Easter Sunday – A
John 20:1-9
March 23, 2008
Fr. Carl McCarthy

            Every holiday carries with it a traditional greeting. For Christmas we say, ‘Merry Christmas,” for New Years, “Happy New Year.” Easter too, holds a special greeting; “Happy Easter,” we say to one another. But do the words of this holiday greeting convey what we really wish to express on this powerful day? Maybe instead of saying “Happy Easter,” we should instead say, “Thank You!” to each other.  

            Consider it…these words “thank you” have the power to reach the depths of what God has done for us through his son, Jesus. Christ has triumphed over sin and death – “thank you.” Christ has shown us how much God loves us – “thank you.” Christ has given us life with God forever – “thank you.” Satan’s promises are empty, and he no longer has any power over us, and for this we say, “thank you.”

            Easter does carry with it a profound measure of happiness. There is great joy today, and this must be why the words “Happy Easter” have become the traditional greeting for this day. But happiness has such a passing sense to it. Happiness does not last forever. One can be happy, joyful and bubbling over in one moment and be in dire straights in the next. Thankfulness, on the other hand, does last. Thankfulness is carried at the very center of our being. People can be extremely sad, caught in a great dilemma, but in their hearts, they can still be thankful. No one has the ability to take away our thankfulness. It is this deep thankfulness that we celebrate today.

            This thankfulness reminds me of a man named Private Joseph Shultz. He carried this thankfulness with him to his death. During the dark days of World War II, amid the horrors of the Nazi regime, Private Shultz and eight other solders from the German army were called by their sergeant. Shultz was a loyal soldier, and when his name was called, he thought he had been singled out for some special patrol. As they made their way over a hill, the eight soldiers came across 5 men and 3 women. Only after they had walked within 50 feet of them, the same distance from which a marksman could hit the eye of a pheasant, did the soldiers realize what their mission was.

The sergeant barked out the orders, and the 8 soldiers lined up. “Ready!” he shouted, and they raised the rifles. “Aim!” he said, and they fixed their sights. In the deafening silence that hung in the air, they heard the thud of a rifle hitting the ground. As the sergeant turned to look, he saw Private Shultz walking towards the enemy. The sergeant yelled for Shultz to return, but he continued to walk. He called again, and Shultz had joined the 5 men and 3 women. He called a third time, but the soldier did not return.

After a moment of stunned silence, the sergeant yelled, “Fire!,” and the soldiers shot Private Shultz, mingling his blood with that of the 8 innocent men and woman.

This may seem to be an odd story to tell on such a glorious day. But in a very real way, it gets to the heart of what Jesus has done for us through dying on the cross. Private Shultz can be likened to Jesus. Jesus walked the line for us. Jesus walked to this hill, where he was placed on the cross. Jesus mingled his blood with that of our humanity. Jesus was divine, and still, he willingly took upon himself our burdens and sorrows. Jesus was innocent, and still, he shed his blood that we might live, and he did it out of love for us. We cannot say that we are happy that Jesus did this for us. But we can say that we are thankful that he did, and we should say, “thank you God for giving us the gift of salvation.”

Happiness lasts for only a short period of time, but thankfulness can last for an eternity. The traditional Easter greeting, “Happy Easter” is fine, but saying “Thank You!” gets at the true heart of what God has done for us. No matter how young or how old we are, we can all say thank you. Easter lasts for 50 day. Let us work hard to greet one another throughout these days, and beyond, by saying “thank you.”  Look for times to say thank you to one another, and every time that we say it, may we know that we are praising God and celebrating the resurrection of his Son.