MEDITATION TIPS — Resurrection Sunday,
April 20, 2025

“Jesus will surely rise from the dead” (John 20:9)

　The faith of the disciples during the time they were engaged in missionary work with Jesus was incomplete. This imperfect faith was buried along with the crucifixion of Jesus. The disciples did not believe in Jesus, but Jesus believed them. The disciples betrayed Jesus, but it was Jesus who loved the very disciples who had betrayed Him. After the Passion and death of Jesus, the disciples hid themselves for fear of the Jews. No one went to search for Jesus. Yet Jesus came to meet His disciples. His first words to them were, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19). Furthermore, Jesus displayed His greatness by neither blaming nor punishing the disciples who had betrayed Him. If Jesus had severely punished the disciples who be-trayed Him at this time, the Church would not have been born. The disciples came to know the true nature of Jesus—the truth of His words and deeds—only through His resurrection and ascension, when He became invisible to their eyes, and later through the descent of the Holy.

　In truth, a person’s real worth is often understood only after they are no longer visible to the eye. After death, what can we leave behind as our lingering essence? Only the truth of who we were—our character. We have not yet experienced death. Therefore, we do not yet know what the resurrected body will be like. However, living life overly preoccupied with imagining the state of being after death is not beneficial. What is important is what kind of memory we leave behind for those who follow us after we die. Memories are the signposts of our lives. We must leave behind not misleading signposts, but right ones for those who follow us.

　“By devoting ourselves fully to life, we transcend life itself, and in doing so, the path that naturally transcends death opens before us. Thus, for those who truly live life to the fullest, life and death ultimately become one—indeed, they become indistinguishable. That is, at that moment, life and death are no longer separate entities. Instead, the infinite joy of having lived out one’s mission completely erases all fear of death. And so, when a person has truly lived to the fullest, there should be no lingering regrets. It is much like the state of mind of one who has worked all day, fulfilled her or his tasks, and now rests in pleasant exhaustion, free of any regrets. This is something that can only be understood by those who have lived their life with the entirety of their being—it cannot be grasped merely through intellectual speculation. In other words, it is the eternal peace and everlasting hope granted only to those who have devoted their lives wholeheartedly to a single path.” (Shinzo Mori, Lectures on Moral Cultivation).

　 The essence of faith in the resurrection does not lie in living life consumed by imagining what happens after death, but rather in believing that every moment of life has meaning and in living this very moment sincerely.

 　　　　　(Contribution by Father Yutaka Akabae)