He Is Risen As He Said!
I’m sure that I have shared this before but one of the most enduring incidents of my primary school days was when our parish priest, talking to our class about the resurrection, said “If the resurrection of Jesus did not happen then I would take off my Roman collar and throw it away.” With that he took off his collar. We are sat there open mouthed. He was recalling St Paul’s words:
How can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.… But, in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
The resurrection was a real physical event. Belief in the resurrection of the dead has been an essential element of the Christian faith from its beginnings. The confidence of Christians is the resurrection of the dead; believing this we live. (Tertullian)
As we celebrate this great feast, this life changing event, we need to ask ourselves: How does the resurrection of Jesus change the way we see things today? How does it affect the way I live my life? What difference does it make?
Bishop Robert Barron, in a homily for Easter Sunday, reminds us of three things. The first thing is the fact that the resurrection shows us that this world, as we know it, is not all that there is. For some people this world is the final framework of their lives and death is the most frightening feature. For many everything that comes into being will eventually fade away. The psalmist says of us that our span of life is seventy years or eighty for those who are strong. Even our world and the universe will eventually fade away. But the resurrection of Christ proclaims that death does not have the final word. We don’t have to live as though death had the final word. In the light of the resurrection we see our time as a time of something in gestation. We are not meant to live here ultimately. Our life here is a preparation for life everlasting.
The second thing to remember is that the resurrection of Jesus declares that the cross, which for the Romans was the ultimate symbol of torture and death, was not victorious. For tyrants, violence was the way that they got their way. The cross was the means the Romans used to subjugate and control. The risen Christ is the inspiration of rebellion and is the taunt of tyrants. Christ has been victorious over tyranny. Jesus had taken the worst that the world could possibly have thrown at him and he returned alive and triumphant.
The third thing to remember is that Jesus died and rose to bring everyone to new life. Salvation is open to all. Christ endured great suffering to be one with the whole of humanity. The resurrection shows that Christ can gather back to the Father everyone he has embraced through his suffering and death. Jesus went all the way down, in his suffering, to reach all those who wandered from God.
What a great feast! What great hope! We will spend the next fifty days celebrating the resurrection. Fr Giovanni and myself wish you a happy and joyous Easter. Thank you to all who have helped in making this celebration prayerful and uplifting. Resurrexit Sicut Dixit, Alleluia!
