Easter Sunday 2022, I Am Not I

 Easter Sunday

Mark 16:1-18 

And when the Sabbath was over,

Julia Stankova

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. 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. 

Julia Stankova

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. Afterward, He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were celebrating the meal. He reproached them for their lack of openness and 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 their heart with it and is immersed in me will attain salvation. But whoever closes themselves against it [or, does not let the power of selflessness into his heart, or, does not let the power of My Self into his heart] will meet their downfall. And spiritual powers will stand by those who unite themselves with it and will attend their path: Through the power of my being they will drive out demons; they will speak a new language; serpents they will make upright, and poisons they drink will not harm them. They will lay their hands on the sick and give healing forces to them."*

Easter Sunday

April 17, 2022

Mark 16:1-18 

Sombart

Christ Jesus was entombed in a cave with
a large stone rolled over the entrance. When He rose, His rising was accompanied by an earthquake. The foundations of the world were shaken by this mighty event, for Death itself had been infused with a new form of Life. An angel rolls back the stone, revealing the place where the transformation of the world had taken place. The earth shone with a new light. 

The cave is also a picture of the human heart. Each year Christ dies into us, is buried in each and every one of us. And every year at Easter, He rises in and through us. 

Who rolls away for us the stone from the tomb of the heart, the stone of hardness of heart, the stone of not wanting to believe and trust that He lives? 

He who was entombed is now alive, in us, and everywhere. He lives in the very light that shines, in the very air we breathe. He walks in the spirit before us. We seek to find Him, for He is the very meaning and essence of our true being. We know that without Him, we are not complete. We know, in the words of the poet: 

Corrine Vonaesch

I am not I.

                I am this one walking beside me whom I do not see,

Whom at times I manage to visit,

And whom at other times I forget;

The one who remains silent when I talk

The one who forgives, sweet, when I hate,

The one who takes a walk where I am not.

The one who will remain standing when I die.* 

The One who walks beside me, before me—He whom I do not see—because of Him, I know that the grave is empty. Because of Him, the heart is full. In Him, I too will rise, through Him, into new life.

 https://www.thechristiancommunity.org/christian-festivals/

---

*Traditional translation: "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name, they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands, and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people and they will get well."

**“I Am Not I,” by Juan Ramón Jiménez, in Risking Everything, ed. By Roger Housden, p. 19.

Easter Sunday 2021, Dreaming the Meaning

 

Easter Sunday

Mark 16:1-18

And when the Sabbath was over,

Julia Stankova

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.

Julia Stankova

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. Afterward, He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were celebrating the meal. He reproached them for their lack of openness and 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 their heart with it and is immersed in me will attain salvation. But whoever closes themselves against it will meet their downfall. And spiritual powers will stand by those who unite themselves with it and will attend their path: Through the power of my being they will drive out demons; they will speak a new language; serpents they will make upright, and poisons they drink will not harm them. They will lay their hands on the sick and give healing forces to them."

Easter Sunday

April 11, 2004

April 4, 2021

Mark 16: 1-18

When we are asleep, we dream. Images, pictures pregnant with feeling tones unfold before our inner eye. These images are sometimes nightmarish, sometimes marvelous.

The poet Antonio Machado* describes this. He says:

Last night I had a dream–

Tracy Silva Barbosa

…I dreamt of a hive at work

deep down in my heart.

Within were the golden bees

straining out the bitter past

to make sweet-tasting honey,

and white honeycomb.

Sometimes dream images picture a higher reality, for our hearts are indeed a center of teeming activity. It is in our hearts that our old failures and mistakes are digested. In our hearts, they are transformed into the "white honeycombs," the breeding places for new life. In our hearts, errors and failures are transformed into sweet nourishment for the Self we are to become.

He goes on:

 Last night I had a dream–

J. Hahn

…I dreamt of a fountain flowing

deep down in my heart.

welling up with new life

 

Last night I had a dream–

I dreamt it was God I'd found

deep down in my heart.

This morning we are awake. And the dream has come true. The Sun-God has arisen in our hearts. We can feel His transforming power, making our errors fruitful, His new life welling up as strength and joy. We have awakened and it dawns on us—Christ is risen to us as the meaning of the earth.

 

*Antonio Machado, "Last Night I Had a Dream," translated by Alan Trueblood.

Easter Sunday 2020, Light Seeds

Easter Sunday

Mark 16:1-18 (adapted from Madsen)

St. Albans

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.

Way to Emmaus, Albert Bloch

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.

