Light overcomes the darkness

Easter Vigil

There is no denying that the two great Christian feasts of Easter and Christmas form an inseparable link. At Christmas, the light enters our world, but it’s only at Easter that the light actually achieves its objective and defeats the powers of darkness.

The Easter candle reminds us of the light which pierced the darkness of that first Easter morning. It is a symbol of the brilliant light that emerged from the tomb while the world was still dark and asleep. When all had seemed dark and hopeless, Jesus burst forth from the tomb alive once again, a light that illuminates and makes all things new, a living light that even the sunrise could not rival. He is life itself, which shatters death and brings life to each one of us.

Sometimes we too despair. We experience dark days, disappointment and disillusionment. More than ever before, our current crisis, this global pandemic, has left us with a dark cloud hovering over us which doesn’t seem to dissipate.

But today, we are reminded that as the Lord broke free of the darkness on Good Friday, He, the Light of the World, will invade the shadowland and conquer the darkness in our lives. The “end” of the darkness is an eternal light. It may not seem that simple, in fact, it is gradual and may take time. It may take us a while and the battle is long and fierce. We may still have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, but we already see the blazing light at the end of the tunnel. We are therefore called to endure. The end of darkness is Christ who is the Light.

Now, in the COVID-19 era, many people are speculating about the dark gloomy future with cocksure self-assurance, but the truth is no one can really predict the outcome. The fact remains that no one knows anything about what the future holds. No one this side of heaven, at least.

And yet, our Lord - who not only knows best, but loves best—is still in-charge. He has never assured any of His followers, an easy path. Quite the contrary, He promises that discipleship will ultimately lead to the cross where we have to pass through the valley of darkness and shadow of death. We are to keep putting one foot in front of the other and embodying His love to everyone we encounter, even if our social distancing changes the nature of our interactions.

We need to also realise that no matter how a person meets his or her end, the death rate still remains 100 percent. Our hope cannot just be in finding a cure or a vaccine to this pandemic or a solution to the next problem which we will face. Our hope must ultimately be rooted in the resurrection of the body and creation of a new heaven and a new earth.

This is the reason why Easter is a celebration of hope and faith in the midst of darkness. Hope is about focusing not on what we can see, but on what God will do. In that moment of crisis, when God seems absent and our plans fall apart, that’s the moment we need to hold on the tightest. We may often wonder why He does not remove the darkness entirely. God could replace our fear in an instant. But instead, He often uses the darkness as a training ground for replacing our fear with faith.

Like a good parent, God is not just helping us through what we’re facing now. He’s also preparing us for what’s to come. When Jesus shows up in our most challenging moments, His light overcomes any darkness. He brings healing for the sick. He offers joy amidst heartbreak. He brings peace into the chaos. Jesus’s resurrection is proof we can move forward with Him, overcoming every darkness.

Why would we call it "good"?

Good Friday

Today is the day we remember how our Lord, innocent though He was, was put to death by His enemies. Today is the day our Saviour is nailed to the cross because those whom He had come to save rejected Him. Today is the day when His thousands of followers and even His most intimate friends abandoned Him and leaving just four women and a man to accompany Him during this horrible ordeal. Today, the Word of God is silenced on the cross - no farewell speech to encourage or inspire His followers. And yet we Christians call this day “Good Friday” and our Eastern brethren have an even more audacious sounding name for it - the Great Friday.

Why on earth would Christians refer to this Friday as “good”?

It’s called Good Friday because even while powerful men were conspiring to kill the Son of God, God Himself was acting to save the world from itself, once and for all. Even while the world’s authorities were conspiring to perpetrate history’s greatest evil, God was working to bring about history’s greatest good.

Yes, we Christians have not made a great blunder in naming today as Good Friday. It isn’t a misnomer. Far from a mistake, our Lord’s death and sacrifice on the cross is God’s greatest achievement, His most prized trophy.

Today is good because on the cross, our Lord suffered so that we would not have to suffer eternally. Yes, we are not saying that Christians are insulated from suffering because of what Christ did. Christians are no strangers to suffering. It’s part of our DNA. In fact, to be a Christian means to deny ourselves and take up our crosses in imitation of our Lord. But all suffering in this life, no matter how unbearable it may seem, is only temporary. Suffering has a shelf life because of what our Lord did today.

What Christ did is that He “traded places” with us. He lived the sinless life that we should live, and died the death that we deserve to die. He took our guilty record, died for it, and offers us His perfect record in return. That is why Saint Paul declared that “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1).

Today is also not just a good day but a great day because by His death on the cross, our Lord Jesus reconciled us to the Father. Long before social distancing became the norm, man had already socially distanced himself from God by our sins. It is not God who had distanced Himself from us; it is not God who had abandoned us. It is we who have abandoned Him through sin. Because of our sins, we have alienated ourselves from God and others, but Jesus saves us from our sins in order to mend those relationships. The reconciling powers of Christ will cause all relational barriers to be torn down, including the barriers of ethnicity and nationality (Rev 5:9-10).

