"Early on the
first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw
that the stone had been removed from the entrance."
Some years ago while vacationing in Colorado, my wife and I hiked up a
small mountain in the very early morning. Looking over houses below us, we witnessed a
glorious dawning of the new day. Most people below us missed the beauty of that morning
sunrise, and like we most often do, took for granted the light of a new day.
On that first Easter morning Mary Magdalene went to the tomb in the
dark. She remained in the darkness of disbelief at first, assuming the body had been
stolen. At first she missed the dawning of new life.
As Christian people we struggle daily with the darkness -imprisoned to
bad behaviors, holding on to fears, caught up in selfish concerns. We may try hard to
change our lives. Yet we soon discover anew that we are imprisoned and cannot free
ourselves.
Easter proclaims the stone has been rolled away, rolled away for Jesus
and rolled away for you and me. Easter confirms the truth of Jesus’ earlier claim,
"I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10).
Through cross and resurrection God has set us free for love and life abundant.
Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote an intriguing line: Let him
Easter in us. Christ Easters in us when we entrust our lives to the Good News of Easter.
The stone has been rolled back from our own imprisoned selves. Believe it! Live it! Christ
is risen! Christ is risen indeed!
