NOTES for Joh 20:1-9

Christ is risen from the dead! How many different understandings and perceptions of this fact can be found in people’s minds and hearts today. Some openly reject this miracle, some pay no attention to it, and some take it for granted without seeing what it means. But those who seek the Lord and life with Him experience joy above all. Every year Easter brings each of us something special, unlike what happened the year before. Every year our heart is prepared differently to receive the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. But we are called to deepen our “participation” in this feast. This is precisely why the Church celebrates Easter every year, helping us enter into the life of our Lord and be renewed, breaking off yet another piece of the “old self” (see Eph 4:24). The disciples, too, had heard Jesus speak several times of His death and Resurrection (see Mk 8:31–32; 9:30–32; 10:32–34), yet they could not accept or believe that the Teacher was dying, nor did they remember His words about the Resurrection until He Himself came to them and reminded them. But despite this, Christ rose. And He calls us to share His joy, of which He has so much. So now, without debating how ready we are or when we began trying to live with the Lord, let us rejoice in His Resurrection. He has brought us new life, life without death, and holds it out to us in His hands. May our exultation be our answer to this gift.