REFLECTION FOR THE EASTER VIGIL with FR. JOHN MGBEAHURUIKE, SMMM
Theme: THE RESURRECTION: OUR PROOF AND HOPE
Mass of the Easter Vigil - Year A
At this Vigil (which is known as the Mother of all vigils), we celebrate that holy night when the Lord rose from the dead. It is the celebration of life over death, light over darkness, freedom over slavery and hope over despair. During this celebration, the great Silence that usually marked the Holy Saturday because of the Lord's death is broken by the victorious shout of Joy-Jesus Christ is risen and death is defeated forever. Alleluia! Praise and Glory to God our Father for the RESURRECTION of His only Begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ from the land of the dead. Today's Liturgy has 4 parts. (1) Service of Light. (2) Liturgy of the Word. (3) Liturgy of the Baptism. (4) Liturgy of the Eucharist. The term RESURRECTION is the English translation of the Greek "Anastasis"(which means 'raising up' or ' standing up again'. The Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary has it that the word RESURRECT means " to bring someone who has died back to life." Thus resurrection, from the biblical perspective, is all about bringing the dead back to life irrespective of the span of that henceforth. RESURRECTION can be looked at from two dimensions. (A) Resurrection as Resuscitation: To resuscitate means to bring someone or something back to life or consciousness after death. Examples are the cases of those who Jesus raised from the dead: (1) Jairus' daughter - Mk 5:21ff. (2) Son of the widow of Nain - Lk 7:11-17. (3) Lazarus - Jn 11:38-44. Here it is worth noting that those raised to life will still die in future. In other words, there was an extension of life. (B) Resurrection proper: Here the dead is raised in flesh back to life that will live forever. In this case, there will be no future death. This is because the resurrected body is transformed, immortal, powerful and spiritual (cf.1Cor 15:42-44). The resurrection of Jesus is the perfect example here. The RESURRECTION of Jesus is a strong PROOF and JUSTIFICATION of the Divinity, Sonship, Messiahship, Authority, Claims, Teachings and Works. It truly shows that Jesus is not only the giver of life, but the conqueror of death(Jn 5:21). We thank God for raising Jesus from the dead. The death of Jesus provided an opportunity for God to seek out our first parents like lost sheep. The 2nd reading of the Office of Readings for Holy Saturday captures this beautifully, "Truly he goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep; he wishes to visit those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam's son". That Jesus has power to enter the land of the dead to free those already held captives by the underworld gives us, the living, great HOPE OF RESURRECTION. Today, the believers in Christ are confident that physical death is not the end of life because of the RESURRECTION of Jesus. Frankly speaking, the death of Jesus and His Resurrection reveal how much God loves us. To appreciate God for this unmerited love, we are called to place totally all our trust in Him. Our faith in God should be strengthened by the RESURRECTION of Jesus. Finally, we should have hope in the RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ who has promised us eternal life provided we listen and believe in Him(Jn 5:24; 14:1-3). May our Hope in the Resurrected Christ never fail us. Amen! God bless your family. Happy Easter in Advance!
No comments:
Post a Comment