Afterward, He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were celebrating the meal. He reproached them for their lack of openness and 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 salvation. But whoever closes himself against it [does not let the power of selflessness into his heart, or, 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 [believe] unite themselves with it and will attend their path: 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 12, 2020

Mark 16: 1-18

Grunewald

In the week before His death, Christ Jesus said “unless a kernel of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” John 12:24

At His crucifixion, the living power of Christ’s blood entered the earth to keep it alive. And His body was placed into a cave in the earth, the earth’s communion. He, the great Light-Seed, died into the earth.

On Holy Saturday, like a seed, he rooted himself firmly into the earth, descending to the dead.

On Easter morning, the first new shoots of His new Life broke forth from underground. New Life, capable of reproducing itself infinitely, began to grow.

This happens again every year.

Ninetta Sombart

At Ascension, He will open himself wide to the cosmos, while still remaining connected to the earth. And so this new Life will blossom again into the whole world. At Pentecost, His manifold light-seeds will fall into the hearts of those who love him.

And now, today, we rejoice because new Life is flashing forth from death. It is emerging from its apparent demise; it flares up from the ground of our hearts. The Light-Seed is quickening in the earth, in us. For today, as the poet says,

Every man, plant and creature in Existence,

Every woman, child, vein and note

Is a servant of our Beloved -

A harbinger of joy,

The harbinger of Light.*

---

*Hafiz, “Guardians of His Beauty”, in The Subject Tonight is Love -- versions by Daniel Ladinsky

www.thechristiancommunity.org

Easter Sunday 2019, Walks Before You

Ingeborg Psalter

Easter Sunday
Mark 16: 1-18 (adapted from Madsen)

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 f

Woloschina

rom 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.
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, or, 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 [believe]unite themselves with it and will attend their path: 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
April 21, 2019
Mark 16: 1-18

A few weeks ago the bowl of the crescent new moon could be seen in the western sky. The faint outlines of the old moon could be seen in its arms. Night by night its cup slowly filled with light until it became full of the reflected light of the sun. For us in the north, in the days to come, the sunlight will continue to increase.

Christ, the great Sun-Being, came to earth and settled into the body of Jesus.  There He shone for three years. And then He died. Jesus body became the dark of the moon, when earth, moon and sun are aligned. And He irradiated death with the light of life.

On

Gruenewald

 Easter morning the three women arrive at the tomb to see, not an empty corpse, but an angel. The angel tells them that Christ Jesus, whom they love, has gone ahead of them to the beautiful life-saturated land around the sea of Galilee.

In Christ, with His death, a new crescent moon has been born. He holds the old moon, our old earth, in his arms. His light will gradually grow until it is full.

We are a part of this process. The new crescent moon of our souls has been born again. Christ has once again entered our rejoicing pulse of life. Gradually, cycle after cycle, our souls will fill with the loving light of the Christ Sun. The sun of Christ’s light will be reflected in us. And one day, when all is aligned, humanity will have become a new order of angels. And we will be the ones to say to the kingdoms of earth: He is risen; he walks before you, leading you into life.

Visit our website!

 

Easter Sunday 2018, Rejoice and Open

Easter Sunday 

Mark 16: 1-18

Women at the Tomb, Fra Angelico

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.

Emmaus, Bonnell

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.

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 1, 2018

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 where our souls and spirits reside. And the soul’s chambers also have doors.

Christ the Gardener and Magdalene, Rembrandt

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 closed hearts.

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 the Being of 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.

Christ Knocking, William Holman Hunt

Every Easter His love is renewed in us. His warmth changes our heartbeat into jubilating, healing power. As He says in his Revelation to John, ‘See I am here. 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.’* 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.**

*Rev 3:20

**Gregory Orr, “Resurrection”, in Concerning the Book that is the Body of the Beloved

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Easter 2015, Harbingers of Light

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.

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 [believe] and will attend their path : 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 5, 2015

Mark 16: 1-18

In the week before His death, Christ said “unless a kernel of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” John 12:24

The Risen One, Gruenewald, Wikipedia

The living power of Christ’s blood entered the earth at His crucifixion. And His body was placed into a cave in the earth. He, the great Light-Seed, died into the earth. On Holy Saturday, he rooted himself firmly into the earth, descending to the dead. On Easter morning, the first new shoots of His new Life broke forth from underground. New Life, capable of reproducing itself infinitely, began to grow.

At Ascension. He will open himself wide to the cosmos, while still remaining connected to the earth. And so this new Life will blossom into the whole world. At Pentecost His manifold light-seeds will fall into the hearts of those who love him.

