Eastertide – 50 Days to Transform Our Fear, Anxieties, and Skepticism, into Unshakable Joy and Trust in the Risen Lord.

During Easter Vigil Mass, after the last Old Testament reading is done, followed by its responsorial Psalm and prayer, lights of the sanctuary are turned on as we sing Gloria – just before the Epistle reading, followed by the Gospel reading. This is to signal the moment of the resurrection. The fact that there was no Gloria at Mass during Lent indicates that singing out Gloria at Easter Vigil Mass reminds that our sinful life was crucified with Christ and now we live a new life as the risen Christ lives in us (i.e. Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:6-10), leading to a new life in the Spirit (i.e. Romans 7:6). In fact, Eastertide leads to the feast Sunday of Pentecost, which commemorates the receiving the Holy Spirit as the power and the parakletos (advocate), to turn our life into a new life in the Spirit – as a new life in freedom as children of God (i.e. Romans 8:1-27).

Easter Vigil Mass really gives an impression as if the disciples were so joyous as we sing Gloria, after refraining during from it  the Lenten season. However, the Gospel readings that describe how the disciples actually responded to the resurrection first (Matthew 28:1-10 (A), Mark 16:1-8 (B), Luke 24:1-12 (C)) remind us that their initial feeling toward the resurrection at the empty tomb was far from joy but in full of fear and anxieties. 

The original Easter Sunday did not go as Easter Vigil Mass goes. 

Though Christians throughout the world rejoice in the resurrection of the Lord on Easter Sunday and during the Eastertide until Pentecost Sunday, according to the scriptures, nobody encountered the resurrection with joy. In fact, Mary Magdalene, who first witnessed the resurrection through the empty tomb of Jesus, was in fear, wondering what happened to his corpse.  She knew that the body of Jesus was securely placed in the tomb, sealed with a heavy stone. The tomb was also guarded by the Roman soldiers, as the religious leaders and the Roman colonial authorities were afraid of someone among the disciples of Jesus might steal the corpse of Jesus to cause social turmoil by proclaiming his resurrection (i.e. Matthew 27:62-66). So, how could the tomb became empty? This question is the same as, “How did Jesus rise – come out of the tomb?” 

Obviously, Mary Magdalene and the rest of the disciples who encountered the resurrection through the empty tomb on that morning of the Lord’s resurrection, about 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem, did not understand the resurrection, as we do. Mary Magdalene did not go to the tomb of Jesus with a basket full of Easter eggs. In fact, what she and other women brought to the tomb was spices to put on the corpse of Jesus, for the care of the body (i.e. Luke 24:1-12). None of the disciples, including Mary Magdalene and other women, had thought that Jesus would come out of the tomb as he would resurrect. Thus, they expected the body to remain in the tomb, just as the Roman colonial officials and the religious leaders, who conspired the Roman authorities to execute Jesus, did. 

Imagine how the disciples felt upon realizing that the tomb of Jesus was empty, on the early morning of the third day from his death? Fear of someone having stolen the body, anxiety over not knowing exactly what happened, confusion over the phenomena that “should not happen”, just to name a few. 

Given the way that the disciples reacted to the resurrection with fear and anxiety, at first, it is evident that they did not understand what Jesus meant when he said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days"(John 2:19), when his authority was questioned upon cleansing the corrupted Temple. They did not realize that Jesus was referring the “temple” to his own body. On another occasion, Jesus implicated his death and resurrection through his story on the sign of Jonah, saying, “For just as Jonas was three days and three nights in the belly of sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth”(Matthew 12:40). Obviously, nobody really understood what Jesus meant by the sign of Jonah. Otherwise, at least, someone among the disciples, even if not Mary Magdalene, could have spell out everyone’s fear and anxiety, by reminding that the empty tomb was the sign of Jonah or the sign of the new Temple to replace the old one. Then, everyone could have rejoiced with the empty tomb – before the risen Jesus would appear to them. 

