Where is God?

Easter Sunday

21 April 2019

First reading                                                                        Acts 10:34, 37-43
Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Second reading                                                         Colossians 3:1-4

If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

Gospel                                                                     John 20:1-9

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb.

The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus” head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

Reflection

By Carlo Alexis R. Malaluan

“Where is God?” These are the words a trembling voice asked me. It was almost two o’ clock in the morning when my phone rang. The voice was shaking – the person on the other line was crying. “Where is God?”. I have no ready words to say but I uttered: Have faith. We may not see Him but He is with us.

Our reflection would focus on an “empty tomb”.  Like the anxiety that filled Mary of Magdala and the other disciples upon finding the tomb empty, we too share the same worry when it seems that the Lord is nowhere to be found in our lives. It is quite frustrating not to see the Lord in times when we are in most need of Him. 

We always ask for visible manifestations. Our rational judgment often requires us to believe only the things that are seen by our naked eyes. And sometimes, we suffer from blindness. We fail to see the very mystery of God unfolding right in front of us because we are too preoccupied lamenting over an empty tomb. 

He saw and believed. Our empty tombs could mean a fulfillment of God’s promise. Our disappointments could become God’s appointments. Our worry could become graces. We just have to place our faith in God. 

In instances wherein our lives feel like an “empty tomb”, let us not falter but strengthen our faith in Christ. He is risen! He has fulfilled His promised! I remember the poem, Footprints in the Sand, when the Lord replied, “My precious child, I love you. And I would never leave you. During your times of trial, when you saw only one pair of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”

Prayer

God of all tenderness, when our hearts feel anxious, You open a way ahead for each of us: it means entrusting our whole life to You. As we discover the meaning of our existence, may we give our lives on account of Your Gospel and Resurrection. Amen.