Easter Sunday C/ Vigil Mass

 

Lk 24:1-12
  Introduction
 

The song “Tie a yellow ribbon” tells about a story of a husband who was imprisoned and about to be freed. Days before his freedom he asked the guard to send a letter to his wife, telling her that if she still wants him, she can tie a yellow ribbon in an old oak tree. He simply wants to know if there is still a family to welcome him back. When the day came, the whole bus was cheering as they drove him back home, especially when they are about to see the tree. He himself was so afraid to look at it. He even asked the drive to “please, look for me,” for he might not accept what he might see. All that he had been praying was to see even “one” small yellow ribbon, the most precious sign that he was forgiven. And to his surprise he saw not only “one” yellow ribbon but “a hundred yellow ribbons, round the old oak tree.

Maybe after Peter’s three denials he felt so sorry, and his conscience imprisoned him with pain. The only key to his “freedom” was an opportunity to see Jesus again and to say sorry. Maybe it adds more pain when he learned that Jesus already died. He thought he would never see Jesus again; it was a “life sentence” for him. In today’s Gospel, Peter heard from the women that Jesus rose from the dead. It was the best news that Peter heard that moment. If was so good to be true, at last he can have the chance to see him again - to say sorry. It was the day of his “freedom.” He has to run to the tomb; to see his “yellow ribbon” - the sign of his forgiveness and love.

  
   
  Background
 

  1. We heard that there was very big stone used to cover the tomb. That stone was the gate that separate between the (buried) body of Christ and the women and apostles (between God and humanity).

     If we put it the context of today’s first reading, about the beauty of creation, and how Adam and Eve sinned that made the Paradise closed, then we can say that, “that stone” symbolized the “Original Sin”. It was so huge, that it takes beyond human powers to open. No act of goodness of any man can clean the stain of Original Sin. It takes “Christ to die” and be buried inside the tomb, to roll it open from within. (It takes God, within the paradise, to open it again, from within)  

  2. In as much as there were the two seraphs in the arch of the covenant, “you shall make two cherubim of gold … place it on the top of the ark.” (EX 28:18-19) so there were also two men in dazzling clothes, (look like angels) in the tomb of Jesus, proclaiming his resurrection (LK. 24:4). If the Arc of the Covenant contains the commandments of God, and symbolized the very presence of God in the midst of his chosen people (Israel), then in the New Testament, the “tomb of Christ” is the new “Ark of the covenant” that contains the body of the very God himself.

  
  Reflection:  
 
  1. Denying Christ three times was the sin that Peter could never forgive himself. For three days he had been keeping the pain and the shame in his heart. I believe that it is very important to learn how to forgive ourselves. You can not expect other people to forgive you, if you can not even forgive your own self. And you can not appreciate God’s forgiveness, if you do not feel how to be forgiven by your own very self. Whatever we have done wrong in the past, is past. We can not do anything about it anymore. We should not spend our whole life crying with irreversible mistakes, and keep on blaming ourselves, night and day.  Give yourself a break, share Charity to your heart. Only when you forgive yourself, only then, you can appreciate the sweetness of God’s love.

  2. Some people can not reach Easter Sunday; they are stuck up with Good Friday. Like Judas, he thought there is more opportunity to say sorry, and his mistake is beyond remedy. He underestimated God’s mercy and hung himself. Peter hopes for God’s mercy, but Judas didn’t. He stuck up on Good Friday, but Peter waits, and hopes for the possibility of Easter. We too, should not be stuck up without old sins, as whatever mistakes we have done, as long as we are here in this world, there will always be an opportunity to be reconciled back to God.

  3. Peter came in a hurry and bent down, it is a symbol of humility, After all the mistakes that we have done, unless bent down and humble ourselves, only then that we can taste the sweetness of the fruits of Christ’s resurrection.
  
  Conclusion  
 

         Some theologians say that incarnation is enough. It is enough that “God is born” to reconcile the world to the heavens. But Christ did more than that. He chose to go all the way to the cross, and died for us. It was more than enough to save us from sins. It is a blessing which is more than what we ask or imagine. Like the story in the song, the man asked only for “one” yellow ribbon but his wife put “a hundred yellow ribbons around the old oak tree.”
 In Christ’s resurrection, we are not only blessed, we are forgiven. And we are only forgiven… we are LOVED.