Who Will Roll Back the Stone for Us?

Sunday, March 31, 2024

Easter Sunday

Gn 1:1-2:2; Ex 14:15-15:1; Ez 36:16-17,18-28; Rom 6:3-11; Mk: 16:1-7

As we celebrate Easter, our jubilation knows no bounds, not only because Christ is risen from the dead but also because we have become the sharers of the great mystery. 

The Gospel presents us with a question that the women were asking among themselves: ‘Who will roll back the stone for us?’

Even as we are lost in the Good News of the Risen Christ, we are invited to personalize the question.

The three women, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had the privilege of witnessing the empty tomb. 

They were also the first ones who were proclaimed the resurrection of Christ. 

Mark accords such high priority to women as the first recipients of the Good News of Christ’s Resurrection because it was they who gathered the courage to go and anoint the body of Jesus. 

Though the disciples loved him, they were immobilized in their grief over the death of Jesus.

It is the women who show how to move on in life, just as the Risen Christ moved over from death to life. 

Though the three women had a valid question, they persisted in their journey. In the end, when they ‘looked up,’ Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome were rewarded with the amazing discovery of the ‘empty tomb,’ which is the long-standing proof and symbol of Christ’s resurrection. 

As such, the three extraordinary women, the first recipients of the Good News of Christ’s resurrection, help us with a profound understanding of life. 

Virtue of Persistence: The three women were characterized by every possible emotion that causes our downfall. They were reeling under confusion, doubt, fear, and anxiety. Because of all these, they did not ‘look up.’ As long as they did not look up, they could not set their eyes on the amazing discovery that would go down in history. It is true that the women kept asking among themselves, ‘Who will roll back the stone for us?’ But the uncertainty never stopped their journey. In confusion, doubt, fear, and anxiety, they moved ahead. They persisted through trials, just like the Risen Lord. 

Vision of Hope: What animated their journey that helped them proceed even without the answer? Here, we know that what is seen as persistence or courage outwardly points to their inner vision of hope. Their very act of coming to the tomb exudes hope. Unlike the disciples, who went immobile in their grief, the women never allowed despair to overwhelm them. That is the reason behind their preparedness to anoint Jesus. Looking at the three magnificent women exemplars, I remember the quote: ‘Faith sees best in the dark.’ Though their persistence took them to the ‘tomb,’ it was their hope that enabled the discovery of the ‘empty tomb.’

Gift of New Life: The presence of the ‘young man’ looks as if his appearance was prearranged in sure expectation of the coming of the three women. Sometimes we draw near the goal. But something breaks our spirit, and we do not ‘look up.’ But if we had looked up in those moments in which we quit, we would have seen the ‘young man’ waiting to reveal the Good News to us. All of us are destined to find the ‘young man.’ But so few of us actually do, so the gift of the Good News, which should have been everyone’s privilege, is a privilege for the select few who persisted with an inner vision of hope. 

Who will roll back the stone for us?

We don’t know!

But the three great women tell us that that is not the reason to quit.

The Good News of the Risen Lord awaits us! Let us inherit it to celebrate Easter meaningfully!

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar