Saturday of Easter Week, 27th April 2019

What are the Easter mysteries that we are celebrating?

The Pascal Mystery of Jesus is the mother of the Easter mysteries. Death is conquered by Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection. Easter mysteries refer to the sea change that happens in the inner being of the followers of Jesus after they have encountered the Risen Lord. They themselves also experience passing from death to life.

Mark’s gospel records the downcast state of the disciples — mourning, weeping and not believing the message of Resurrection. They deservedly earned a rebuke from the Risen Lord for their hardness of heart and unbelief. The Acts depicts the state of this group of uneducated and ordinary people infused with the Spirit of the Risen Lord as a people of joy and boldness. Peter and John must have cured a few successfully when Jesus was living with them. But now, clothed in Christ, the curing act was a remarkable sign even the powers-that-be could not deny. Furthermore, they were not going to be silenced by warnings or threats. ‘It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.’

Let us Christians live out the Easter mysteries that happen to us as to the first disciples. Let us go forth and proclaim Christ with joy, confidence and courage.