The Gospel narrative read at Mass on Easter Sunday tells us that, upon finding the tomb empty, Mary “came running to Simon Peter and the other disciples, the one Jesus loved”.  She went to report to them that she could not find the body of Jesus.

 “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him.”

Upon receiving that disturbing report, Simon Peter and the disciple Jesus loved ran together to the tomb.  Here too, we learn about faith.  They ran together.  Neither ran alone.  We are disciples of Christ.  Disciples of Christ run together.  They run the race of faith together, encouraging one another in the adventure of faith. 

Faith is not Christian unless it is lived with others.  Our Christian faith is the adventure of looking for the risen Christ together in the darkness and emptiness of life.  Looking for Jesus together in darkness and emptiness, in the trials of life, we provide support for one another.  But, what did the two disciples find?

They too found the tomb empty.  But they believed, even though, the Gospel said, “Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that he must rise from the dead.”

They did not understand what they saw. But they believed.  They did not understand why the tomb was empty.  But they believed.  Faith is believing while we search for meaning.  Faith is meeting things in life that leave us perplexed while still believing that God’s word will not go unfulfilled in our lives, that his love for us will never be conquered, because everything works for the good of those who trust God.  We believe while we search for meaning.  We believe that the Lord will enable us to understand.  And what Peter and the disciple Jesus loved believed and understood would be confirmed later.

The confirmation is what Peter would talk about in the words of the First Reading on Easter Sunday when he bore testimony to the fact that Jesus had risen from the dead.  His body had not been stolen, as Mary Magdalene initially thought.  The empty tomb alone does not provide sufficient reason for believing in the resurrection.  To be added to the fact of the empty tomb are the appearances of the risen Christ to his disciples, and the testimony of the apostles that he appeared to them.  

He whose tomb was empty, he who could not be found in the tomb would later appear to them, and, to show them that they were not seeing a ghost, he ate and drank with them.  Peter would testify in the First Reading on Easter Sunday, saying: “Now we have eaten and drunk with him after his resurrection from the dead, and he has ordered us to proclaim this to his people and to tell them that God has appointed him to judge everyone, alive or dead.”

And the words of the Responsorial Psalm sum up the Easter faith we celebrate this day: “The Lord’s right hand has triumphed; his right hand has raised me up.  I shall not die, I shall live and recount his deeds…. The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.  This is the work of the Lord, a marvel in our eyes.”

On Easter Tuesday, the Gospel read at Mass is continuation of the Gospel read on Easter Sunday morning.  It is the story of how the one whose tomb was found empty appeared to Mary Magdalene who found the empty tomb. 

Mary had returned to the tomb.  Weeping, she stooped to look inside, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been laid.  They asked her: “Woman, why are you weeping?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she replied, “and I do not know where they have put him."

Turning around, she saw Jesus standing there. But she could not recognize Jesus.  Jesus recognized him.  In dark moments of our Easter faith, when we cannot find Jesus, Jesus finds us, recognizes us, and turns darkness into light.  And this Easter faith has implications. 

This Easter faith in the victory of life over death must manifest itself in a new way of life as Christians and as citizens of our land.  Let this Easter faith we celebrate be manifest in the way we relate with one another in truth and in love.  Our country Nigeria needs a new lease of life.  With our Easter faith, we can work to build a new Nigeria. 

With the power of the risen Christ flowing into us through the sacraments, we can and we must work to build a Nigeria that is safe for everyone, a Nigeria built on truth and love, a Nigeria where there are no second-class citizens, a Nigeria where all can flourish.  For, as we heard from the Second Reading on Easter Sunday, “Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand.  Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth, because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God.  But when Christ is revealed—and he is your life—you too will be revealed in all your glory with him.”

Father Anthony Akinwale, OP