Easter Sunday - Solemnity
Commentary of the day
Saint Gregory of Nyssa (c.335-395), monk and Bishop
2nd homily for Easter
"See, I make all things new" (Rv 21,5)
This is the first day of another creation. Today God creates “a new heaven and a new earth” (Is 65,17; Rv 21,1)... Today is created the real man, the one who is “in the image and likeness of God” (Gn 1,26). See what sort of world is begun today, this “day that the Lord has made” (Ps 117[118],24)... This day has done away with the pain of death and has brought into the world “the firstborn from the dead” (Col 1,18). Today... the prison house of death has been destoryed, the blind recover their sight, “the daystar from on high rises and comes to the help of those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death” (cf. Lk 1,78-79)...
Let us also hasten to the contemplation of this extraordinary sight..., that we may not be overtaken by the women. Let us take in our hands the spices of faith and conscience for these are “the good odor of Christ” (Lk 24,1; 2Cor 2,15). Let us not seek “the Living One among the dead” any more (Lk 24,5), for the Lord turns away anyone who thus seeks him, saying: “Do not touch me” (Jn 20,17)... Do not let your faith represent his bodily state of service any more but worship the one who is in the Father's glory, in “the condition of God”...; forget “the condition of a slave” (Phil 2,6-7).
Let us pay heed to the good news brought by Mary Magdalen more swiftly than a man, thanks to her faith... What is this good news that she brings? That which comes “not from human beings nor through a human being but through Jesus Christ” (Gal 1,1). “Listen, she says, to what the Lord has told us to tell you – you whom he calls his brothers: 'I go to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God'” (Jn 20,17). O what beautiful, good news! He who ,for our sake, became as one of us that he might make of us his brethren... draws all humankind with him to the true Father... He who, for the sake of his many brethren (Rm 8,29), became the Firstborn of the good creation through his flesh, has drawn all nature along with him.
GOSPEL COMMENTARY MT 28:1-10
The Easter triumph
Fr. Robert Wagner
In this life, it is very easy to overlook spiritual realities because our senses are tuned to the material world that surrounds us. For this reason, it is important for each of us to free ourselves from sensory overload and quiet our minds to hear the voice of the Lord, who often comes to us in a “light, silent sound” (1 Kgs 19:12).
However, our heavenly Father, the creator of all things, visible and invisible, can also use the material world to emphasize the spiritual. Such an event occurred on Golgotha, where St. Matthew tells us of the chaos that surrounded the death of Jesus on the cross: The earth shook, rocks were split open, and the tombs of the dead were opened (cf. Mt 27:51-52). Standing by Jesus and witnessing these frightening natural signs, a centurion and his companions could not help exclaiming, “Truly, this was the Son of God.” (cf. Mt 27:54). The death of Our Savior on the cross was a spiritual triumph over sin, and God exclaimed this victory to the world using tumult of the physical world.
However, after the commotion, silence fell over the land, reflecting the immeasurable sorrow of the death of Our Lord. Solemnly, the body of Jesus was taken from the cross and laid in a tomb, and a large stone was rolled across the entrance. St. Matthew tells us that when the preparations were complete, Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Joseph, remained sitting across from the tomb, staring at the spot where their teacher was laid to rest. No further details are offered, and we are left to wonder just how long these two women sat there side by side, looking at the tomb, heartbroken and confused at their incredible loss.
These same two women, still drawn to the tomb, appear again in St. Matthew’s Easter morning narrative. Dawn is just beginning to break as they make their way to anoint the body of Jesus (Mk 16:1). Everything around them is silent and still, when suddenly, an earthquake jolts them awake. As the earthquake on Good Friday announced Christ's victory over sin, this earthquake proclaimed that death was vanquished as well. “Do not be afraid,” an angel tells the women. “He is not here, for He has been raised just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay” (Mt 28:5-6).
While the women were undoubtedly confused and unable to grasp the message of the angel, we know through faith and the message of salvation this was an event that changed the world. We can forgive Mary Magdalene and her companion for their bewilderment, for nothing like the Resurrection had ever happened before, or even been dreamed of in the mind of man. Certainly the Gospels offer us occasions when a dead person is brought back to life through the intercession and power of Jesus. However, as God, Jesus alone has the power to raise Himself from the dead (Jn 10:18). Not only that, Lazarus and those whom Jesus raised to life all eventually died again. However, the Resurrection of Jesus is eternal. He has put an end to death and opened the door to everlasting life in heaven.
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead on Easter morning is something completely different, transcendent and mysterious. While the Resurrection is an historical event that took place thousands of years away in a city thousands of miles away, its meaning touches each and every one of us today, for it is through the Resurrection that our lives “are swept up by Christ into the heart of divine life” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 655). We are swept up beyond the things of this world, swept up into His grace and glory, and swept up into the promise of everlasting joy of life with our triune God.
It is easy to miss the significance of the Easter triumph, even on the day we celebrate it. The Easter holiday, like so many other days, is full of activities that distract us from the spiritual life. God-willing, we will be spared an earthquake to jolt us to the tremendous truth of the Resurrection. Let us be swept up into its truth, beauty and joy this Easter, that we may be awakened and transformed as followers of the risen Jesus.
Fr. Wagner is Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde’s secretary.