Today’s gospel begins in confusion, darkness, and ordinary routine. Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb early in the morning, just another place, another familiar space shaped by loss. This is the Galilee of her life: the everydayness of grief, memory, and love. And yet, it is precisely there, in that ordinary moment, that something extraordinary has already happened. The stone has been rolled away. This is where Easter always begins in the familiar places of our own lives. Our routines, our relationships, our struggles, our quiet hopes and disappointments, these are the very spaces where resurrection unfolds. Easter happens in the middle of life as it is. So, the first question we bring to this Gospel is the same one we bring to every Easter morning: Is it still true?
Is resurrection real in the life we are living right now? Because our lives have changed. We are not the same people we were a year ago. We carry different burdens, different joys, different uncertainties. And like Mary, we sometimes arrive at the tomb expecting to find endings, only to be confronted with mystery. Regardless of how our lives have changed, whether for better, for worse, or a mixture of both, the stone is still being rolled away. The tombs that confine us, the darkness that seems final, do not have the last word. Resurrection may take time. It may unfold slowly, over months or even years. But God does not leave us in the tomb. That is the promise whispered in the empty space: “He is not here.” Life is not ended; it is transformed.
And this brings us to the second question-the one we carry with us as we leave the empty tomb: quote from Mary Oliver, “what have you planned to do with your one wild precious life” Because the message of Easter is not simply that Jesus is risen. If it were only about him, distant and alone, it would not stir our hearts so deeply. The message is larger, fuller, more inclusive. It is about all of us. It is a corporate, universal promise. The resurrection is not an isolated event; it is a shared reality. It includes you; it includes me, it includes all of humanity. The empty tomb announces a victory that is total and universal, a victory of life over death, of hope over despair, of light over darkness. It tells us that no situation is beyond redemption, no life beyond renewal. “In the end, everything will be alright-and if it is not alright, it is not the end yet. “So, we stand between these two questions: Is it still true? and What will we do with it? And in that space, Easter becomes not just a story we remember, but a life we live. Today is the feast of hope. It gives direction, purpose, and meaning. It reminds us that we are not alone-that we belong to a community, to a humanity held together in God’s life. We are all in this together, walking out of our various tombs, learning to trust the light.
- - Lilly Pushpam PBVM
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