Reflection

By Fr. Kevin Canty CM (National Director)

Death for Jesus was no different from death for any of us. It meant the end of the presence that his disciples knew. No longer can they see him, touch him, or be touched by him.
The “He is not here”, that we hear at this time raises the question, “where is He?”
And our faith answers, he is at the heart of the mystery of life. As Jesus himself said,
“God is God not of the dead but of the living” (Luke 20:38).
Wherever God is, Jesus is. Since God is everywhere, Jesus is still present among us though mysteriously beyond our empirical experience.

Hence the call to remain alert (Luke 21:28) and “to stand up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near”.

This may explain the irony of the response of the women. Instead of raising their heads, they ‘bowed their faces to the ground’. They are not expecting redemption. This is something they were invited to believe. The women themselves could not see for themselves ‘that He has risen’. This is something which they were invited to believe. Jesus himself had told them it would be so. They could find indications of it in the sacred writings of their tradition.

The women, the first missionaries of the Resurrection, tell the eleven and all the rest (i.e. the apostles) but no one believes them. Luke does not show the empty tomb as a proof of the resurrection. The women are simply ‘perplexed’, and the others do not believe. The empty tomb, though, raises a question. It is a reminder of what Jesus himself hoped for. And it prepared the women. And it can prepare us to be vigilant. So that when the risen Jesus comes to us, we will be open to his presence and his call. If we are vigilant, we will see him when he comes.

Let us conclude here with part of a reflection by Fr Ron Rolheiser, OMI, about the “Resurrection”.

The challenge of living this out is not just that of believing that Jesus rose physically from the grave but also, and perhaps even more importantly, to believe that no matter our age, mistakes, betrayals, wounds, and deaths, we can begin each day afresh. No matter what we have done; our future is forever pregnant with wonderful new possibilities. Resurrection is not just a question of one day after death, rising from the dead. But it is also about daily rising from the many mini graves, within which we often find ourselves. We are human and we cannot avoid falling into depression, bitterness, sin, betrayal, cynicism, and the tiredness that comes with age.

Like Jesus, we too will have our crucifixions. More than one grave awaits us. Yet our faith in the Resurrection invites us precisely to live beyond these. The resurrection teaches us not how to live – but how to live again, and again, and again!

^{Daybreak Daily Reflections for Lent and Easter, page 63}

Jesus is Risen and lives forever, Allelulia, Alleluia!
^{_{Matthew 28:6, 1 Corinthians 15:20, John 11:25-26, Romans 6:4}}

Easter blessings to everyone!
May this sacred season bring us renewed faith, love, and unity!

By Fr Kevin Canty, CM (National Director)

The gospel for the AMM Mass at St. Anthony’s, Marsfield on Saturday, February 1^st, was taken from the Gospel of Mark 4:35-41.   In this passage, Mark gives us an account of the incident where Jesus urges his disciples to get into their boats to cross over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. There they encounter a severe storm, with waves that hurl themselves upon the boats.  Jesus will soon calm the waves, leading his disciples to ask the question,

“Who, then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?“

In the narrative of creation (Genesis 1:1-2) and that of the flood (Genesis 7:1-24) contained in the Book of Genesis , we learn that the sea, as distinct from the land, was for the Jews a symbol of chaos, and therefore of the evil which tries to resist God’s creative and redeeming action.  In the scene before us, Jesus is venturing out into the midst of chaos. He is also taking his disciples to ‘the other side’, the Gentile side, the country thought of as ‘unclean’, at the mercy of evil spirits.

The waves hurl themselves against the boats, seeking to destroy Jesus and his disciples.  Jesus is clearly unafraid.  The same cannot be said of his disciples.

The scene would have carried a special relevance for the Christian community at the time that Mark was writing, as it still does wherever there is persecution.  Jesus appears not to hear our cry, but the awakened (‘Risen Christ) is truly caring, and at his command the forces of evil fall silent.  We are watching the Creator vanquishing the sea monster.

Jesus rebukes the wind, an expression we find in Psalm 107:29-30, where the word of the Creator God rebukes the waters of chaos and they flee before his command.  God also rebukes the waters in the Red Sea (Psalm 106:9).  In Jesus we see our Creator and Redeemer conquering the forces of evil, a lesson his disciples must learn. It is important that we notice that Jesus does not contrast faith with doubt, but with fear, when he says to his disciples

“Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”

There is a kind of doubt that is consistent with faith, the doubt that rises from a humble mind, which recognizes the limits of its own understanding. This kind of doubt is important; it is the cutting edge of the mind seeking deeper insight. Such doubt is accompanied by wonder and is characteristic of a mind that is open to the mystery of life.   And we are called to that faith that is always open to the mystery of the Risen Christ with us in all the difficulties life might place before us.  He calls us to have faith in his presence wherever chaos or the storms of evil surround us,

”Do not be afraid! I am with you.”