*And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (*Genesis 1:3-5)
It’s Easter morning - a new day and the final in our series of Holy Week reflections. The Gospel of Luke tells us that some 2,000 years ago, the women who followed Jesus approached the tomb very early in the morning on the first day of the week and found it empty. It’s hard not to see the connection back to the first chapter of Genesis when God creates the first morning light on the first day of creation. The Resurrection of Christ marks not merely the triumph of life over death, but the unveiling of a new creation, a new Genesis.
In 2010, Dr. Paolo DiLazzaro revealed his groundbreaking research - the Shroud of Turin, the burial cloth of Jesus bearing his image - was not formed by blood but by light. His study showed that an intense burst of ultraviolet light similar to the Big Bang formed the image of Christ on the linen as though it was photographic film. The moment was so important, God quite literally took a picture for us to remember.
The parallels to Genesis don’t stop at the light of the resurrection. Just as God breathed into Adam and gave him life and just as the Ruach (breath) of God moved through Eden, Jesus breathes on his Apostles in John 20:22. “Receive the Holy Spirit,” He says. He then gives them the ability to retain and forgive sins. After that, he restores Peter to his purpose - “feed my sheep.” But, what does Jesus want Peter to feed them? He is to feed them with Jesus himself - the bread of life from the new tree of life, the cross. And just as God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, after the resurrection He instructs the Apostles to make disciples too - “therefore go and make disciples of all nations.”
The parallels to the first creation are clear. The Apostles are no longer ordinary men, they are a new creation in Christ containing his living breath. Men with the Holy Spirit. Men on mission. Men in union with the Spirit who will help bring forth a new creation in the Church. St. Paul states this mystery clearly when he writes, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The tomb is the womb of the new cosmos. Christ emerges not just alive, but glorified, transfigured, and He calls His followers to share in that glory. The Church is not a mere institution— it is the form of the new creation in the world, where the Spirit still hovers, the light still shines, the tree of life produces bread and wine, and the divine breath flows through us.
St. John starts his Gospel by saying, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” Perhaps in a veiled way, He is both starting and ending the story of Christ with the Easter message. So, let us join him today in proclaiming the light of Christ. Let there be light!
Happy Easter!