Homily – Sunday, the 31st March 2024 – Easter Day

Reading: Matthew 28: 1-10

When I opened my door this morning, this is what I saw- a beautiful Easter gift from my neighbour- Markus and family. It had among others the Easter eggs and the Easter Bunny. I was reminded of one of my most significant encounters with the Easter Egg and the Easter Bunny.

As some of you might know one of my first assignments was as a University Chaplain and on the Monday of the Passion week, we heard a tragic news- the mother of one of our students had killed her father. As the police and judicial processes were on we were told that the girls would have now nowhere to go and the church was only willing to take them into the children’s home. But the incident, the burial, the arrest of the mother, the trauma of social victimisation- all these were too much for the girl. Saturday of the Holy Week I knew she was truly broken down.

We had then an exchange student from Germany staying with us. She told me she would love to meet this girl on the Easter morning. P and I went to see this particular girl and the German had a small gift pack and in it was an Easter Egg and an Easter Bunny.

I still remember what that young student told about the Easter egg- She said- this egg symbolises new life, new hope, new possibilities, new beginnings. Easter is a reminder- however dark our life situations are it is possible that the “stone can be rolled away”. As the egg carries within it potential for new beginnings it is possible that the Easter egg symbolises for you a fresh start amidst all the darkness and turmoil around.

She then took out the Easter Bunny- rabbits are very common in our part of the world and many of our cartoon features are around prudent rabbits. Stories of survival against odds in the forest. P told us- the Easter bunny is the messenger who brings the eggs and is the messenger of Hope. The times could be difficult but it is in difficult times that we need the touch of the messenger the most.

We prayed with the girl. Told her not to lose hope but hold on to the one who is able to roll any stone away.

It was not easy yet I saw a growing confidence in her after that.

Easter is about the new beginning that is possible

We had been following Watch and Pray for our Lenten meditations. This is how the Lenten Meditation that we have been using with Carlton Turner concludes- When reading through Matthew’s Gospel we may wonder why the disciples were surprised by Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus had been preparing his disciples along the journey to Jerusalem. He utters the same words, almost verbatim, three times (in Matthew Chapters 16, 17 and 20). Jesus tried to make things as clear as possible for his disciples. But the darkness and despair foretold is hard to conceptualise until it arrives. Within seasons of darkness and despair resurrection is unthinkable.

Let us give the final word to Selina Stone, whose book Tarry Awhile exploring Black Spirituality has inspired these reflections:

“This is what it means for us to be people of the resurrection. We inhabit a world that is not yet what it will be, as people who continue to be formed into the likeness of Christ who embodied life and love in their fullness. The scars we bear are not cause for shame, nor must they define us in our entirety. They remind us of the work of God which continues to be needed in the world and in each of us, as we tarry ever more, for the reign of God to be made known among us in justice and peace.”

Friends the girl I mentioned survived the trauma. She was admitted in our Medical College for a Bachelors programme in Nursing. A wonderful young Tutor came to us asking for her hand and we did a wonderful marriage. She is now well settled in life but around Easter time always remembers us and the story of the Easter Egg that gave her new hope and that of the Easter Bunny that challenged her to be a messenger of hope in contexts of pain. She would opt for care of the dying patients in our attempt to help people die in dignity and she says- hope is the best we could offer even in the toughest moments in life.

Easter is a reminder that New Beginnings are Possible

The Gospel Lesson began with the imagery of the dawning of the new day. The last days had been traumatic. The arrest and passion of Jesus and the cruel death in the cross was surely too much for the disciples to bear. The Saturday was a Saturday where they had lost all hopes. The dreams that they had woven around Jesus being the Messiah had all been shattered. Some of them had left everything and followed him and they could have been thinking was all these in vain. When Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb- they were expecting only the dead body of Jesus to anoint if that would be possible. But the Easter experience was an experience of new hope and new beginnings. The stone was rolled away and they were told Jesus has been raised from the dead.

