Happy Easter!

As I was preparing this homily I got to thinking about . . . .

Empty hearts.  Empty words.  Empty relationships.  Empty shelves.

I hear what you are thinking: “Father, you’re bringing us down on a day we should be happy.”

Empty gas tanks.  Empty hands.  Empty wallets.  Empty promises.

You know, every time we think of something as being empty it seems to be a negative thing, a bad thing, an undesirable thing, doesn’t it? 

Most of us don’t want anything that’s empty. 

But today is different.  Today we gather as a people of faith to rejoice over an empty tomb, THE empty tomb - the greatest sign of God’s power over every evil - every sorrow, every failure to love, every disappointment, every heartache, every tragedy, every sin, and even over death itself.  The tomb may have been empty, but the world would be forever filled with the power that the empty tomb represents - the power of the resurrection.

Sometimes I think that we have the tendency to think of this day in only one way - that Easter simply means that we can now hope for eternal life with God when our earthly lives have ended.  And that is absolutely true.  Easter is certainly about that, and we should never underestimate what that means for each and every of us, and for humanity as a whole.  Jesus has reconciled us to the Father, and because of that, we have an opportunity to dwell with God forever.

But, Easter is so much more.  The power of the resurrection is not something that only impacts our lives at the end, it is also a power that is at work right now, in this time and place, in every situation and in every human heart.  And this power, this great triumph over sin and death represented by the empty tomb, has the ability to fill all the emptiness inside of us - the wounds, the brokenness, the sorrow, and even the sin. 

Through the Holy Spirit, the power of the resurrection has been unleashed on the world, ready to transform every darkness into light, every bit of despair into hope, every disappointment into a new possibility, and every daily “death” we endure into something filled with life - new life - a whole new way of being, of seeing, of acting, of experiencing whatever comes our way as we make our journey through this life.

The power of the resurrection, the power revealed by the empty tomb, can make an unbelievable difference - a life-changing difference for each of us - IF . . . and this is a big if . . .  IF we are willing to change. 

And not just if we are willing to change, but if we actually want to change, if we long for it, if we are sincerely open to it.

God wants to transform our lives into lives of even greater beauty, even greater meaning, even greater purpose.  He wants to transform us into men and women who see more like He sees, who care more like He cares, who love more like He loves.  And if we are open to this transformation, if we invite the power of God’s saving act to penetrate our hearts and minds, everything will be different.

And make no mistake about what I’m saying.  Even if we allow ourselves to be transformed into the people God created us to be (and died for us to be) we will not be free of the struggles of this life.  Every one of us will still experience obstacles, and failures, and disappointments.  We will still encounter sorrow and heartache.  And yes, each of us will someday die. 

But none of those things - not even death itself - can win.  None of them can get the best of us.  The victory has been won.  And because of that victory, every difficulty we face in this life can be resurrected and created anew as well - transformed from something of great darkness, into something so much more meaningful.

That’s what Easter is all about, each of us allowing God’s saving power to turn every difficulty and every cross we have to carry in this life into an Easter moment, an experience in which God’s love, and mercy, and compassion triumph over whatever it is we’re going through.

Therefore, heaven is not just something we long for in the future.  Heaven, in a certain sense, is something we can begin to experience right now, in this time and place, whenever we allow the power of the Resurrection to help us experience life in a whole new way: seeing, and acting, and loving as God does.

Empty tomb?   That doesn’t sound too bad.  May the emptiness in each of us be filled with every good thing God offers, not just this Easter day, but each and every day – each and every time we need the power of the Resurrection to make a real and lasting difference in our lives, knowing that we are indeed on the road that leads to the Father’s Kingdom of true and lasting peace.