Finally because of the cross and the resurrection, we have hope for the future. As you all know, Good Friday is not a stand-alone feast. The story doesn’t just climax and end with Jesus dying on the cross on Good Friday. The real ending is found on Easter when Jesus will burst forth from the tomb, break the shackles and prison of death and rise again so that now we may have new life. With every darkening which seems to come with Good Friday, there is the new dawn of Easter.

Though Christ’s death has defeated the powers of death, suffering and evil, we must still wait for the day when He will return to put all these enemies under His feet. Until then, we must hope and believe that the victory is already His, that death is not the end, that suffering will not have the final say. Mission accomplished. This pandemic or any other calamity, natural or otherwise will have no hold over us. The work of Christ is complete. From the cross, He assures us, “It is accomplished.”

It does seem odd to refer to anybody’s death as “good.” Yet, God’s good plan is often counterintuitive: As Jesus says, “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life will find it; “the first shall be the last and the last shall be first” (Mark 10:31). And yes, through the “good” death of God’s Son, humanity can receive new life, abundant life. He has given us eternal life that will never be defeated by any infection, calamity or even death.

Tabernacles Full, Churches Empty

Maundy Thursday

One of the most striking visible features of the Sacred Triduum, if you are good at the game of “spot the difference”, is to notice that there is a significant change in the sanctuary.

From the time before the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, right until the holy communion is finished during Easter Vigil mass on Holy Saturday, the tabernacle remains empty.

It’s a striking image: the doors of the tabernacle are wide open, exposing a gaping void. Therein our Lord once dwelled, beckoning the wearied to throw their cares upon Him. Normally, before entering and exiting our pews, we give homage by genuflecting toward this abode, perhaps catching a glimpse of the sanctuary lamp that burned as a reminder of His presence. But not on Holy Thursday or Good Friday or for the good part of the Easter Vigil. The lamp is extinguished, the doors thrown open, the tabernacle emptied, the church stripped. In our desperation to see Him, we can feel the pain of Mary Magdalene as she exclaimed: “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” (John 20:13)

Due to this pandemic outbreak this year, where priests throughout the world would have to celebrate the Sacred Triduum alone and without a congregation, Rome has made some alterations to the rubrics (liturgical rules of our celebration). For example, this year, we are suppose to return the Blessed sacrament to the tabernacle instead of processing it to a side altar. Jesus will remain in the tabernacle throughout this Triduum and the sanctuary lamp will remain lit, even on Good Friday.

For me it is a poignant irony. Our tabernacles will remain filled this year but our churches are empty. Jesus is present but the people are physically absent. I would never have envisaged celebrating mass without a congregation for Holy Week, but this is the painful reality we find ourselves in this year, through no fault of ours nor by choice.

On a normal Holy Thursday our tabernacles would be emptied before the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Have you ever wondered why? It makes better sense to empty the tabernacle on Good Friday, because our Lord died on this day. But why on Holy Thursday, why should we empty our tabernacles on the day the church celebrates the institution of two sacraments - the Eucharist and the priesthood?

Our empty tabernacles serve as a reminder to us that there was a time when there was no Eucharist, there was a time when masses were not celebrated, when Holy Communion was not available. But all this changed with the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave up His body and spirit on the cross so that we may have life. Our Lord gave us the Eucharist as a lasting memorial of His death and resurrection.

So, by emptying our tabernacles on Holy Thursday, the Church is telling us - to really understand what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. We need to experience this absence, so that we may experience His presence more keenly.

As a priest, I yearn for your presence during this time of social distancing. What would a priest be without the Eucharist? Nothing, for we are ordained precisely for the Eucharist. No other person is able to say the words, “This is my Body .. This is my Blood,” and actually produce the real change in the bread and wine. And, what would a priest be without his flock? Nothing, for we are ordained to sanctify our people by administering these sacred mysteries. The sacraments were instituted by Christ for the people, for their salvation. They are not meant to be trophies on a shelf or exhibits in a museum to be admired.

I guess this experience of longing and hungering would be very different for all of us this year. It is not because our tabernacles are empty but our churches are. As a priest I long and hunger for the return of my flock that had been entrusted to me by Christ. For the people, they long and hunger for Christ in the Eucharist which only the priest can give.

This year, we are all required to experience severe fasting.  It must be noted that the Church does not call us to fast from sinful things but good things in order to draw closer to God.  We must fast from the good of communal life.  We must fast from being physically present in our churches to celebrate mass. It is painful but remember fasts do not last forever.  There is a saying often associated with Easter which marks this transition - “The Fasting has ended, the Feasting has begun.” Now we fast, so that our anticipation of the feast may be heightened.

In the past, we may have taken both our communion with our fellow human beings and our sacramental Communion at the Mass for granted.  This pandemic and the physical separation it has caused may seem to be evil but God can always turn it into something good. Social isolation is everyone’s cross to take up now.  But just as Good Friday leads to Easter, if we embrace our cross, it will lead to a fullness of life beyond our wildest imagination. And one day, you too shall return and fill our empty churches where Christ awaits you eagerly in the tabernacle to welcome you home.