Dear parishioners and friends of Saint James, 

Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Since the days after the resurrection of Jesus to today, for thousands of Easter Sundays, Christians have greeted each other during the season of Easter with these or similar words. Saint James, the parish begun so long ago, now the Cathedral-Basilica, has seen 202 Easter Sundays. Thousands upon thousands of people have given thanks to God, have been encouraged and inspired by the Lord’s resurrection on this very spot. 

This Sunday and for the next fifty days until Pentecost Sunday, we will be overtly celebrating Jesus’ resurrection. Abundant flowers, Easter eggs, chocolate bunnies, sumptuous meals, fantastic new clothes – and ladies’ hats to talk about – it’s a big deal! Yet, within a week, much of the thrill will be gone and life for the most part will fade back to the default mode. 

I believe that if we put more effort into it, the resurrection of Jesus, greatly celebrated on the holy day, could become a part of our everyday lives. For many, Jesus’ resurrection is a sign that death is not the end, that there is an afterlife. But Jesus told us in John’s Gospel that “. . . the hour is coming when in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation.” The question was never whether there was a resurrection but what kind of resurrection one will have. 

To ensure a resurrection to life, we will have to do the work. It’s not automatic but is for the baptized, those who have actually gone through the transformation. Saint Paul tells us, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.” This ‘raised with Christ’ happens before physical death. It is the fruit of one’s spiritual practice. Jesus’ resurrection shows us what we can expect as disciples of Christ, those who have died to sin before the end of their lives in time and space. 

In his earthly life Jesus conspicuously tended to avoid large crowds and spectacles. Some people wonder why Jesus only appears to a chosen group of people, thinking that if he appeared to everyone more people would have believed. But we see that people didn’t believe him who could see him. He was sent to his crucifixion by people who saw him regularly for years. 

Jesus told Thomas that it is better to believe by faith than by seeing. Our ‘seeing’ is often quite inaccurate and the Jesus we ‘see’ may not have anything in common with the true Jesus at all. Just like the ninth-century Buddhist teacher who told his students, “If you see the Buddha on the road, kill him,” in this season of grace, we too should go beyond our conceptualizations and thinking we know it all to allowing the Lord to reveal himself to us as he truly is. He is risen indeed! May we strive to rise along with him, seeking what is above. 

Christos anesti – Alithos anesti! 

Fr. Bryan Patterson