Mons. Enrique Díaz Díaz shares with Exaudi readers his reflection on the Gospel of this Sunday, March 31, 2024, titled: “HE WAS RISEN!”
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Ezekiel 36, 16 – 18: “I will sprinkle them with pure water and give them a new heart”
Romans 6, 13-11: “Christ, once risen from the dead, will never die”
Psalm 117: “Hallelujah! Hallelujah!”
Saint Mark 16, 1-7: “Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, rose again”
He is Risen! It is the news that women and disciples carry to every corner. He is resurrected! It is the joy that invades his heart, that transforms his fears, that illuminates new paths. He is resurrected! Shout, experience, joy that does not fit in the heart and that overflows, bathing the brothers with love and understanding. He is resurrected! It is also our proclamation, our proposal, and the reason for being Christians today. Christ lives and is among us! We have seen it! We have experienced it, and it renews our hope and our longings and desires for a new life. Resurrecting is much more than reviving, it is much more than returning to life as always, it is starting a new life, full of fullness and light. It is defeating death and never waiting for it again. The resurrection of Jesus is the sign that the Christian offers to humanity to show that death is not the definitive end nor the destiny of man. We are not destined to fail, but we have been created and called to life and happiness. That is why, on this day, the cry of all the disciples of Jesus resounds full of enthusiasm: “The Lord is risen.” Hallelujah!
It is much more than an empty tomb. Some are still looking for a body and approach the tomb. Also, the women, very early in the morning, go to the tomb, they find that the stone had already been removed and the tomb empty, and when they are filled with fear, an angel comforts and consoles them: “Do not be frightened. They look for Jesus of Nazareth, the one who was crucified. He is not here: he has risen. Look at the place where they had put it. Go announce it to your disciples.” And so, instead of shaking with fear because “the body” is not there, his spirit is filled with joy, and they run to announce it because they have experienced that the Lord has risen and that they will see him in Galilee.
It is much more than a removed stone, a folded shroud and abandoned linens. It is getting used to light, love, freedom and peace. Everything starts again. God, faithful to his word, lord of the impossible, reveals himself in this triumph of his Messiah. Weakness has overcome strength, violence, hatred and corruption. Forgiveness takes revenge and defeats betrayal, abandonment and denial. God, removing the stone, renews our hope and sends us along the paths of our world to shout for life, wherever there is death, wherever there is war, wherever there is destruction.
It is the change that transforms Mary Magdalene and her companions into messengers of the great news: The Lord is risen! And it is precisely them, the weak and despised, who are denied the word, who do not count in the possessions and powers of the world, they are the ones who give strength and credibility to this announcement. The Lord has appeared to them and sent them. That is why today every woman must become a witness of resurrection, a defender of true life, a builder of this new world proposed by Jesus. They must destroy the bonds of the old and of death, of hatred, of division and of selfishness.
Celebrating Easter is much more than being spectators of this unprecedented event, hearing its story for the umpteenth time, and returning home with the feeling of having experienced a beautiful spectacle. It is living it together with its protagonist, it is taking part. It is about dying and being buried with Him. Furthermore, it is necessary to approach the tomb, not to end up buried in discouragement and sadness, but to participate in His new life and carry this life everywhere. Likewise, it is not possible to celebrate Easter if we do not make the “step” of entering into the darkness of death to all the proposals of the world, to be reborn to a vigorous commitment to the new light of the Risen One. It is not about beautifully cleaning the empty tomb and prostrating ourselves in silence, but rather understanding the signs, accepting with faith a revelation, a testimony and an experience of the risen Jesus. Go ahead, then, this is not the time for fears and hesitation. Fear has been conquered, the night has ended, a new world has been born. A new spring is sprouting from the old trunks that seemed lost. The enormous stone that closed our old, suffocating and sinful world, in which we remained prisoners and to which we resigned ourselves, has been thrown away by the Resurrection of Christ. We must leave our silence and prison, He makes us pass into a new world.
On this day of the Resurrection, let us contemplate the triumph of Jesus, experience his presence, and then look at our daily lives and answer: am I a witness of the Resurrection? How do I express my joy, my hope, my healthy optimism knowing that good, love, and God have the last word? Does my faith in the Resurrection of Jesus commit me to a fight for life at all its levels?
Our God, who through your Son conquered death and opened to us the doors of eternal life, grant to those of us who celebrate Easter today, to also be resurrected to a new life, renewed by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
