I Thought You Should Know | God is awakening in us the hope of the Resurrection

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Easter Sunday - 2012

Acts 10:34a,37-43

Colossians 3:1-4

John 20:1-9

As we arrive at this Easter Sunday, it might be well for each of us to ask ourselves how Jesus has touched our hearts during this Lent.

What has been the most touching memory of Jesus during this Lent? Were my eyes opened to a new hope because I have experienced His mercy in a new way? Does He now seem more real in my life? Was there a moment in the liturgy of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday or Easter Sunday that spoke, in a special way, to the hungers of my heart? What are those hungers?

Did I feel myself drawn to Him in His gentle washing of the disciples' feet? Did I have a desire that He would wash my feet? Why? What would that be like?

Have I been drawn to Him in His passion?

What was the most touching desire I have experienced this Lent? Do I realize that God wants that desire fulfilled in my life?

I dare to say that these experiences are intimations of immortality. They point to more!

Pope Benedict tells us, "Faith in the Resurrection of Jesus says that there is a future for every human being; the cry for unending life which is a part of the person is indeed answered."

I encourage you to take some time to prayerfully reflect on the above questions so that you can see more clearly how God is awakening in you the hope of the Resurrection! This is real living! We are on our way! The more we get in touch with how He is awakening within us the hope of glory, the more we will be living the Resurrection in our lives!

But there is so much more! This is the Spirit of Truth active in our lives! Father Peter Cameron tells us, "... all members of the Church to whom this truth has been entrusted must vigorously go out to meet the desire for salvation in all people so as to being them the truth as well" (To Praise, To Bless, To Preach).

Have you ever thought of meeting "the desire for salvation" in people who do not know the Lord, or who have grown lax in the practice of the faith, or who are caught up in sinful patterns of behavior? Did not St. Monica realize that her son, Augustine, had "the desire for salvation" but needed encouragement and prayers? After his conversion St. Augustine wrote, "Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee O Lord!" Perhaps he could also have added, "Thanks, Mother, for seeing in me the desires I did not see!"

Jesus is the real thing for which our friends are hungering, but do not know it! This is what today's Scripture readings are trying to tell us!

In the Gospel, Mary of Magdala runs to Peter to tell him that someone took the body from the grave! Peter and John run to the tomb and find it empty. John understands, but Peter does not. Why this haste about announcing the emptiness of the tomb? Could it be that they are being awakened to a Jesus that was even greater than they had thought He was? After all, they had been drawn to Jesus in a very profound way during His public ministry. They were still trying to explore the mystery of their relationship to Jesus!

After Pentecost, Peter speaks very boldly about how Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, "went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." The Roman government crucified this same Jesus, but God raised Him from the dead! Now this same Jesus has appointed the disciples to preach that He is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. Everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins through His name!

What does forgiveness of sins imply but life with God after death!

This is what so energized the early disciples of Jesus after the Resurrection. They had experienced His mercy and His forgiveness, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Yes, their time with Him in His earthly ministry was filled with personal embarrassments and disappointments. They did not like their quarrelsome attitudes and their self-centeredness! Frequently their self-esteem took painful tumbles! It was a time of being measured by divine love and found wanting! Doesn't that sound very familiar? So what else is new?

Yet, after the Resurrection and their reception of the Holy Spirit, things were so different that they wanted to share with others that God's mercy and forgiveness affects our belief in life after death!

In effect their message was: "The good news is that we have a God that can and does take away sin and give us the Holy Spirit to enable us to live lives pleasing to God and in harmony with one another! We have a God that can change anybody and everybody! This is the good news we want to share with you!"

Just as Christ has touched and changed our lives during this Lent, filling us with hope in His mercy and in eternal life, so must we share with others this truth for which they are hungering!

God is inviting us to meet the desire for salvation He has given others. Let others know how Jesus has changed your life! Do not be afraid to be honest with them! They need hope. They are looking for Jesus but don't know if He is real, or if He is for them?

To share your experience is not to impose anything upon them at all, but to speak to the deep hunger and desire for salvation that God has placed deep within them.

After all, if God has surprised you, do you not think that He would like to surprise others also?