Easter Sunday The Resurrection of the Lord

 

Today's Mass Readings

 

In the reading from Isaiah in this morning’s Easter Vigil, we heard: “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near. Let the scoundrel forsake his way, and the wicked man his thought; let him turn to the Lord for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving.”

Seek the Lord while he may be found. Can he still be found—even by a scoundrel like me? Is it too late? Mary Magdalen, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James sought Jesus, or the Body of Jesus, and were told by the two men in dazzling garments, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead?”

We seek him, and do not find him. We seek him in prayer, in our hopes and suffering, but it feels as if we find only an empty tomb. Are we seeking the living among the dead? Are we seeking here below for what is above? Isaiah also wrote in the passage we heard, “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.” Is His Word and Will so far above us that we ask, “Who will go up in the sky to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may carry it out? … No, God told us in Deuteronomy, “it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.” (Deut. 30: 11-14)

This Jesus whom we seek, this Word of Life we desire to know and obey has bridged the gap that separated us here on earth from God in the high heavens. And by his death on the cross, he has made it possible for us to carry Christ in our hearts and speak of Him with our mouths. He is not distant; we have been distant. He is not deaf; we have been deaf. He is not dead; we have been dead in our sin.

We have been seeking Him, but now He has found us. He searched for us along the highways and byways; he called us from our fishing boats and tax collector tables; he opened our blind eyes and strengthened our limbs.

Seek the Lord while he may be found. Seek him again this Easter, each day, all year long. Seek him until he finds you. He will find you. And when he does, he will unite you to Himself through mercy and forgiveness by uniting you in his death. He will do this so that you may also be united with him in his resurrection.

The monks of Conception Abbey join me in wishing you a joy-filled Easter and renewed hope in the Risen Lord Jesus.

Reflection by Abbot Benedict Neenan, OSB

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