EASTER SUNDAY OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD

 

1st Reading      Acts 10: 34a. 37-43

Psalm               118:1-2. 15c-17. 22-23 (R. 24)

2nd Reading   Colossians. 3: 1-4/ 1 Corinthians. 5:6b-8

Gospel             John 20:1-9

THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE

Dear friends, we have finally arrived at Easter. Lent prepared us, Holy Week brought us closer, and the Triduum led us into Easter.  We celebrate our redemption from sin and death. In this way, hope and everlasting joy have been restored. Our sins affected God, and one who is equal to God or above God could plead on our behalf. Because no one is equal to or above Him, God himself took human flesh to effect that redemption. He took human nature so that he might be one of us to plead and redeem us. Therefore, we have every cause to be happy and grateful for such a great and unfathomable love.

Easter is the Sunday of all Sundays. It is the mother of all Sundays because, without the Resurrection, the Christian faith drives into nothingness. It is the resurrection that stands as its driving force.

The Word of God for this Sunday shows us the meaning of Easter joy. Let us focus on the Responsorial Psalm for this Sunday. Let us be informed that it is a very nice and beautiful Psalm. It is a Liturgical Psalm. This means that it is used during worship, especially when sacrifices are being offered in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Although an aside, the first thing I would like us to note is that Psalm 118 forms part of a group of Psalms called HALLEL Psalms. These Psalms include Psalms 113—118. The Hebrew word HALLEL means "Praise." It is from this word that we get the popular word "Hallelujah" or "Alleluia," meaning "Praise God" or "Praise the Lord." These Psalms call worshippers to praise God for his wonderful deeds. Psalm 118 closes the Egyptian Hallel. It is the last Hallel Psalm, which speaks about rendering thanksgiving to God and praising him for delivering Israel from Egypt. It is interesting to note that Psalm 118 is sung or recited at the Jewish feast of Tabernacles as well as Passover. The Feast of Tabernacles commemorates God's protection of Israel during the wilderness wanderings (Lev. 23:39-43; Neh. 8: 13-18) and the Feast of Passover commemorates God's deliverance of the Jews from bondage (Exod. 12). But, what reason did the Psalmist give for praising God? 

Before we look at the reason, let us consider the response "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad" (Ps. 118: 24). The DAY (Heb. YOM), although it refers to the festival day on which this Psalm is recited, it brings to mind creation. At creation, "God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night"" (Gen. 1:5). If the Psalmist is thinking about DAY, then it should be that moment, that time, or that season when everything has been made new. As a DAY, the Psalmist helps us to recount that God has renewed the face of the earth and that he has recreated it. 

In fact, it is a day that has been MADE. The Hebrew word used there is ASAH. It is the same word used to describe God's action of making a garment of skin for Adam and Eve to cloth themselves (Gen. 3: 21) when they sewed fig leaves to cover themselves when they realised that they were naked (they had sinned and lost their original innocence), knowing that fig leaves do not last (Gen. 3: 7). If God has MADE this DAY, then it means that he has permanently provided garments of SKIN for humanity to cover its shame and restored and taken mankind out of sin and subjection to everlasting death. 

The word "MADE" (ASAH) is the same word used in Leviticus 9:7-8 to describe Aaron's action of slaughtering a calf. What it means is that the word MADE has acquired a priestly meaning. It is the case that Priests in the Old Testament offer sacrifice by slaughtering animals. If God has MADE a day, then it comes with the idea that he has prepared it by his own effort and from sacrificing of him, thus His Son. In addition to that, the skin of the animals made for Adam and Eve would not have been possible without killing an animal, thus shedding blood. In this way, the day the Lord has made is a day of worship and a day of sacrifice. This is a sacrifice that man, by his own power, cannot do. We need to rejoice and be glad because God himself has done it at his appointed time. 

Now, the Psalmist tells us to "praise God because he is good; his mercy endures forever" (Ps. 118: 1). Some Bibles translate have "loving-kindness," "steadfastness," or "faithfulness" instead of "mercy." Nevertheless, the Hebrew word used there is "ḥesed or chesed". This word implies doing an act of kindness or being generous to another. What is the kindness here? It is what we cannot do by our power that God did for us. Even when we could be described as "rejected stones," God reinstated us to become the cornerstone.

To have an Easter joy means to be grateful for God's act of kindness; kindness in recreating the world and redeeming man from sin and death; kindness in showing himself as the High Priest who sacrifices his son to save mankind, kindness in permanently sealing us with his blood, thus "the new and permanent garment of skin"

May this Joy of Easter penetrate every aspect of our lives, and may we also show kindness to others. 

Pax et Bonum