Easter Sunday: The Empty Tomb

The gospel account of the Passion of Jesus which we heard on Good Friday concluded with details about how Jesus' body was prepared for burial before it was placed in a new tomb ... they laid Jesus there (Jn 19:42).  In another gospel, we are told that they rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away (Mt 27:60).  The tomb was sealed, like every other tomb before had also been sealed.  At some level, everyone who witnessed that moment thought that this was the end of the story.

Four weeks ago, our Bishop cancelled the public celebrations of Masses in all parishes of our Diocese as a precautionary measure to protect as many people as possible from becoming infected with the new coronavirus.  Since that day, increasing measures have been imposed by our public health authorities and by the Premier of Ontario.  When we first heard the advice to stay at home and to only go out if necessary to carry out essential tasks, some of us thought of this measure as being extreme.  As the weeks have gone by, we are becoming used to this new normal, yet it still feels as though we have all been confined.  We understand the reasons why this has to be, but some of us are already suffering from cabin fever.  Still, we can still look forward to the day when our tombs too will be opened and we will rise to a new life.

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb (Mt 28:1).  Why did they go to the tomb that day?  They were grieving.  They still couldn't believe that Jesus was dead.  When our loved ones die, do we not experience the same emotions?  Do we not visit graveyards to pray with our loved ones?  Would we not also go to the tomb if we were in their shoes?

The women went to the tomb filled with human expectations, but what they discovered there was something far different from anything they could have expected.  There was a great earthquake ... an angel ... came and rolled back the stone (Mt 28:2).  This would have been a frightening scene, not unlike the scene that took place in the home of Mary, the mother of Jesus, when the angel appeared to her (cf Lk 1:26-38).  On that occasion, the angel had said to her: Do not be afraid ... (Lk 1:30), and once again, when the angel appeared at the tomb, the same words were repeated: Do not be afraid ... (Mt 28:5).

The great miracle of the resurrection was proclaimed on that first Easter morning when the angel told the women: you are looking for Jesus ... he is not here for he has been raised ... (Mt 28:5-6).  The angel invited the women to come, see for themselves that the tomb was empty, then they were given a mission: go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee ... (Mt 28:7).  Something miraculous took place within that tomb, something that has continued to fill us - even two thousand years later - with great joy and excitement, something that changed the lives of those women and of the disciples, something about which the story is still told today.

When our public medical authorities started to impose restrictions on our movements, many of us were bewildered.  At first we did not understand the reasons for these precautions.  The ever narrowing circle of freedoms which have been imposed since that time have made this situation feel more and more as though we too have been placed in dire situations, yet this time of precautions will someday come to an end.  The miracle of Easter will happen.  Jesus rose from the dead and we too will one day rise from our confinements.  The world in which we will live will not be the same as the one we left behind.  We will still have our lived histories, and one day we, our children and our grandchildren will tell stories of the year when everyone was locked up in their homes.

Perhaps they will tell stories about how difficult this time of social isolation has been on many of us, but we hope that they will also tell many stories of resurrection: stories about how parents and children learned to get along together again, stories about how people learned to look out for their neighbours again, stories about how the earth's ecosystem was rescued and maybe even restored, stories about how we learned to value one another like we never have before.

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth ... he had a burning desire to love.  This desire has never waned.  Throughout our history, God continues to love and to call us all to love.  Despite the trials that we have encountered along the way, God has never abandoned us and he will always be with us.  This is the great joy of the Easter season.  Christ is risen!  He has overcome death and because he rose to new life, we too will overcome the struggles we encounter.  When they are gone, we may be different in some way, but there is always the promise of new life.  For this we give thanks.

Happy Easter!