Jesus lives! Joy abounds!

Message from Fr. Jose Koluthara, CMI

Risen Jesus, help us open our hearts to the grace you won for us on the first Easter Sunday. Amen.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The grave becomes a holy place of communion and remembrance because of the person and the event we celebrate today: Jesus, alive, sprung from death to live forever.

Before Christ’s coming, however, it was the custom in pagan Tuscany for tombs to face west, as death meant the closing of life’s day and the passing into eternal night. After the Christ event, it became the custom among Tuscan converts to have their tombs facing east because Easter had come with all its promise, bringing life and light to all. At the heart of this change of attitude and tomb direction is the joy that the Christ-event has unleashed in the world.

A similarly vivid contrast can be found in the catacombs. In one chamber that dates back to the time of Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.), the tombs are marked with pagan signs depicting gloom and hopelessness. Nearby is a chamber where those who lived within the century after Julius Caesar’s assassination are buried. These were the Christian martyrs who were burned or crucified or torn asunder by the wild beasts. But in this chamber and others like it there are no derogatory remarks or bitter complaints. Here, there is no gloom. On the contrary, paintings and carvings of lilies adorn the tombs, testifying to a belief in immortality. The inscriptions express a serene and authentic joy, and the entire chamber seems decked out as if for a marriage rather than a funeral. A spirit pervades the place: it is gladness that excludes all enduring sorrow.

What accounts for the difference among these burial chambers? It is the conscious presence of the Living Christ whom God raised up on the third day, who was seen by countless witnesses, who ate and drank with his own after he rose from the dead (Acts 10:34, 36-43, 1st reading). Joy and hope and peace are the signs of Christian faith because Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified is raised; no longer does the tomb encase him. He lives and so shall we who believe in him live forever (Mk 16:1-8, Gospel). Therefore the signs that celebrate our faith are signs of triumph, signs of light, signs of life. These are the signs by which others will know to whom we belong. Jesus lives! Joy abounds!