Friends at that point ETERNAL LIFE is being re-defined. The rational scientific temper had always tried to keep life as something that happened between the womb and the tomb. Easter made it clear that there is before and after. Life is eternal, ever lasting and there is the beyond. Your life here and now is a precious opportunity to make living count. When you go through tough patches in life- Just look at the cross- There is Jesus who says- I have gone through it all. Just look at the Easter morning- there is the empty tomb that reminds. Nothing has ended. New beginnings are always possible.

At that point ETERNAL HOPE is being redefined. In my Easter message to People’s Reporter I asked When advocates for justice and peace get disappointed at the way the trajectory of history is progressing, when champions of love and kindness get disillusioned by war and violence, when campaigners for sustainability and planet care are disempowered by the lack of support to causes for which they stand, the question that reverberates all around is- Is there hope for this world?

When observance of the great lent loses its charm amidst the facades people live with, when instead of coming together the ecumenical and ecclesial landscapes are seeking diverging roads, when more and more people are distancing themselves from established religion which is being made a political weapon, when de-churching is becoming a phenomenon that people find hard to tackle, when the very credibility of the church is being questioned because of the way the faces of church behave, the question that is asked around is- Is there hope for the church?

The call of Easter is to open our eyes and see the new sprouts of hope all around us. It is fresh, it is waiting to flourish. It takes the form of children who reaches out to their suffering kindred in creative ways of comfort, of youngsters who are willing to risk their lives for the causes of justice they are committed to, of activists who sacrifice the pleasures of life to make life meaningful to the marginalised, of the ordinary mothers in the prayer mats in the privacy of their homes who refuse to lose hope on the church, of creative artists who champion the causes of justice and truth with boldness and courage, of policy makes who continue to advocate for a sustainable planet despite the exploitation all around and that of the odd politician who refuses to be sold off in lieu of good governance.

The Easter Eggs should be given to more and more people today

Easter is a call to be Messengers of Hope

It was the angel of the Lord who came down from God who rolled the stone away in the gospel narrative. In the gospel parallels when the women were walking up to the tomb they were asking the question- who is roll the stone away. The arrival of the angel is spectacular but remember the word angel just means- messenger and on Easter day you and I are reminded that we are the Easter messengers, the Easter angels, the Easter Bunnys.

The messenger of the Lord first told them DO NOT BE AFRAID. There are several people who continue to live in the edges and the margins around us today in FEAR. They include the migrants, the asylum seekers, the refugees and several other discriminated against communities. The devastation of war and the ongoing grip of the arms industry in global geo-politics continue to make life hard to the ordinary people. The pharmaceutical and the infotainment industry squeeze the new generation into hitherto unknown realms of stress. Mental health challenges and environment concerns remain unaddressed in the digital realms of the artificial intelligence guided generations. There are people living in Fear in violent domestic contexts and even work spaces.

Visionaries lament that the planet is dying, unborn generations are dying, families are dying, churches are dying, love is dying and justice is dying. And there is fear for the future. But ressurection powerfully reminds us that these are but temporary phenomena. New sprouts of life cannot be too far away. The cross is a reminder that there would be dying but Easter is a reminder that the phase of dying is temporary and the ultimate triumph is for life. New sprouts cannot be far behind. New beginnings would always be possible- however life threatening and hydra like the challenges may look like. FEAR NOT. (PR)

The Essence of the Easter Message is CHRIST IS RISEN.

The messenger interacts with the women- I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. The message is simple STOP searching places in wrong places. He cannot be contained in the tomb is the risen. He has conquered death.

The Essence of the Easter Message is BE YE MESSENGERS OF HOPE. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” Messenger of Hope tells the women Go spread this message. Friends it is a reality that when our heart is bubbling with some really really good news we cannot hold it within us- we cannot but share- we cannot but be messengers of Hope.

The call of Easter today is to be Easter Bunnys- Messagers of Hope to a world that is really looking for Hope.

And our prayer for the whole world today is

Lord Come in love

And Roll the Stone Away

Let us go and meet the Risen Christ on our way as did Mary and the disciples in Galilee.

Happy Easter

Vinod Victor

March 31, 2024