Published on 2 April 2024

Homily by Father Emmanuel Schwab

2rd Sunday During the Year – Year B

1st reading: Acts 10,34 a.37-43

Psalm: 117 (118), 1.2,16, 17-22, 23-XNUMX

2rd reading: Colossians 3,1-4

Gospel: John 20,1-9

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Apparently, there is something to see... but how? First we have to see reality, it is the first thing that is tangible to us, that is accessible to us. The gospel is precise in its description. Translations are less so. Mary went to the tomb. She sees that the tomb is open. It seems that she does not enter, that she has to look quickly and she concludes that the Lord is no longer there. She goes to look for Peter and the disciple that Jesus loved. They both arrive and there we are told about looks, but what do they see? And what do they see that is intriguing? Because if someone came to steal the body of Jesus, the simplest thing is to take it away as it is in the shroud. But the shroud is there. The least simple thing is to remove the shroud and take away the naked body. But why ?

But there is something more subtle in what they see: that in fact nothing has changed since Friday evening. Everything is in place, exactly the same. The linen is simply sagging, as if the body had disappeared from the inside. The shroud that surrounded the face is in its place inside the shroud. The strips surrounding the shroud are in their place... simply the body of Jesus is no longer inside.

There is a play on words in the Greek of the Gospel: The disciple whom Jesus loved arrives. We are told: he “sees” the linens (βλέπω). Indeed, he “perceives”; it enters his gaze, but he does nothing of what he sees. He sees without interpreting, without asking questions, a bit like taking a photo, and then he lets Pierre pass, who arrives next.

This is another verb that is used which could be translated as “to contemplate”. Peter “contemplates” (θεωρέω), he looks to try to understand and he does not understand. What could have happened?

The disciple whom Jesus loved enters in turn behind Peter. And there, a third verb is used where we are told “he saw and he believed” (εἴδω). It is seeing in the sense of understanding, as when we say: I see what you mean, which means: I understand what you mean. He saw and he believed, that is to say, he understood what Jesus had taught, what Jesus had announced. By seeing the sagging cloths, the word of the Lord becomes decipherable to him, at the same time as the word of the Lord allows him to decipher what he sees. This is how we live our relationship with the word of God and especially with the Gospels. When we meditate on the Holy Scriptures and they remain in our memory, the Holy Spirit can then use them by drawing on our memory to shed light on the events we experience.

And it happens to us, when experiencing something, to think again about the word of God and sometimes to say to ourselves: but what I am experiencing is almost the same event as what I heard in the Gospel… This is the Holy Spirit who acts in us. And at the same time, the event that we are experiencing allows us to better understand the scene of the Gospel, at the same time that this scene of the Gospel helps us to understand what is at stake in what we are experiencing.

Yes, there is indeed a reality in the event of the resurrection of Jesus. It happened well in our history one day in time, and the apostles saw something concrete. It is later that the Risen One will be seen by them. For now, they only have these poor signs of sagging linens...

And we, who have not seen these sagging cloths, have the testimony of the apostles who tell us what they experienced. And more than the testimony of the apostles, we have behind us 2000 years of Christianity and we have the testimony of the entire cohort of saints who, in one way or another, attest that we do well to put our faith in Jesus dead and resurrected. This faith was given to us at baptism. But this faith does not grow in us without us. Trust in God, love for God, fidelity in seeking to live the Gospel and the commandments of the Lord, all this cannot be done without us. But our response to God is the fruit of the grace we receive, it is the fruitfulness of the Holy Spirit in us.

What is our situation? Saint Paul made it clear to us: “You have been raised with Christ, for you are already dead and your life is now hidden with Christ in God”. We can no longer live in fear of death. We know that we participate in Christ's victory over death and that Jesus has already changed our passing to a passage — and I use the word “death” intentionally, which means “passing through.” When our last day arrives, the last day of our “exile”, as Thérèse likes to talk about it – she always speaks of our life on earth as an “exile”, our homeland is Heaven – it will be will act like Jesus to pass from this world to the Father. Who is the one who takes us through? It's Jesus. And from today, it is about living in fidelity to Jesus. This fidelity which is lived in daily prayer, in meditation on the Holy Scriptures, in fidelity to regular confession, in unfailing fidelity to Mass every Sunday. And we can see that this fidelity to the Lord is sincere and true if our love for our neighbor grows. There is no other measure of our faith than that of charity for our neighbor: It is through the love you have for one another that you will be recognized as my disciples., said Jesus just after the Holy Supper (Jn 13,35:XNUMX).

But then how can we live our whole lives while remaining united to Jesus? What do we have to do ? Like Jesus. The disciple of Jesus seeks to live like Jesus and Saint Peter gives us an 8-word summary of the life of Jesus, a summary that we can all remember by heart today:

Wherever he went, he did good.

This is what we heard in the first reading, wherever he went, he did good. This is the summary of the life of Jesus. This is the summary of our future, brothers and sisters. Since we come today to solemnly celebrate the resurrection of the Lord, since we come today to renew the grace of our baptism and the commitment of our life to following Jesus, then this description is the description of our future.

Yes, brothers and sisters, with the help of all the Saints in Heaven, in the power of the Holy Spirit, walking in the footsteps of Jesus, let us firmly decide that from today onwards, wherever we go , we will do good.

Amen