March 27, 2016
A man was driving along the road
when he saw the Easter Bunny hop into his lane. He swerved to avoid hitting the
bunny, but couldn’t do so.
The basket of eggs went
everywhere.
The driver felt guilty and began
to cry.
A woman saw the man and pulled
over.
AWhat=s wrong?@ she asked.
AI accidentally killed the Easter
Bunny,@ he explained.
The woman knew exactly what to do.
She went to her car, pulled out a
spray can, walked over to the Bunny, and sprayed the entire contents over the
little furry animal.
Miraculously the Easter Bunny came
back to life, jumped up, picked up his eggs, waved at them and hopped on down
the road.
Not far away the Easter Bunny
stopped, turned around and waved again.
He kept doing this for as far as
they could see.
The man was astonished.
AWhat in heaven=s name is in that can you sprayed
on the Easter Bunny?@
The woman showed the man the
label.
It said: AHair spray. Restores life to dead
hair. Adds permanent wave.@
For many of our children the bunny
and its eggs are the most important thing about Easter.
Over the millennia, Christianity
has had a gift for domesticating local traditions and festivals, bringing them
on board and making them our own.
The name Easter comes from the
Anglo Saxon spring festival in honor of the goddess Eostre.
Her symbol was the rabbit and the
giving of eggs were signs of new life bursting forth as winter withdrew.
These associations only make sense
in the northern hemisphere, but we can see why the early Christians could be so
adaptable and enculturated with this local festival.
In both hemispheres Christians
today celebrate Jesus being raised from the dead.
In the New Testament there are two
traditions about how the disciples come to know about Jesus= resurrection:
the empty tomb and the apparitions
of Christ.
Today=s Gospel belongs to the empty tomb
tradition.
On Magdalene=s urging, Peter and John run to
the tomb, find it empty and come to at least an initial belief about the
resurrection of Jesus.
We do not believe that God simply
revived Jesus= corpse in the tomb, as our driver resuscitated the bunny in
today=s story.
Easter Sunday does not celebrate
the resuscitation of Jesus, but his Resurrection.
We know his Aglorified body@ was not the same as his human
body because Jesus= presence could be encountered in several places simultaneously
and he is reported to walk through walls and to vanish.
The link between both resurrection
traditions is the importance of Jesus= death.
In the empty tomb accounts, as in
today=s gospel, the writers give us
extraordinary details about the grave clothes.
In the apparition narratives there
are usually references to Jesus= wounds.
Whatever way they came to
experience the Resurrection of Christ, the disciples knew that this was Jesus
who actually died and was buried and that their personal encounter was with the
one who was crucified.
What God did through the death and
resurrection of Jesus is what Christians have done with local customs and
festivals ever since:
he entered into it, understood it,
took it on board, domesticated it and vanquished its power.
As a result we believe that God
empathizes with the full limitations of our human mortality and promises to
remain faithful to us in death as he remained utterly faithful to Jesus.
That is why on this day 1,600
years ago, St. John Chrysostom could say on behalf of us all:
AHell took a body, and discovered
God.
It took earth, and encountered
Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was
overcome by what it could not see.
O death, where is your sting?
O Hell, where is your victory?
Christ is Risen, and you, O death,
are destroyed!
Christ is Risen, and evil is cast
down!
Christ is Risen, and angels
rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and new life is
set free!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the
dead, becomes the first-fruit of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be Glory and Power forever
and ever. Amen!@
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