April 01, 2018 | The Shepherd
An Eastertide Message from Father Charlie
The Fifth Gospel: Our Easter
There is a story of an incident that took place in Moscow shortly after the Russian Revolution. At a mass meeting of workers, the leader announced to the crowd that there would be complete freedom of speech allowed but that each person should be brief. Many got up and waxed eloquent on the glories of communism. Finally, a little, thin priest climbed the steps. The Chairman shouted “Five minutes only!” The priest turned and said that he would need much less than that. Then he began: “My friends, you have heard all the arguments that have been brought forward to prove the new world view, but, my friends, Christ has risen!” He left the podium and sat down. From 1,000 voices came back the response: “He is risen, indeed, alleluia!”
Easter has been called “The Queen of all Feasts.” George Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, in his book I Believe notes that “the disciples of Jesus spent very little time talking about the significance of the death of Jesus or
even the person of Jesus. The emphasis falls instead upon the resurrection. The reason is that the Gospel story was formed backwards. Instead of starting with the birth of Jesus and going on to his ministry, death, and resurrection, the
first disciples began with the resurrection and showed how it made sense of the rest.” The notes of excitement and joy pervade the pages of the Acts of the Apostles. Here we find the ring of truth. If Jesus appeared to you, what would
you say to your friends? You wouldn’t be talking theology or theories of death and resuscitation. You would be spilling over with excitement. You would more likely be shouting: “The Lord is risen. He’s alive. He lives and all is well!”
So the resurrection of Jesus is the foundation stone of the Christian faith. Everything stands or falls on this one, single event. If the crucifixion had been the end of the story, there would be no church. Out of a less -than-impressive group of followers came a conviction and power that the world could not stop. If we were to remove references in the New Testament to the resurrection, there would be little left. Its pages radiate with the conviction that Jesus is alive. Those first Christians didn’t merely believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They didn’t go out giving academic addresses saying: “Come to our workshop on the existential significance of the empty tomb.” Rather, they rushed out saying:
“We have seen the Lord. He is alive. We know it for ourselves. We know it personally!”
My friends, the resurrection of Jesus Christ must become our resurrection if it is to have any meaning. We must experience resurrection personally if Easter has any relevance. This is what I call the fifth Gospel. There are the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but the fifth Gospel carries your name and mine. It must be written out of our own experiences of death and resurrection.
A Blessed Eastertide to you.
Father Charlie