EASTER SUNDAY, April 22, 2014

Written by Fr. Fitz Wednesday, 16 April 2014 19:55

"Who will roll away the rock from the tomb for us?" Mary of Magdala...

It was early dawn on the third day and Mary of Magdala was very troubled. Of course she was in mourning over the death of Jesus. But as she made her way in the half/dark morning she faced a burden for which she had no answer: "Who will move away the rock for us?"  This was a gigantic obstacle for her standing in the way of her anointing the corpse of Jesus.

A mighty obstacle indeed, for the typical burial stone weighed about 3000 pounds!

Perhaps all of us at various times have faced similiar burdens and quandries?

Other kind of stones weighing us down like job losses, or illness, or a multitude of heavy stones obstructing our paths?

So Mary pondered a gigantic obstacle standing in the way of her anointing the body of her saviour

And then as she hurried into the garden where the tomb was: there was an astonishing surprise.I wrote about this in verses in my North America Prayer Book:

Jesus is entombed in this garden and....his mother is in seculusion as Mary of Magdala seeks the tomb and his pierced body: I wrote:

Once buried a potent seed

in the fertile womb of earth,

Once seeded in Mary,

now seeded in clay...

With the skylark's song,

and Magdlene's "Alleluia!"

Mary's heart leaps for  joy!

Her soul magnifies the Lord!

For to Mary of Magdala's astonishment;

The stone is rolled back. The tomb is empty! And the first rays of Easter light reach their fingers into the empty tomb and change darkness into light!

Today is a day for all of us to cast away stones, any burdens that weigh us done, for today we learn that the energy of Christ's rising is enough to loosen any stone that holds us in captiviy.

Today when the priest invite us to "Lift up your hearts!"

If any heart is heavily burdened, let go of the weigtht. Christ will set you free.

"Come to me!" he says to all who are burdneed.

Our Hoy Father Pope Francis has acknowledged that sometimes the Catholic Church itself can impose heavy burdens and he has proclaimed it should not be, and he goes about lifting them as Jesus did himself.

As the great Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday:

"This is the night when Christ broke the prison bar of death,

and rose victorious from the underworld."

So Lift up your hearts and cast away any stone that burdens you!

You have died with him in baptism.

No matter who you are or how you might be burdened,

Easter energy can lift you up.

There is no stone too heavy to be overturned!

Have a blessed Easter!