their way to Emmaus and they were downcast. Suddenly they were approached by a man who they did not recognise. They spoke of the recent happenings in Jerusalem and the death of Jesus, who they had hoped might be the one to save Israel and free them from oppression. Their hopes were dashed, and they were walking away from the place where the authorities had Jesus put to death. The stranger explained to them the Scriptures and they saw them in a new light. They invited Jesus to stay with them and as He broke break bread with them their eyes were opened. They recognised Him as their Risen Lord and they turned back to Jerusalem – excited and eager to tell their news.
We also have expectations in life. We look for a saviour who will change our lives for the better. Often we see such a person in celebrities and politicians. We criticise them as they do not fulfil our hopes and we become disappointed. Listening to Jesus in the Scriptures we recognise the One who is the Saviour of the world in whom, as St Peter says, we will not be disappointed.
This year is a Jubilee Year, an opportunity to renew and deepen our relationship with God, one another and the whole of creation. It is a time of forgiveness, healing and reconciliation. Pope Francis has given the theme for the Jubilee – we are to be a people of hope. To forgive and to be forgiven is to experience new life. We are taken out of darkness in our relationships into the light – a light that the darkness, no matter how dark, cannot overcome. Sometimes this can be difficult to believe as the world is often engaged in war, violence and destruction. Rather than seeing nations as all part of the same human family, there is often hostility and aggression. The peace of Christ confronts the cruelty of individuals and nations and heals the deep divisions. Men and women flourish when they accept that gift of peace which is founded on true justice. The health of a country is gauged by the way in which it looks after the most vulnerable members of society. In conflict and war, and in oppressive societies, it is women and children who are often the victims. During this Jubilee Year we are challenged to remember those on the margins of life and recognise them as our brothers and sisters in need, and to act in a way which respects their dignity. Richer nations are also called to cancel out crippling debts in countries of the developing world.
At the beginning of creation, the first words of God were ‘Let there be light’, and there was light. God saw it was good. To live in the light is to follow Jesus who came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life for all people. As we create a just and peaceful society, we live in the light of God, and our world is changed for the better. We already live in the Kingdom of God which we will experience in its fullness as we pass through the mystery of death. Our death is not the end of us – life is changed not ended.
Sometimes we find it difficult to recognise the presence of God and doubt His word. After the crucifixion the disciples became despondent. Peter, who had denied Jesus three times, decided to go fishing, to return to something about which he knew. Some of the others followed him and got into their boats and went fishing in the Sea of Galilee. They saw a man on the shore who they did not recognise. He asked them if they had caught anything, to which their answer was, ‘no’. The stranger told them to cast out their net again, and he assured them that their efforts would be successful. They did this and the promise of the stranger came true. It was then that they recognised the stranger as Jesus, still with His wounds but glorified and alive.
In the garden of the resurrection Jesus appeared to Mary of Magdala who had come to the tomb. She was weeping and became alarmed as she found the tomb empty. She was searching for her Lord and thinking that the man who approached her was the gardener. She asked him where the body of Jesus might be. Jesus called her my name, ‘Mary’, and she recognised he was not a stranger but the person for whom she was searching. Like Mary of Magdala, we are called by name to follow Jesus who is the way to the truth of the life of each one of us. The promise ‘ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened’ will be fulfilled.
St Paul tells us that our homeland is in heaven. St Augustine teaches us that our hearts will remain restless until they rest in God. As the Jubilee Year reminds us, we are people on a pilgrimage and we are called to journey together. The recent synod in Rome on synodality proclaimed that we are a people walking together. Our faith is not a private matter for it enables us to pull down divisions and barriers and to walk as People of God.
Baptism plunges us into the Trinity and into the family of the Church and the redemptive work of God for the whole of creation. During this Jubilee Year many of us will go on pilgrimage to Jubilee Churches or to Pilgrimage Shrines.
Pilgrimage shrines are places of prayer and places of renewal. Pilgrims often experience a renewal and deepening of their faith which brings hope and a realisation of the love of God. On their return to home, the challenge is to live out in love what they have experienced on their pilgrimage. We can do so if we are open to the presence of the Holy Spirit who comes each day to renew the face of the earth. This is God’s work in which we are invited to participate. We see the world in a different way.
In the Easter season we celebrate new life. We recognise the presence of the living Jesus who has passed through death to new life. He may at first appear to be a stranger but as we listen to Him, we recognise that He is the Saviour of the world. Easter indeed is the day that the Lord has made. Jesus is showing us the way to the Father, breaking the bonds of death and manifesting the resurrection. ■
