Homily for Easter Sunday
-- Cycle A -- 24 April 2011
Acts 10:34a, 37-43
Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23
Col 3:1-4
Jn 20:1-9 or 20:1-18 or Matthew 28:1-10 or Luke 24:13
He is risen! ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA!! And the angel said, “He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.” This message was given to Mary of Magdala, a woman who is sometimes called the Apostle of the Apostles, a woman who non-scriptural sources say financed many of the ministries begun by Jesus. Some say that Mary was a successful business woman in Magdala and that she became a follower of Jesus after he expunged seven demons from her. Regardless of what is truth or fiction here, we do know that in all four gospels, it is to Mary that the message is given. She is instructed to take the message to the others – the message that HE IS RISEN!!! Jesus of Nazareth, a popular and exceptionally intelligent itinerant teacher, had been executed. His followers were devastated. They were lost and confused. They felt betrayed. What had happened to that marvelous dream he had told them about? He was dead and buried. The women went to tend to the body as soon as it was no longer the Sabbath. The body was not in the tomb. Instead an angel told them he had been raised. The followers of Jesus had little understanding of this, even though from the Lazarus story we are made keenly aware that Jesus had instructed them about resurrection. But Jesus himself rising from the dead? They had no concept. He had told them, but they had not understood. Now the angel was telling them that Jesus was going before them into Galilee and that they would see him there – in Galilee. They did not understand. The question is, do we understand? Have any of us ever thought about the impact of that statement? About the immediacy of Jesus going before them into Galilee? In the message at the resurrection, Jesus did not tell them he would see them in the next life nor did he tell them they would have to wait to see him at the end of time. The angel very specifically told Mary of Magdala and the followers of Jesus that Jesus had gone to Galilee and that they would see Jesus in Galilee. Why Galilee? To us, Galilee is just a place. But, if we go back to ancient times, we can get a clearer picture of “why Galilee?”. Galilee is in northern Palestine. It is a highly contested region now but at the same time, it is an area that from earliest times has been replete with an almost unbelievable mixture of people. (For additional scholarly insights into Galilee, see http://tinyurl.com/3w7gt ) If you read up on Galilee, you will see the tremendous diversity in land, in culture, and in political scope. That was true at the time of Jesus. It was a very cosmopolitan region. How appropriate that Jesus would go to Galilee! The mission of Jesus was not just for the Jews in the area of Jerusalem. The mission of Jesus was for all people! What better symbol of all people than a region such as Galilee, a region rich in all types of diversity? Jesus could have just as easily as gone to Jerusalem – but he did not. He went to Galilee. Going to Galilee should have meant something for his immediate followers; it definitely means something for us. We can see the historical significance of this journey to Galilee; we can see the universal symbolism of this place called Galilee. But, the angel said more! The angel said the disciples would see Jesus in Galilee. We know that over the course of the next forty days many did see him physically. Then he ascended into heaven. But, is there more to the disciples seeing Jesus in Galilee than just his personal appearances? Was he no longer to be seen in Galilee? Are we not his disciples too? Did Jesus not commission us to this discipleship? How are we going to see Jesus in Galilee? If we are the disciples of Jesus and if probably not one of us is from Galilee and probably most of us will never be in Galilee, how can this statement of the angel apply to us? How will we see Jesus in Galilee? The universality of Galilee could answer the geographic question. It was extremely diverse, But, how will we see Jesus? How will Galilee apply to our seeing Jesus? Jesus’ rising from the dead is not only our hope for resurrection and a continued life for all eternity. The message from the angel at Jesus’ resurrection is also our mandate. The promise of seeing Jesus in Galilee means that we must see Jesus in our own Galilees (even to the ends of the earth). In Matthew 25:40 we hear Jesus telling his followers that whatever they do to the least of his brethren, they do to him. That injunction did not cease with apostolic times. Those followers of Jesus include every one of us too! Whatever we do to one another, we do to Jesus. Yes, we do see Jesus before us in Galilee every day. And our mandate is that we must see Jesus the Christ in Galilee in every person we meet. The diversity of Galilee is everybody! Alleluia! He is risen! He has gone before us into Galilee. Symbolically, we are in Galilee – that amazingly diverse place – and we can see Jesus in every person we meet. And every person we meet can see Jesus in us. All of this because he is risen and he has gone before us into Galilee and he is with us, with us until the end of time! Alleluia, Alleluia!!
Roberta M. Meehan, RCWP
Roman Catholic Women Priests Association
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