Rising with him to a new life

 

Rising with him to a new life

Jewish tradition tells of a rabbi who gathered his students together very early in the morning while it was still dark, and asked them this question: ‘How can you tell when the night has ended, and the day has begun?’ One student answered: ‘Maybe it’s when you see an animal and you can distinguish if it’s a sheep or a dog.’ ‘No,’ the rabbi said. A second student answered: ‘Maybe it’s when you are looking at a tree in the distance and you can tell whether it’s a fig tree or a peach tree.’ ‘No,’ said the rabbi. After a few more guesses, the students demanded the answer. The rabbi replied: ‘It’s when you look on the face of any woman or man and see that she is your sister, and he is your brother. If you cannot do this, it is still night, no matter what time it is.

In St John’s account, the Easter story begins very early in the morning of the first day of the week while it is ‘still dark’. In one of his letters, the same writer insists that ‘the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. But this is strictly on one condition, which he spells out clearly: ‘Whoever loves his brothers and sisters, John says, ‘lives in the light.’ On the other hand, whoever prefers to hate . . . is in the darkness.’ (1 Jn 2:8-11). Just two days ago, as we remembered the sufferings and death of the most marvelous human being the world has ever known, we came face to face with the dark side of human nature. This darkness led the enemies of Jesus to torture, humiliate, and finally murder him on a cross. On that black day in Jerusalem, the capacity of human beings to hate, hurt, and harm one another went completely out of control. It’s no wonder, then, that ‘darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon that ‘the sun’s light failed', and that ‘the curtain of the temple was torn in two‘ (Lk 23:24).

Between light and darkness, between good and evil, one mighty struggle is still going on. It’s going on in the physical cosmos, in human societies, and within our personalities. Although darkness often appears to be stronger than light, it has not yet triumphed. The light is remarkably resilient. Often in danger of being extinguished, it manages to survive, and even to win many victories. The words of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of modern India, still ring as true as when he said to Annie Besant years ago: ‘When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but, in the end, they always fall.’ The words of the Easter Vigil liturgy express the same truth in an equally appealing way: The power of this holy [Easter] night,’ it proclaims, dispels all evil, washes guilt away, restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy. It casts out hatred, brings us peace, and humbles earthly pride.’ Our celebration of Easter reminds us that the darkness of evil and hatred will never have the last say. The resurrection of Jesus proclaims the ultimate triumph of light over darkness and goodness over evil, both in us and in our world.

Jesus was buried at sunset, as darkness was once again creeping over the earth, to all appearances a victim and a failure. But on the third day afterwards, the sun came up on him victorious and triumphant, alive, powerful, and influential. Once again, ‘the true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world” (Jn 1:9). So, we celebrate his resurrection today by rising from darkness and death ourselves. The Risen Lord himself, represented here by this beautiful Easter candle burning in our midst, is asking us to leave behind the works of darkness, to renounce and reject anything and everything in our lives which is dark, sinister and evil, and as persons connected to him by baptism, to ‘walk always as children of the light‘, following in his footsteps.