Reflecting on the Resurrection

A message from Vice President, Father Anthony Casamento CSMA.

This Sunday we celebrate the great Feast of Easter. Imagine the joy, the excitement, and even the shock that Peter and John had when seeing the empty tomb. When Mary Magdalene told them that the body of Jesus was missing, they rushed to the tomb as quickly as possible. John, after entering the tomb, 'saw and believed'. But what did he see? He didn’t actually see Jesus rise from the dead. But he saw the burial cloths, and the cloth that had covered the head of Jesus. And, of course, he saw that the body of Jesus wasn’t there. Seeing all of this and remembering all that Jesus had said about His rising, came together so that John believed. He believed that Jesus had overcome death and rose as He promised He would. This is the belief that is at the heart of Christianity – the Resurrection of Jesus.

We, too, are called to see and to believe. Again, we can’t physically see Jesus rising from the dead. We aren’t in the empty tomb looking at the burial cloths. But we can see the power of the Resurrection in the lives of the Apostles. We can see the evidence of the Resurrection in the lives of the saints throughout the last 2,000 years. We can see how the Resurrection of Jesus has changed us, too – the hope, the peace, the love that we have experienced. As we begin this Easter season, let us look with the eyes of faith, let us see the evidence before us, and let us believe that Christ is Risen!

Yet many would ask how we can celebrate when we are in the midst of an ‘unusual’ Easter season with the coronavirus pandemic.  It is during these times that we Christians can make a vitally important contribution – ensuring that the best response is to reflect the love that the risen Jesus showed to us all. You see, Jesus never hesitated to bring his healing love to the lepers who were the outcasts of society. Throughout history, the Church has been in the forefront of treating victims of plagues, even at great risk to themselves. Our Catholic hospitals and health care agencies are certainly going to play a part leading part in this.

We everyday Christians have a significant role to play. This is a time to show our love for one another, and to show that we will face this problem together as a community of believers. We must also show that we are united in prayer for deliverance from this pandemic; for the safety of all those who are tending the sick, for the recovery of those afflicted and eternal rest for those who have succumbed across our world.

This is a time to show that we not only have confidence in pragmatic measures, but that we are certain that the risen Christ that we celebrate at Easter will bring us through any tribulation.