Finding hope in the unusual place -Tomb

04-12-2020Weekly ReflectionFr. Emmanuel Ihemedu

The resurrection of Jesus has implications for our lives. Besides giving meaning and purpose to our faith, it helps us find life and hope in an unusual place - the tomb.

It is not common for us to associate the cemetery with hope or life. Those of us who have lost loved ones and visit their graves often walk away in tears and are downcast. We weep because of the loss of our past and history with them and the loss of the future we are no longer privileged to have with them. We weep because their graves tell us it is the end; the end of hope; the end of dreams, the end of life. We walk away sad because their graves trigger feelings of despair, and sorrow. When Jesus died, his disciples became disillusioned. They too, saw his grave as the end of his life, the end of their hopes in him. The two men on their way to Emmaus expressed their hopelessness this way: "…we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel" (Lk 24:21).

In these days of Covid-19, with the world economy shutdown, churches closed, schools closed, everyone on mandated isolation, our cities and towns are looking like ghost towns, like graveyards evoking the same feelings of depression, despair, meaninglessness, and hopelessness.

The Bible tells us that God's ways are not our ways and that His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8). A hopeless situation in our sight is not all that hopeless in the sight of God. God in his infinite wisdom chose the tomb, the very thing that represents end of life and hopelessness in our sight as the foundation of our salvation and faith. It is fact. But it is also symbolic.

God raised Jesus from the tomb to teach us that a tomb, that is, a dark place, can be a source of life, purpose, and meaning. Saint Paul says that if Jesus had not risen from the tomb, our faith would have been in vain. For it is in dying that we find eternal life. It is when every hope is gone that true hope emerges. It is when it feels like every road is closed that a true path appears. It is in sorrow that we find true joy. It is when we die to sin that we are born again. May you find hope, life, purpose, meaning, and fulfillment in the tombs of your life, because he is risen, in Jesus Name, Amen!

Happy Easter!
Rev. Emmanuel Ihemedu

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