The Book of Genesis tells us that, at the end of each creation day, the Lord God, stepped back to admire his handiwork and declared it “good.” However, at the end of the sixth day in which he created male and female human beings, stepping back, the Lord God declared his masterpiece “very good.”
This must have been the reason why, St. Irenaeus (130-202), bishop of Lyon, wrote this famous phrase: “Man fully alive is the glory of God.” St. Irenaeus knew that to give the glory due to our Creator God, as disciples of Christ, we ought to live our ordinary, daily life, according to our station and vocation, but accepting the “life” which the Risen Lord gained for us in his Resurrection, and which places us on a level superior to all other creatures—merely good.
In the Risen Lord we are called to live lives that are very good and which give God all the glory due to him. In the gospel passage (John 20:1-9), we come across three disciples of Christ who are called to lead their ordinary, daily life, responsibly and correctly while aiming at finding a substratum, a layer of serenity and trust in God guaranteed by Christ’s victory over all evils.
We find Mary Magdalene driven by intense love for Jesus. Her love is sincere, but still unprepared for a personal bond with the Risen Lord which could help her make decisions that are lucid and well-pondered. Hence, rather than recalling Jesus’ assurances that he will have risen from the dead, she simply concludes that Jesus’ cadaver had been stolen.
Simon Peter finds himself roughly at Magdalen’s level. His love for Jesus is intense, yet he too forgot Jesus’ words predicting his resurrection and, therefore, he needs to hurry and find out for himself what really happened at the tomb.
The Disciple whom Jesus loved is the only one just a step away from the plateau of life in the Risen Lord. He is not weighed down by advancing age like Simon Peter, and by ordinary thoughts concerning mere human affairs which tend to obscure the mind and slow down spiritual progress. He is so locked on Jesus’ words of victory that he doesn’t even need to get down into the tomb. What he sees from the outside is sufficient to reassure him that his Divine Master was right.
In our first reading (Acts of the Apostles 10:34, 37-43) we already see Simon Peter walking on the lofty plateau of life in the Risen Lord. Free of fear for his life, he states unequivocally that the Jews had unjustly murdered his Divine Master. He declares himself a witness to the Resurrection and he is ready to proclaim this earthshaking fact to the ends of the earth.
Naturally, today we ought to wonder where we find ourselves near or on the path of faith. Whether we are already walking on the lofty plateau of life in the Risen Lord, or not yet.
In our second reading (Colossians 3:1-4), St. Paul gives us a vital suggestion: we should continue to lead our ordinary, daily life, according to our station and vocation in life but with our eyes focused always on what is above, which cannot break down, rust away, disappoint, and frustrate us, and does not fill us with worries and anxiety.
What is above is the fruit of the Spirit of the Risen Lord: the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, and faithfulness. (Galatians 5:22) Thus, from now on, we shall live filled with the “life” of the Risen Lord, giving God the glory due to him, while awaiting the day of our Resurrection.
