Easter 2011

Easter 2011 “He saw and he believed.”

Of all of Jesus’ apostles only John stood at the foot of the cross as Jesus died. Of all of Jesus’ apostles only John believed in the resurrection solely on the basis of the empty tomb.

John’s faith is grounded in the love that brought him with Holy Mother Mary to the foot of the cross.

The essential revelation of God in Jesus Christ is that God is real, God is love, God is personal, God is Jesus Christ.

As a teen who came to consider Jesus his best friend, John grasped the Great Mystery that God just doesn’t have love, God is love. That love is real. That love is personal. That love is Jesus Christ.

The fundamental reality of the universe is the love of God in Jesus Christ. The new life that God offers all people everywhere unfolds in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Our Heavenly Father names Jesus “The Beloved.” Jesus is the plan, the pattern and the purpose for humanity. God the Father created all of us and each of us by the power of God the Holy Spirit to live and move and have our being through a personal relationship with the co-eternal Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

John believed because John loved. Where so many others wanted Jesus to give them power and position and prestige, John discovered that friendship with Jesus was the most important thing. John experienced that amazing discovery at the foot of the cross in the company of Holy Mother Mary.

Mary also stood at the foot of the cross in the power of love. Her love was the love of a mother for her only Son. It was also a love that filled Mary’s soul with divine grace.

Friendship brought John to the foot of the cross. Mary’s maternal love transformed John’s love through the grace of God.

John’s loyalty to his friend transformed Mary’s love in that same moment of grace.
Jesus’ great love for each of them perfected their human love for him by his divine love for them in a singular moment of grace.

The Christian faith is God’s personal invitation to all people everywhere to experience the transforming presence of Divine Love in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The other disciples of Jesus needed to meet and hear and touch the resurrected Lord before they would believe. Until they had that experience they still thought of Jesus in terms of religion and politics and their own self will. Even when they met him they had trouble recognizing him. They needed to hear his voice and feel his embrace to grasp what they thought to be impossible.

John did not need to see the resurrected Jesus in order to believe in the resurrection. On that Easter morning, John already had faith. He discovered that faith at the foot of the cross in the company of Holy Mother Mary. With Mary the Holy Mother, John the teenager discovered the Great Mystery that God is real, God is love, God is personal, God is Jesus Christ.

Alleluia Christ is risen!

He is risen for you. He is risen for me. He is risen for all humanity. In the resurrection Jesus transforms death into life and sin into love.

On this Easter Morning John, the beloved of the Beloved, prays for us with Mary, the Holy Mother of God that we ,too, would look at that place in our souls where we experience love. That is the place of grace that produces faith. That is the place of grace that will reunite us to God the Father, through God the Son, in the Presence of God the Holy Spirit.

John saw the empty tomb and John believed in the resurrection by the Great Mystery of eternal love. With Holy Mother Mary, the loyal angels and all of the saints John, the beloved of the co-eternal Beloved invites us to proclaim loudly, boldly and joyfully: Alleluia Christ is risen!