“Christ has died, Christ is Risen and Christ will come again”. This is the earliest faith-affirmation of the Christian Church. “And if Christ has not been raised, then empty (too) is our preaching; empty, too, your faith” (I Cor 15,14)! These similar statements of the early Church and the gathering of the disciples on the first day of the week to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus makes it more than clear that the experience of the Risen Lord is the foundation of Christian Faith.
But how do we understand the Resurrected Presence and Power of Jesus Christ? Death and Resurrection are parallel events, one on the part of the Human and the other on the part of the Divine. The death of Jesus is nothing but a picturesque demonstration of total powerlessness or kenosis embraced by Jesus to redeem humanity. The crucified hands (powerless to perform), the crucified legs (powerless to move) and the thirsty mouth (powerless to speak) explicate that Jesus has reached the stage of utter powerlessness in the sight of the world. The emptiness of the power is indicated by the lifeless corpse on the cross. The body being broken, the presence of Jesus emanates and hovers over every being. Going beyond the land of Palestine, the presence of Jesus extends to very nook and corner of the spheres and spaces and transcends time, Jesus enters into timelessness, eternity.
Sharing in the Resurrection of Jesus and to live in His resurrected presence is to become powerless to the extent of God making us powerful to live beyond our body, space and time. Going out of our body and entering into the emptiness, sufferings, misery, pain, torture and death of others, we dispose ourselves to God to make our powerlessness into powerfulness-powerful enough to bring life to others. Breaking the barrier of space, we become open for a wider community, which will embrace everyone. The poor, the sick, the unrecognized, the disfigured and the impure are all embraced into one human family of God.
As we continue our journey with the resurrected Jesus, we pray and wish that the Easter wind may blow away all barriers and to serve all people, especially the poor, the weak, the vulnerable. Our beloved, newly elected Holy Father Francis, during his homily with the Cardinal electors, rightly pointed out three movements of the Church:
- Journeying
- Building
- Professing
May the Lord grant to all, throughout our life, the joys of the Easter Alleluia!
Fr. Soosai Rathinam, SdC
Servants of Charity 