Easter Sunday 2020
“He saw and he believed.”
 
Cities like Valladolid in Spain are renowned for their Holy Week processions. During Lent, men and women who belong to organised religious groups, like brotherhoods or guilds, prepare to carry religious statues through the streets to commemorate the passion of Christ. The statues are both lifelike and life-size and may date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Graphically they show the wounds and suffering of Christ, his mother Mary and the people who were involved in the passion.
 
The processions on Good Friday and Easter Sunday are completely different in mood but together present the drama of God’s plan of salvation. Whilst on Good Friday the mood is funereal and sombre, on Easter Sunday it is full of joy and gladness. The black penitential hoods worn by the men on Good Friday are removed, as are the black mantillas worn by the women. Their bright and joyful faces can be seen and the women wear white mantillas as well as bright colours. In Valladolid, a procession carrying a statue of the risen Christ weaves its way around the streets to meet the procession carrying Our Lady in the Plaza Mayor. Jesus, risen from the dead, greets his mother in the square and their statues bow reverentially to one another. Her sorrow is turned into joy and the hope of the resurrection leads to great applause by all present. Families then gather either at home or in local restaurants to celebrate the Easter feast with tapas, fine wines and rich food.
 
The Gospel for this Easter Sunday tells how Mary of Magdala arrives early in the morning and sees that the stone has been rolled away and that the tomb is empty. Her first reaction is one of shock after the tragic and sorrowful events of Good Friday. She has come to grieve and spend some quiet time with her beloved friend and to try to make some sense of what has happened. It is only a week since Jesus had ridden into Jerusalem on a donkey and the crowds had cheered and waved their palm branches. Now she is greatly surprised to find that the tomb is empty and she runs off to find the apostles.
 
When St Peter and St John arrive at the tomb, John waits for the leader, Peter, to go first. We don’t hear Peter’s reaction when he sees the linen cloths and the empty tomb. We know that when John enters, he sees and believes. All that Jesus has taught and preached suddenly becomes clear and John knows that Jesus is the Son of God who has risen from the dead. Suffering, evil and death have been conquered. The kingdom of God can continue to be preached.
 
From this joyful scene at the tomb, the belief that Jesus has risen from the dead spreads to Peter, to Mary of Magdala, and then to the other apostles. They continue to gather and pray and wait for the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost their fear will be overcome and the gift of the Spirit will lead them out to the ends of the earth proclaiming the Good News. Peter will carry the Good News to Caesarea and baptise Cornelius the soldier and his household. The hope of Jesus is not only for the Jewish people but for all men and women. From Jerusalem to Rome to this church, we stand in that great line of witnesses who celebrate this holy feast. We are people who carry the light of Christ to others and have the responsibility to hand on our faith.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
St Paul teaches us about our new life in Christ. We hope to share in his resurrection, not only at the end of our earthly lives, but each day as a member of Christ’s body, the Church. This new life invites us to model our attitudes and actions on those of Christ: to love the weakest members of the community, to be generous to those who are poor, to forgive wrongs, to heal those who hurt, to continue to sing a song of joy and celebrate the day of resurrection. We rely on the Holy Spirit to bring to fulfilment our lives in Christ. We pray that God who has begun this good work in us may bring it to fulfilment.
 
This church is empty, and so is the tomb.
 
May you know the peace and joy of this Easter Day. Happy Easter.