An Easter Sunday Thought to Start the Week Off Right
Happy Easter!
Are there two happier, more glorious words than these in the English language? If you're Catholic, you'll know the answer. You may also feel that you're hearing them "just in time."
Just in time because if you've taken Lent seriously (and I did so with at least a modicum of success this year), right around Holy Thursday you may be chomping at the bit for Easter. It's all I can to do quell my thoughts and emotions so that I can appropriately focus on the observance of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Can't wait!
But we're there now. And it's time to open up and celebrate, however you do that. In times past, that celebration would last all week. While that's no longer "officially" the case in these parts, we can - and should - remember that every day this coming week is a solemn feast day, with the exalted status of Easter Sunday. Think: Easter Monday, Easter Tuesday, Easter Wednesday, and so on. You may even think about some form of celebration here, for each day. Do something special. Of course, it would be easier if we had the sort of break you get around Christmas; but we don't. We don't even get an "Easter Monday" holiday that many traditionally Catholic countries in Europe still observe. So it's really up to us.
Maybe a little meditation on the difference between "resuscitation" and "resurrection" could help us here. This was an interesting distinction drawn in a sermon at our parish on Passion Sunday. Our priest noted that when Lazarus was raised from the dead, he was "resuscitated" (the priest's words). A distinction was made with Our Lord's Resurrection. Resuscitation was a restoration of the life Lazarus led before his death. Our Lord's Resurrection was the beginning of new life. And that new life awaits us after our death. When out time comes, we won't be resuscitated as Lazarus was; we'll begin our participation (if that's the right word) in the Resurrection. Okay, I'm not a theologian, so don't take my words literally here; just trying to understand what's going to happen when we die. With that in mind, let's dig a little deeper.
Our current lives will end. Our life after death will never end. That eternal life comes to us because God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, condescended to live amongst us, as a man. He taught us how to live such that we would get our shot at eternal life. He suffered and died to make certain that our sins would not prevent our spending eternity in Heaven - assuming we're sorry for them and express that sorrow in Confession, along with a firm purpose of amendment not to sin again. When He was crucified, He died, as surely as we will die. Thus His Resurrection was not a continuation of His earthly existence. He rose with what's called a "glorified" Body. His appearances during the 40 days He remained with His disciples manifested that glorified state. He wasn't subject tot he normal laws that govern our physical existence. He came and went, seemingly in a flash. On the other hand, His Body wasn't some "ghost." He ate. He told the doubting St. Thomas to put his fingers and his hand into His wounds to prove that He had truly Risen. Those wounds from His crucifixion remained on His glorified Body.
It's that glorified state, or something like it, that awaits us some day, at the Resurrection of the Dead at the end of the time. As for how things will "appear" or "feel" - or however you try to think of it - in Heaven, who really knows? Theologians speculate; saints have spoken of it; spiritual writers attempt to communicate something of the overwhelming joy and happiness that awaits us in order to encourage us to yearn for eternal life in God's Holy Presence. In the end, we turn to a strong, vibrant Faith and the complete trust in God's Love and Mercy that springs from the virtue of Hope. Our Lenten discipline helped us to control or even quell our sinful tendencies, allowing for an increase virtue, by the power of God's grace. Sincere confession assisted us, and will continue to do so throughout the rest of the year. A robust prayer life, supplemented by reading, study, and various pious practices like reciting the rosary, will keep us on track as we exit the penitential season of Lent and enter into this glorious Easter Season.
We don't slip back into our old ways. Rather we build on the progress we've made during Lent to draw ever closer to Christ in our daily thoughts, words, and deeds. Put another way, we don't want to lose whatever mojo built up by our special prayer, fasting, and alsmgiving.
In the ancient Church those who were baptized at Easter donned white robes which they wore throughout all of the glorious solemn days of the week following Easter. Those robes symbolized not only the purity of their baptized souls, but the glory of eternal life that awaited them and all in Christian community who remained faithful and rooted in Christ. What a beautiful practice!
