Happy Easter! Jesus is risen! This is the perennial Good News. It is the only thing we really need. Human life is not in vain. The promises that goodness makes to us, the hope that beauty instils us, the hunger we have for justice: none of this is a lie. All of it is true. And it is true to an unfathomable depth. Not only is human life not in vain, it actually has a divine destiny. A glorious future.
But that future has been revealed to us in the Risen Christ. In faith, we live that future now because we are in communion with our God and brother, Jesus, who has gone ahead of us. There is no point looking for him among the dead. He is not there. He has risen, and in doing so has conquered death and sin and all that seeks to separate us from each other and from God, all that wants to crush us. He has defeated all the powers of this world. There is nothing to fear. If God is with us, who can stop us?
This is the message of life. God has created us for himself. He creates us from love, in love and for love. He calls us to become ever more part of the divine communion of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To grow and grow in this love until we reach maturity like the Only Begotten Son.
The English Dominican, Fr Herbert McCabe, once wrote of the life of the Trinity as like a family conversation, one in which we are like children who do not understand what is going on. Except we understand that it is wonderful. We know there are jokes. We know there are topics of infinite interest. Most of all, we know how amazing the interlocutors are and how much fun they are having, and we are desperate to participate. And the more we stay with them, the more we abide in love, the more the conversation opens up, the more of the inside jokes we begin to understand, the more of the backstory and infinite possibilities open up. We become conversant in joy and truth.
This is the reality of our lives. Humanity is invited to join with God; and all of creation is potentially part of this conversation. It is a love letter from God to us. And all that tells against this reality has been shown to be false. Nailed to the Cross, and revealed as lies. Revealed as a dead-end. And all we have to do is turn around, turn around and see the glorious dawn rising. Feel the warmth of Christ’s love. Hear him say, “Peace be with you” and have him heal all our sins and errors. Thank God he came to get us. Thank God he stayed to the end. And thank God he is risen. He is risen! Alleluia.