The Path to Easter
“Who will roll back the stone for us?” This is the question of the women, which is also our question today when we look at the world, our society. For those of us who are in Haiti, looking at the situation of our country, of our people, we ask ourselves who will roll back this stone because it is so large and so heavy; this stone of insecurity, unemployment, injustice and uncertainty. We can question ourselves by asking which stone is worth rolling back to free the life within?
When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint him. Very early when the sun had risen, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb. They were saying to one another, “Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back; it was very large. On entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were utterly amazed. He said to them, “Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. But go and tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.’ St Mark 16: 1-7
Do not be amazed!
“Who will roll back the stone for us?” This is the question of the women, which is also our question today when we look at the world, our society. For those of us who are in Haiti, looking at the situation of our country, of our people, we ask ourselves who will roll back this stone because it is so large and so heavy; this stone of insecurity, unemployment, injustice and uncertainty. We can question ourselves by asking which stone is worth rolling back to free the life within?
When the women entered the tomb, they did not find the body of Jesus, their Savior. They were frightened, but instead of the absent body of Jesus, they found a word, a word of hope that is good news for them. Let us listen to this word that resonates in our hearts.
“Do not be amazed!” said the young man clothed in a white robe. Let us look at what this word means to us today. It is paradoxical. In a world where violence has more place than peace, where hatred dominates over love, where division reigns over union, today’s Gospel comes to tell us not to be afraid. How can we live in peace and tranquillity when, before our eyes, our fellow countrymen are mistreated, our brothers and sisters are beheaded without any consideration, when we know that human beings are used as objects without any value, in our country and many other places around the world? Despite all these sufferings, we are invited to let ourselves be inhabited by the peace of the Lord. May this peace enter our hearts.
“You seek Jesus of Nazareth,” like the women of the Gospel, let us seek what is essential, let us direct our young people to the essential, the essential is Christ; He is within us as Saint Augustine says. The Gospel invites us to stop seeking Jesus where he is not, “He is not here.” Let us not seek him anywhere but within us. He lives in those persecuted for their faith, in those used for organ trafficking, in those who cannot express their point of view, and finally in those on the margins of our respective societies.
The Risen Christ comes to bring us peace amid all these wars, he comes to bring us love in this world where hatred, competition, and the struggle for power predominate. He comes to bring us hope when we think that there is no way out. May the hope of Easter this year fill us so that we can comfort those who are around us. Happy Easter!
Sister Eugena Nogaüs, SP