Praise the Lord! Alleluia! That song of hope, the song of the truly redeemed suspended since the Ash Wednesday is chorused again on our feast as we joyfully and solemnly celebrate the Easter of the Lord’s Resurrection. But it is not any kind of a song. It is a call. A call of faith to action. A call of the elect of the Lord. In other words, it is a clear heavenly invitation with corresponding resolute response which greatly defines and redefines believers in the Risen Lord – those regenerated in the waters, not of the Jordan, but in the sanctifying waters of the Baptismal font. To such people, the Alleluia chant, or greeting, expresses deep signification of solidarity, strength, confidence, courage, piety, worship, joy and hope. For these are the people inebriated by the spirit of Risen Lord, Christ Jesus.
In fact, Alleluia is us! Every believer. Our song books contain array of solid compositions that do not only resonate our joyful mood this season but, ladened with theological, biblical and historical insights, inform our understanding and encourage our belief in the Risen Lord and, accordingly, assures us of our own rising from the death. One of such classics that both teach and inspire is that of Charles Wesley (1739). Christ the Lord is risen again; Alleluia! Christ has broken death’s strong chain. Alleluia! Hark, the angels shout for joy, Alleluia! singing evermore on high: Alleluia! He who gave for us his life, Alleluia! who for us endured the strife, Alleluia! is our Paschal Lamb today.
Alleluia! We too sing for joy and say: Alleluia! However, it is James Quinn’s (1919) “Easter glory fills the sky, alleluia,” that speaks specifically to the heart of this brief discourse. Easter glory fills the sky, alleluia, Christ now lives, no more to die, alleluia; darkness has been put to flight, alleluia, by the living Lord of light, alleluia. See, the stone is rolled away, alleluia, from the tomb where once he lay, alleluia; he has risen as he said, alleluia, glorious firstborn from the dead, alleluia. Seek not life within the tomb, alleluia, Christ stands in the upper room, alleluia, risen glory he conceals, alleluia, risen body he reveals, alleluia.
The soundness of this hymn reposes in the profound in-depth of fact, or if you like, the historicity of the Resurrection story. It is the entire Easter story in brief: stone rolled away; the tomb empty of life, thus, empty of Jesus; risen, as he said, to die no more; darkness defeated by light; and, in the upper room, stands – in company of his close associates – the risen Christ in glorified body. Pure history. Sound theology. Classy stanzas. Unambiguous description. Devoid of any hyperbole. What a song! How did a major testimonial of the greatest event in human history be described in an apathetic language? Emptiness! But that aptly underpins the evidenced character of the story. The witness of the “empty tomb” and the testimonial expression “he saw and he believed” remain two great convincing arguments about the resurrection of Christ as recounted to us in the Gospel according to John 20:1-9 announced last Sunday.
In short: Mary Magdalene and the Apostles were upset to find the tomb empty. Then Peter and John realised that Jesus had risen from the dead. In the account of Matthew 28:6, it was the angel that informed the worried women that “He is risen!” Thus, the testimonies of Mary, Peter, John, the angel and others strengthen our faith in the Risen Lord. Furthermore, John deliberately, and in a dramatic fashion, tells the story of that empty tomb, a place where sorrow and confusion gave way to joy and hope. While it was still dark, Mary Magdalene approached the tomb, expecting to find a sealed tomb and a lifeless body. But she found the tomb empty of its occupant. The definition is that the Gospel brings us a message of hope when we encounter life’s sealed tombs—our doubts, our fears, our losses, our challenges. Like Mary Magdalene, we discover that emptiness can be a sign of resurrection. Yes! God truly works miracles in the midst of our emptiness. The above thought gives affirmation to our claim that Easter is the most important liturgical time in the Church as it celebrates Jesus’s Paschal Mystery: Passion, Death and Resurrection, which validates his divine sonship, God’s power, confirmation of the Old Testament prophesies and his mission.
It marks his victory over sin and death and offers salvation for mankind. In other words, without doubt, it is God’s greatest act of love to redeem mankind. Relying on the Apostle Paul’s deposition that, “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14), the Catechism of the Catholic Church CCC), avers further that, “The Resurrection above all constitutes the confirmation of all Christ’s works and teachings. All truths, even those most inaccessible to human reason, find their justification if Christ by his Resurrection has given the definitive proof of his divine authority, which he had promised” (§ 651). “But there is more” says the CCC in § 994. “Jesus links faith in the resurrection to his own person: ‘I am the Resurrection and the life’ (John 11:25).
It is Jesus himself who on the last day will raise up those who have believed in him, who have eaten his body and drunk his blood.” And who will rise? We may ask. ‘All the dead will rise, “those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment”’ (John 5:29; CCC 998). That’s the implication of the Resurrection for us believers. Also, in § 1168 of the Catechism, we learn that “Beginning with the Easter Triduum as its source of light, the new age of the Resurrection fills the whole liturgical year with its brilliance.” Thus, § 1169 affirms: “Therefore Easter is not simply one feast among others, but the ‘”Feast of feasts,” the “Solemnity of solemnities,” just as the Eucharist is the “Sacrament of sacraments” (the Great Sacrament).
St. Athanasius calls Easter “the Great Sunday” and the Eastern Churches call Holy Week “the Great Week.” the mystery of the Resurrection, in which Christ crushed death, fills with its powerful energy our old time, until all is subjected to him.”’ Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed and he is risen from the dead. The tombs of miseries and iniquities have been emptied. Let us celebrate the feast by getting rid of all that is evil and becoming completely a new people in the Lord. Let us celebrate the victory of Life! For today is our feast! Alleluia is back on our lips.
The Glorious Alleluias rent the air! St Paul’s definitive affirmation notes, “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve” (1 Corinthians 15:3-5). Let the joy of the risen Christ light up your faces. Amen! Happy Easter to you all!
• Rev. Fr. Marcellinus Rebecca Offor-Igirigi, CMF, Clarentian Communications, Lagos.