In fact, at least 600 years before his first coming, not only birth (Isaiah 7:14) and suffering death (Isaiah 53:1-10) but also resurrection (i.e. Isaiah 25:8, 26:19, 53:11) of Jesus (as the firstfruit of the dead  -i.e. 1 Corinthians 15:20) were already prophesized to be fulfilled. Though the suffering prophecy is clear, the resurrection prophecy is rather ambiguous. Nevertheless,  if the disciples had understood – at least, these prophesies of Isaiah, perhaps, then, they would not have panicked upon the empty tomb, while those who put Jesus to death, the religious leaders and the Roman officials, were. They could have been rather  calm, reflecting on Isaiah 26:19 and Isaiah 53:11, what it means that God is satisfied with Messiah’s death (Isaiah 53:11) in light of the Messiah’s purpose to swallow up death (Isaiah 25:8) and the dead will rise (Isaiah 26:19). 

As we read the post-resurrection narratives in the Gospels, we notice that it was rather a gradual process for the disciples to come to terms with the resurrection – connecting the risen Christ, who appeared to them multiple times and the scriptures. Given this fact, it is rather natural for us that we still grapple with what the resurrection is about. Just as it is not straightforward to understand the resurrection of the Lord through the Old Testament prophecies (i.e. Isaiah 25:8, 26:19, 53:11), it may not easy for some people, especially those who continue to struggle and suffer in life, even on Easter Sunday and afterward. Perhaps, some of us feel that Easter is something foreign because of prolonging suffering, struggle, or grief, in life. 

“The Lord is risen – so what? My pain has not gone away!” A person I ministered to and provided a pastoral counseling uttered this during Eastertide some years ago. She said to me that she found Easter to be very difficult as it rather increases her pain, rather than easing it. She explained that she felt as if being cut off from the rest of people as they rejoice in Easter. It sure makes sense, because it was very difficult for her to feel joy while everyone else was rejoicing in Easter. So, I suggested her to juxtapose her difficulty with Easter to how Mary Magdalene could have felt and Peter, who betrayed Jesus, could have felt upon witnessing the empty tomb – before reflecting how their initial difficulty in coming to term with the resurrection eventually turned  into  joy.

Just as a sound clinical advice on grieving says, there is no need to feel as if we had to feel like everyone else in order to “get over” this psychospiritual dryness soon. Mary Magdalene and other disciples who witnessed the resurrection firsthand continued to live with grief, fear, anxiety, and doubt, for a while. The scripture passages that prophesized the death and resurrection of Jesus, as well as the meaning of these, and words of Jesus on his own death and resurrection, did not take their effect in the heart of the disciples immediately. However, as God took the initiative in Creation and giving life to us (i.e. Genesis 2:7), it is also God who takes initiative in guiding us from suffering, grief, pain, struggles, and so forth, into a new life of hope and joy. That is why our Lord God is the greatest healer. 

We need some reflective time during Eastertide for the Easter (Resurrection) effect of joy and hope to really settle and have traction in our life. During this time of 50 days of Eastertide , we also need to deepen our understanding of the Word of God, as our preparation to celebrate Pentecost – the receiving of the Holy Spirit in a more powerful way. At least until we are showered by the Holy Spirit, which is the power (Acts 1:8) and advocate (John 14:26), we may not recognize the Easter effect to its fullest extent.

Rather than feeling as if we had to feel joy, let the Holy Spirit, who raised the Lord from the dead (Romans 8:11), and the risen Lord himself, especially in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, come to us to guide us into a new life of hope and joy – just as he appeared to the disciples multiple times to transform their fear, anxieties, and doubt, into joy.

To ensure this Eastertide transformation, we must trust in the Lord, as the Second Sunday of Easter, which is the feast Sunday of the Divine Mercy, reminds us with these words in the sacred image of the Divine Mercy: Jesus, I trust in you.  In fact, the very undercurrent of the death and the resurrection of the Lord, as well as the healing effects of Easter, is the mercy of God. Therefore, let us trust in the Lord and his mercy to make Eastertide a meaningful spiritual journey into a new life of joy and hope.

Happy Easter!