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Our Lady of Victory
490 Charles Street
Gatineau, Québec
J8L 2K5
(819)986-3763
olv@videotron.ca
Mass: Sunday 9:00 AM
Thursday 10:00 AM |
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St. Malachy
3889 Route 315
Mayo, Québec
J8L 3Z8
(819)986-3763
olv@videotron.ca
Mass: Saturday 7:00 PM
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Reflections on the Sunday Liturgy |
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| EASTER: THE VICTORY OF LIFE OVER DEATH! |
In life, death seems at times to prevail over life. The same happened in the life of Christ. In the first reading St. Peter summarizes the whole Christian message. It is the story of the life of Christ who transformed the world through the power of God, rather than His preaching. Jesus is an envoy sent by God, was rejected, killed by nailing on a cross but God did not leave Him in the grip of death. He raised Him from the dead. Our mission, as that of the Apostles, is to bare witness to this fundamental truth of our faith. Our mission is to be witness to the resurrection. This requires that we also undergo the experience of the resurrection. By our baptism we have passed from death to life; if we have been transformed and live that way, then we can truly be such witnesses. This means that nothing of our old life should remain in us – no hate, violence, feuds, envy, drunkenness, wantonness, name them! The deeds of death must give way to those of a risen people to legitimate our witness to the resurrection. The second reading tells us that the victory of life over death must be made manifest in our lives through our deeds. We must therefore not be found lacking in good works and deeds, because they are the mark and indication of the new life, the life of the resurrection.
The Gospel continues the Easter message. For John, the Easter story begins very early in the morning of the first day of the week when it is “still dark”. But this story has its finest expression in the new life in Christ. Easter is the victory of life over death, an invitation out of darkness into the light of the risen Christ. In that light we see Him and recognize each other as brother and sister in the Lord. It is that light which enables us to tell that night has ended and day is on its way back. It is that light which summons us to leave loitering in the dark. From hanging around the graveyard it calls us to look for hope elsewhere. It suggests to us that we write other people’s epitaphs too readily. When Jesus conquers death, nobody and nothing can be written off as a lost cause. (Unknown Author). Mary Magdalene was the first harbinger of the Easter story. Many had written her off as a lost cause. Initially she was worried about the body of Jesus being stolen but God did not let death have the last word in her story.
Following the story of Mary, the two disciples, Peter and John had an Easter jog! John the beloved, younger and faster, arrived at the tomb first and waited for Peter who went in and saw the cloths. John also went in and saw, unlike Peter, he believed; John saw with the eyes of faith what had happened. His is a love that sees through the dark. John is presented in this Gospel as an ideal follower of Jesus, the one closest to Him at the Last Supper, the one who stood at the foot of the cross when He died. The urgency of his love got him to the tomb first and the sensitivity of his love made him first to believe. Peter enjoys the “primacy of authority” but John, the beloved, enjoys the “primacy of love”. This does not take anything away from Peter, it just means that “if love can persuade” it can get us to the point quicker! Thus, the Gospel challenges us to look at the quality of our seeing and hope, so that when the time comes we too will have the love to enable us to see through the dark. Our joy in Easter lies in the light that darkness cannot overpower. We celebrate that God raised Jesus from the dead and offers us the same hope. May He grant us the faith that challenges us to always see more in others because of our love for Him!
Happy Easter! Father Albanus
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