By Sch. Emmanuel Akilan SJ –
It is more than 2000 years that the world has witnessed the Resurrection of Jesus. Jesus was a great man and an awesome Lord at the same time. His resurrection has impacted the world so much that its effect is felt even today all around the world. As I start to pen down my thoughts on Resurrection, a very beautiful quote by S.D. Gordon strikes my mind, “Easter spells out beauty, the rare beauty of new life”.
At this juncture, it is high time that we understand the difference between resuscitation and resurrection. According to the Merriam – Webster dictionary, resuscitation is “the act or an instance of reviving someone from apparent death or from unconsciousness” and resurrection is “the rising again to life”. Jesus was not resuscitated but resurrected. Resurrection has become the corner stone of Christianity. In a nutshell, its importance was succinctly said by Gordon B. Hinckley, “There would be no Christmas, if there was no Easter”.
Resurrection in simple terms is to come back to life from death. Jesus as said, rose from the dead on the third day. He defeated death as He was the son of God. He broke away from the shackles of slavery and sin that tried to entangle Him. His resurrection caused chaos in the hearts of his disciples as they were cowardly hiding themselves and were shying away from the duties and responsibilities it offered them.
His Resurrection at that time was a game changer in the lives of Jews. Those who questioned, doubted, criticized and even condemned Jesus started to adore Him. His fame started to spread all throughout. What caused His downfall became the reason for His glory. “The stone which the builders rejected, became the corner stone” as said in Psalm 118:22.
In this regard, we are expected to question ourselves the following, “Have we really resurrected”? This soul stirring question pierces through our hearts, pricks our conscience and patiently waits for it to be answered. Resurrection for us would be bluntly meaning to get rid of our old behaviours, weakness, sinful tendencies and bad habits that keep us away from real resurrection. We are expected to be happy people after resurrection as said by St. Pope John Paul II, “Do not abandon yourselves to despair, we are Easter people and hallelujah is our song”.
Finally, we must constantly strive to become better instruments of love, to chip ourselves into a beautiful statue and to sing a mellifluous choir of ourselves to make this Earth a better place to live in. The time has come to be kind, humane, selfless and available to the last, least and lost. The ball is in our court now to be really resurrected and commit ourselves completely, to dedicate ourselves strongly and to love humankind deeply by serving Him through them.
Words of religious in the Church has gradually become hollow because with well secured life their testimony is far below average in comparision to the toiling laity. It took me 27 years to understand this truth as bound by the vows of obedience I never questioned the Superiors and gradually realised how the dominant Malayali group in the church favours their own country cousins while the locals are grouped on the basis of their language and culture.Being a convert from Hindu brahmin family I fit in neither. The inner satisfaction these people got in harrassing me was a realisation in consultation with an elderly faithful who explained the caste and regional dynamics of christians as 90% come from SC/ST class and they felt happy to harrass me thinking their ancestors were once harrassed by dominant caste!
Christians today need to become disciple of Christ first.The sacraments don’t make anyone christian or holy without being a disciple.