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| Wolfhugel |
Easter Sunday
Mark 16: 1-18
And when the
Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought
spices, so that they might go and anoint Him. And very early on the first day
of the week, they went to the tomb just as the sun was rising. And they said to
one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?”
And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back—and it was very
large. And they went into the tomb. There they saw a young man sitting on the
right side, clad in a white robe; and they were beside themselves with
amazement. And he said to them, “Do not be startled; you seek Jesus of Nazareth
the Crucified One. He is risen; He is not here; see, there is the place where
they laid Him [his
body]. But go, and say to his disciples and Peter “He
will lead you to Galilee. There you will see Him as He promised you.”
And
they went out and fled from the tomb in great haste, for trembling and
astonishment had come upon them; and being awestruck, they were unable to say
anything to anyone about what they had experienced.
When He had risen early on the first day of the week, He appeared first
to Mary Magdalene from whom He had driven out seven demons. And she went and
told those who had walked with Him, as they mourned and wept. But when they
heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, their hearts could not grasp
it.
After this He appeared in another form to two of them on the way as
they
were walking over the fields. And they went back and told the rest, but they
could not open their hearts to their words either.
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| He Qi |
Afterwards He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were celebrating
the meal. He reproached them for their lack of openness and for their hardness
of heart, because they had not wanted to believe those who had seen Him, the
Risen One.
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the new message
from the realm of the angels to the whole of creation. Whoever unites his heart
with it [believes] and is immersed in me
[baptized] will attain the salvation. But whoever closes himself against it does not let the power of selflessness into his
heart [does not let the power of My Self into his heart] will meet his downfall. And spiritual powers [these signs] will stand by those who unite themselves with it
and will attend their path [believe]: Through the power of my being [in my name] they will drive out demons; they will speak a new
language; serpents they will make upright, and poisons they are given to drink
will not harm them. They will lay their hands on the sick, and give healing
forces to them.
Easter Sunday
April 8, 2012
Mark 16:1-18
The heart is a house with many chambers and many doors. With
each beat, doors open and doors close, letting in enlivened blood from the
breath, and sending the spent to be renewed. Our heart is also the place where
our souls and spirits reside. And the soul’s chambers also have doors.
Three days after his death, Christ appears in various
unfamiliar ways to those who love Him. To the women at the tomb, He is a young
man in white; to Mary Magdalene He seems to be a gardener until He calls her by
name. The two on the way to Emmaus don’t recognize Him until He breaks bread.
‘Did our hearts not burn within us as he was speaking?’ they say. Yet even some
of his devoted followers cannot open the soul door of their hearts to the
possibility that He lives. When finally they all experience Him together, He
chides them for their close-heartedness.
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| Collot d' Herbois |
Christ is the being of Love. He says to them, to us—whoever
unites his heart with the new message of Life, whoever is immersed in Me, in
Love, will be healed of the rift between God and the human.
Our hearts are the key. They are the place where Love would
dwell. The Sunday Service for the Children says that although Christ died, He,
Love, becomes alive in the hearts of those who make room for Him there.
Every Easter His love is renewed in us. His warmth changes
our heartbeat into jubilating, healing power. ‘See’, He says, ‘Here I am. I
stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door [of
the heart] I will come in and share the holy meal with them and they with me.’ Rev 3:20 So rejoice
and open. As the poet says:
Every breath is a resurrection.
…We're reborn in all the sacred
parts
Of our own bodies:
the heart
… the brain
Releases its shower
Of sparks,
and the tear
Embarks on its pilgrimage
Down the cheek to meet
The smiling mouth.[1]
