The risen Christ is in our midst today
Repent, and believe in the Gospel!” Those were the words we heard on Ash Wednesday as we began our time of preparation for the memorial of the greatest event in the history of the world, the death and resurrection of Jesus. The call to repentance always implies that something is very wrong and needs fixing; or that the direction we are taking is a dead end, and we need to turn around. There is a sting to “repent” because it clearly implies that all is not well. But this call to change is always coupled with “believe in the Gospel,” that is, the Good News. And what news could be better than the glad tidings that Jesus took our sins upon himself, allowing himself to be completely drained of dignity, of health, and of life, so that our journey of repentance could be less fearful? His great courage in the face of the sins of all people of all time gives us courage to face our own personal and communal sins in our own time. But there is better news even than that! He rose from the dead, and is still with us to motivate us to love more fully by first realizing that we are loved with a love that even death could not ultimately overpower. Such wondrous love gives us reason to rejoice and sing, even as we continue our journey, and so the catchword of Easter is “Alleluia!”
There are so many ways in which we need to change directions. More and more brothers and sisters are without homes and without food, and we are called to turn this complex and dehumanizing situation around. Many families are broken by divorce, by domestic violence, by sexual abuse and infidelity, and by having to meet so many economic demands that they have no time for each other. We turn legitimate disagreements into separation and violence. We turn solid truth revealed by God into truth as “I” choose to see it. We have so much to do to repent!
When Jesus rose from the dead, he rose with a glorified body, but with one interesting exception: he still had the wounds on his hands, feet, and side. His first words to his disciples after the resurrection were “Peace be with you!” And later he invited Thomas to put his hands in those wounds to help him believe the good news. He invites us to put our hands in his wounds to help us know that nothing should discourage us, nothing daunt us, and nothing prevent us from turning around to go the right Way. He teaches us that even if we should suffer greatly in our task of turning ourselves and our world away from sin and toward God’s love, we need not be afraid. As he conquered sin and death, if we place our wounded hands, feet and side into his, we will find a strength that is far beyond our own human capacity. If we approach him every day, not as a figure of the past whom we now remember, but as someone who is alive and active among us now, we can more readily embrace any difficulties that may come with our fidelity to him. It is precisely that good news of Jesus’ lasting presence among us that we celebrate in the opening of Scripture and the breaking of bread we know as the Eucharist. The tomb is empty, but the risen Christ is in our midst even today. He calls us to embrace him, but not to hold on to him. Rather he sends us out in the strength of his love to be messengers of his victory over even death. For this, even in the midst of many trials, we cannot help but sing with great joy, “Alleluia!”
+Larry Silva
Bishop of Honolulu