And now, today, we rejoice because new Life is flashing forth from death. It is emerging from its apparent demise; it flares up from the ground of our hearts. The Light-Seed is quickening in the earth, in us. For today, as the poet says,

Every man, plant and creature in Existence,

Every woman, child, vein and note

Is a servant of our Beloved -

A harbinger of joy,

The harbinger of

Light.[1]

Visit our website

---

[1] Hafiz, ”Guardians of His Beauty”, in The Subject Tonight is Love -- versions by Daniel Ladinsky

Easter Sunday 2007, I am not I

Easter Sunday

Milesva Monastery 

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.

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.

Rembrandt

Easter SundayApril 8, 2007

Mark 16: 1-18

Christ Jesus was entombed in a cave with large stone rolled over the entrance. When He rose, His rising was accompanied by an earthquake.  The foundations of the world were shaken by this mighty event, for Death itself had been infused with a new form of Life. An angel rolls back the stone, revealing the place where the transformation of the world had taken place. The earth shone with a new light.

The cave is also a picture for the human heart. Each year Christ dies into us, is buried in each and every one of us. And every year at Easter He rises in and through us. Who rolls away for us the stone from the tomb of the heart, the stone of hardness of heart, of not wanting to believe and trust that He lives? He who was entombed is now alive, in us, and everywhere. He lives in the very light that shines, lives in the very air we breathe. He walks in the spirit before us. We seek to find Him, for He is the very meaning and essence of our true being. We know that without Him, we are not complete. We know, in the words of the poet:

Simeon Solomon

I am not I.

            I am this one walking beside me whom I do not see,

Whom at times I manage to visit,

And whom at other times I forget;

The one who remains silent when I talk

The one who forgives, sweet, when I hate,

The one who takes a walk where I am not.

The one who will remain standing when I die.[1]

The One who walks beside me, before me – He whom I do not see –  because of Him, I know that the grave is empty. Because of Him, the heart is full. In Him, I too will rise, through Him, into new life.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

---

[1] “I Am Not I”, by Juan Ramón Jiménez, in Risking Everything, ed. By Roger Housden, p. 19

Easter Sunday 2008, Soul Ablaze

He Qi

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

He Qi

over the fields. And they went back and told the rest, but they could not open their hearts to their words either.

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

March 23, 2008

Mark 16: 1-18

When we walk out of a dark space into a bright one, the light can be dazzling. For a while we cannot see. We are unable to orient ourselves. It takes a bit for things to clarify and to emerge from the light.

During Holy Week we moved within a cold darkness, in the blackness and loss of the season’s inner space. And suddenly, overnight, everything has changed to brightness and a perplexing joy. We are like the women moving in the dark toward sunrise; the women in a dark sepulchral cave and seeing dazzling forms, hearing incomprehensible words—He is not here; He is risen. He will lead you to Galilee. There you will see Him.

It takes a while to adjust. And an even longer time to understand, to grasp that He who was lost to us has turned up alive and more than well; and furthermore, different. The mind cannot grasp it. But something has changed.

The animal of the body is quicker to apprehend. Its heart beats in jubilation; every breath is comfort and joy. For heart and breath have already been reunited with the Beloved. The mind is slow; the senses slower yet. But heart, blood and breath have changed. For something in the light is different; Someone is living now in light and air. The soul’s doors and windows have been thrown open, and life and light and warmth come streaming in.

One of the saints has tried to describe it:

I saw a fullness and a singeing

brightness with which I then

felt myself so filled

that words now fail to serve….

I would not say I saw a bodily form

but he was as he is in [the] heaven[s]

which is to say, of such exquisite

beauty that I have no means

to speak of it, save to say

He is the Beauty, the All Good

š

Unfailingly I knew that it was Christ

who warmed me, for nothing sets the soul ablaze

As when Christ has entered it and charms it

with His love.

š

The embrace of God puts fire to the soul….

The effect of this fire in the soul is to render it

certain and secure that Christ is there within it.[1]

This fire of love is ignited in the soul by Christ in us, He who lives in our life, whose light is in our daylight. The fire of His love is a fire of offering, a mysterious fire that does not consume, but creates—more light, more life, more love.

www.thechristiancommunity.org.

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[1] Blessed Angela of Foligno (1248 – 1309), in Love’s Immensity, Scott Cairns, p. 86 (“His Entry and Delight”), p. 87 (“A Vision”), and p. 88 (“His Blazing Embrace”).