Let's begin our Easter Week in this spirit.
Are there two happier, more glorious words than these in the English language? If you're Catholic, you'll know the answer. You may also feel that you're hearing them "just in time."
Just in time because if you've taken Lent seriously (and I did so with at least a modicum of success this year), right around Holy Thursday you may be chomping at the bit for Easter. It's all I can to do quell my thoughts and emotions so that I can appropriately focus on the observance of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Can't wait!
But we're there now. And it's time to open up and celebrate, however you do that. In times past, that celebration would last all week. While that's no longer "officially" the case in these parts, we can - and should - remember that every day this coming week is a solemn feast day, with the exalted status of Easter Sunday. Think: Easter Monday, Easter Tuesday, Easter Wednesday, and so on. You may even think about some form of celebration here, for each day. Do something special. Of course, it would be easier if we had the sort of break you get around Christmas; but we don't. We don't even get an "Easter Monday" holiday that many traditionally Catholic countries in Europe still observe. So it's really up to us.
Maybe a little meditation on the difference between "resuscitation" and "resurrection" could help us here. This was an interesting distinction drawn in a sermon at our parish on Passion Sunday. Our priest noted that when Lazarus was raised from the dead, he was "resuscitated" (the priest's words). A distinction was made with Our Lord's Resurrection. Resuscitation was a restoration of the life Lazarus led before his death. Our Lord's Resurrection was the beginning of new life. And that new life awaits us after our death. When out time comes, we won't be resuscitated as Lazarus was; we'll begin our participation (if that's the right word) in the Resurrection. Okay, I'm not a theologian, so don't take my words literally here; just trying to understand what's going to happen when we die. With that in mind, let's dig a little deeper.
Our current lives will end. Our life after death will never end. That eternal life comes to us because God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, condescended to live amongst us, as a man. He taught us how to live such that we would get our shot at eternal life. He suffered and died to make certain that our sins would not prevent our spending eternity in Heaven - assuming we're sorry for them and express that sorrow in Confession, along with a firm purpose of amendment not to sin again. When He was crucified, He died, as surely as we will die. Thus His Resurrection was not a continuation of His earthly existence. He rose with what's called a "glorified" Body. His appearances during the 40 days He remained with His disciples manifested that glorified state. He wasn't subject tot he normal laws that govern our physical existence. He came and went, seemingly in a flash. On the other hand, His Body wasn't some "ghost." He ate. He told the doubting St. Thomas to put his fingers and his hand into His wounds to prove that He had truly Risen. Those wounds from His crucifixion remained on His glorified Body.
It's that glorified state, or something like it, that awaits us some day, at the Resurrection of the Dead at the end of the time. As for how things will "appear" or "feel" - or however you try to think of it - in Heaven, who really knows? Theologians speculate; saints have spoken of it; spiritual writers attempt to communicate something of the overwhelming joy and happiness that awaits us in order to encourage us to yearn for eternal life in God's Holy Presence. In the end, we turn to a strong, vibrant Faith and the complete trust in God's Love and Mercy that springs from the virtue of Hope. Our Lenten discipline helped us to control or even quell our sinful tendencies, allowing for an increase virtue, by the power of God's grace. Sincere confession assisted us, and will continue to do so throughout the rest of the year. A robust prayer life, supplemented by reading, study, and various pious practices like reciting the rosary, will keep us on track as we exit the penitential season of Lent and enter into this glorious Easter Season.
We don't slip back into our old ways. Rather we build on the progress we've made during Lent to draw ever closer to Christ in our daily thoughts, words, and deeds. Put another way, we don't want to lose whatever mojo built up by our special prayer, fasting, and alsmgiving.
In the ancient Church those who were baptized at Easter donned white robes which they wore throughout all of the glorious solemn days of the week following Easter. Those robes symbolized not only the purity of their baptized souls, but the glory of eternal life that awaited them and all in Christian community who remained faithful and rooted in Christ. What a beautiful practice!
Let's begin our Easter Week in this spirit.
Happy Easter!
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