Phew!! That’s a lot of the Word of God! We started at Genesis 1, and maybe you feel like we went through the whole thing to the Book of Revelation (we didn’t of course, we only hit some highlights throughout the Old Testament, and then a profound reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, and then the Resurrection account from St. Matthew). Why have all these readings? That’s the point of a vigil, to watch and wait for something. In this case, we were waiting for the news of the Resurrection, for those first alleluias to ring out since we began our Lenten fast, to announce the joy of the Risen Christ! And as we heard those seven Old Testament readings, and the one Epistle, the anticipation was growing in us, to get to the good news of Jesus rising from the dead!
As we look around, though, there’s no one here. No offense to our musicians, our reader, and Deacon Dave, but this is a small crowd to celebrate the Resurrection, made necessary, of course, because of COVID-19, or, as some are calling it, the ‘Rona. Maybe that bursts our bubble a bit, and tries to steal our joy from this holy night, this holiest of nights.
We’re used to at least more people. Maybe not a full church, but still, more than I can count on one hand! We’re used to the anticipation of lighting the Easter fire at the beginning, processing into the church in darkness, and then our individual candles, lit from the Paschal Candle, slowly lighting up the church. We’re used to the sprays of holy water falling from heaven, like rain from above (and depending on how much is on the branch, sometimes more like a monsoon from above). We’re used to the overwhelming smell of the Easter lilies, with the aroma of incense mixing in. And yet, for those of you watching, none of that is present yet.
This may seem like a horrible way to celebrate Easter, but it was the way the first Easter was celebrated. We heard in our Gospel tonight how the holy women went to the tomb on Sunday morning. The stone is rolled back, and Jesus is not there! Where did He go? The angel announces that Jesus has been raised, and He is going to Galilee.
So Jesus rose from the dead without anyone knowing it. No one saw the greatest work of God in all of salvation history. There were no witnesses. There was no music that we know of (perhaps the angels were singing, but no one heard or reported it). There was no fire that anyone saw, no lights, no procession. In the silence of that first Holy Saturday night, Jesus rose from the dead, and changed human history forever.
I think we often expect big world events to be noticed. Certainly someone will tweet about it, or post the story on Facebook, or snap or gram it! If it’s important, then the whole world will notice because it will be a bigger than life event. But when Life Himself conquered sin and death, and escorted the souls of the just from their waiting to heaven, the powers of the world gave no notice; they didn’t even know such a thing was happening. Even Jesus’ own disciples, even the ones who stood by His cross, had no idea what was happening.
What’s in the news every day? The ‘Rona. How many have it, how many died, how many recovered, if a vaccine is closer, if antibodies hold the secret, how many jobs have been lost, what the government is doing, are people really staying home, how much money can my business get, how much money do I get, etc., etc. There are good stories, too, about people celebrating the heroic work of doctors, nurses, hospital staff, first responders. There are the heart-warming stories about people going on Zoom or Skype or FaceTime to visit with elderly relatives, sick or healthy, or singing outside windows, or celebrating birthdays with parades of cars. Those are good stories, and it’s good that they are noticed.
But in your life, all this dying, if united to Jesus, will also cause a rising, a rising that the world will likely never notice. The patience you’re growing in from spending all day with your spouse and/or your kids. The re-prioritizing of what is truly important, based not on money, but on true happiness. The appreciation of friends that you cannot currently see, but who are important, nonetheless. What virtues might the Lord be cultivating in your life right now, because you are open to His grace, yearning to be in His presence, desiring to receive Him in the Eucharist like you never have before. All of this is big news, and yet the world, and let’s be honest, almost everyone else, probably doesn’t notice.
But that’s ok. Because God won, whether anyone took notice or not. And eventually, everyone will know, as all will be revealed on the Last Day, when what Jesus won for His disciples will be manifest in its fullness in the resurrection of all the bodies of the dead, and the new heavens and new earth. But until then, we wait. We read the Word of God, we sing His praises, we worship His goodness and ask Him to raise us to new life. And we do so knowing that He who raised Jesus from the dead, will raise us with him to life everlasting. Amen.
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| The place where Jesus rose from the dead in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre |