Fr. Martin Ali keke Ndemsou, sx
One of the alternative gospels for Easter day is taken from Saint Luke 24: 1-12 in which the evangelist tells us that women went early morning to the tomb to take care of Jesus’ body but found it empty. Shocked, they did not know what to think. Then two extraordinary men, clothed in brilliant clothes, which is the sign of purity, told them that they should not look for him among the dead; he has risen. In other words, he is alive. This is the good news the women brought to the apostles. In the first reading taken from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter reaffirms the resurrection of Christ, saying: “They killed him by hanging him on a tree, yet three days afterwards God raised him to life and allowed him to be seen (…)” (Acts 10: 39b-40).
Indeed, the resurrection of Christ is the foundation of our faith. As Saint Paul says in his first Letter to the Corinthians, “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1Cor 15: 14). Jesus is truly alive. He is not someone who has gone, someone who existed for a time then passed on, leaving us a wonderful example and a great memory. He is Emmanuel which means God is with us. Therefore, we can be confident to be his witnesses as Peter says in the first reading: “Now we are those witnesses.”
Being witnesses of the risen Christ, we must look for things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand (cf. Col 3:1). Similarly, Saint Stephen, the protomartyr of Christ told his executioners: “I see the heavens opened, and the son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Ac7:56b). However, looking for things that are in heaven does not dispense us from being committed to transforming this world by the preaching of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Besides, let us be aware that the resurrection of the Lord is our source of hope. According to Pope Benedict XVI, “the Gospel is not merely a communication of things that can be known—it is one that makes things happen and is life-changing. The dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life” (Spe Salvi, n°2).
Our brothers and sisters who received the sacraments of Christian initiation at Easter Vigil and all the baptized have been granted new life which comes from the risen Lord. Therefore, we are invited to be pilgrims of hope despite the challenges of our contemporary world torn by senseless wars, pollution, different forms of addiction to name but a few.
Let us always remember that Christ is alive and he is our hope. Aware of the living presence of the risen Lord among us, we can be resilient in difficult moments knowing that God never abandons his children as he tells us in the Book of the prophet Isaiah: “Can a woman forget her own baby and not love the child she bore? Even if a mother should forget a child, I will never forget you. I have written your names on the palms of my hands” (Is 49:15-16). Happy Easter to all!
Fr. Martin Ali keke Ndemsou, sx
One of the alternative gospels for Easter day is taken from Saint Luke 24: 1-12 in which the evangelist tells us that women went early morning to the tomb to take care of Jesus’ body but found it empty. Shocked, they did not know what to think. Then two extraordinary men, clothed in brilliant clothes, which is the sign of purity, told them that they should not look for him among the dead; he has risen. In other words, he is alive. This is the good news the women brought to the apostles. In the first reading taken from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter reaffirms the resurrection of Christ, saying: “They killed him by hanging him on a tree, yet three days afterwards God raised him to life and allowed him to be seen (…)” (Acts 10: 39b-40).
Indeed, the resurrection of Christ is the foundation of our faith. As Saint Paul says in his first Letter to the Corinthians, “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1Cor 15: 14). Jesus is truly alive. He is not someone who has gone, someone who existed for a time then passed on, leaving us a wonderful example and a great memory. He is Emmanuel which means God is with us. Therefore, we can be confident to be his witnesses as Peter says in the first reading: “Now we are those witnesses.”
Being witnesses of the risen Christ, we must look for things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand (cf. Col 3:1). Similarly, Saint Stephen, the protomartyr of Christ told his executioners: “I see the heavens opened, and the son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Ac7:56b). However, looking for things that are in heaven does not dispense us from being committed to transforming this world by the preaching of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Besides, let us be aware that the resurrection of the Lord is our source of hope. According to Pope Benedict XVI, “the Gospel is not merely a communication of things that can be known—it is one that makes things happen and is life-changing. The dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life” (Spe Salvi, n°2).
Our brothers and sisters who received the sacraments of Christian initiation at Easter Vigil and all the baptized have been granted new life which comes from the risen Lord. Therefore, we are invited to be pilgrims of hope despite the challenges of our contemporary world torn by senseless wars, pollution, different forms of addiction to name but a few.
Let us always remember that Christ is alive and he is our hope. Aware of the living presence of the risen Lord among us, we can be resilient in difficult moments knowing that God never abandons his children as he tells us in the Book of the prophet Isaiah: “Can a woman forget her own baby and not love the child she bore? Even if a mother should forget a child, I will never forget you. I have written your names on the palms of my hands” (Is 49:15-16). Happy Easter to all!
Fr. Martin Ali keke Ndemsou, sx