“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.”
–Matthew 28:6.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
–John 3:16.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
1 Peter 1:3.
“We ask that streams of Easter light might flow into the intimacy and privacy of our hearts this morning, to heal us and encourage us and enable us to make again a new beginning.”
–John O’Donohue.
Imagine if you can, the weight of the burden that Christ took upon his shoulders, when on that day on Calvary he took on all the sins of mankind, so that we might live. What a gift!
Christos Anesti! Alithos Anesti! “Christ is risen!” “He is risen indeed!”
With these words, we welcome Easter morning. Standing on the resurrection side of Good Friday is always a wonderful experience, but not necessarily a challenging one. Our Lord’s victory over death doesn’t truly resonate until we are willing personally to accompany Him on the Way of the Cross during Holy Week. To go from Palm Sunday to Easter Day without experiencing the Triduum – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday – is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace.”
The work of our salvation was won at a tremendous cost to God: nothing less than the death of His Son. Until we attempt to comprehend the events surrounding Our Lord’s death, we cannot begin to appreciate that cost.
Sometimes we gloss over the events that led up to Our Lord’s arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Evangelists make clear in each of the Gospels that Our Lord intentionally “went up” to Jerusalem, knowing what lay ahead. There can be no doubt of the anxiety behind such resolve. Even as He made His “triumphal” entry into Jerusalem, He knew the fickleness of men’s hearts. Within a few short days, the religious establishment would send the Temple guard to make His arrest.
That evening spent in the upper room would be heart-wrenching, for he loved His own “to the end.” Establishing the sacrament of the Eucharist and the sacrament of Holy Orders would ensure that His ministry would continue. At the same time, “the servant is not above his master.” He knew that His apostles, too, would “drink of the cup” of suffering, torture and eventual martyrdom.
Then, in the Garden of Gethsemane, in anguish He would pray the Father to “remove this cup” if possible. For again, He knew what tortures would be in store at the hand of the Roman forces. And still He went willingly with the Temple guard to the house of the High Priest, even after His betrayal by His friend Judas Iscariot. The mocking, the scourging, the crown of thorns was only preparation for the final abuse, that of crucifixion.
Stretched out upon the cross, Our Lord suffers the ultimate consequence of human sin – alienation from Our Creator. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” His trial was not facing the distorted justice of sinful man as much as it was trusting in His Father that He would not “leave [His] soul in Hell,” that He would not “abandon [Him] to the pit.” But even in death, He does the will of His Father and “descended into Hell” and “preached unto the spirits in prison.”
Then on the third day, He rises triumphantly from the grave, having smashed down the gate of death. And He offers His victory over sin and death to each one of us. At every celebration of the Mass, He invites us to share in that victory, but most especially on Easter Day, the Queen of Feasts.
May we discover that victory in our own lives, both this Easter and at every Eucharist! Christos Anesti! Alithos Anesti!
GFK
Observations From The Fifth Estate 