J.M.J.
After forty days of intense prayer, fervent penance
and sincere charity to the needy, Easter Sunday arrives with a flourish. “He is
risen as He said, Alleluia!”
The Son of God and the Son of Mary has conquered the
weighty chains of sin and spiritual darkness. Death has been overcome; a reign
of peace and joy has been ushered into our world. Jesus Christ has risen from
the dead.
And this is why we rejoice: God has kept His promise.
He came through in the clutch and delivered. Everlasting life is now possible
again because of the Lord’s victory over the once foreboding grave.
Nevertheless, anguish still overcomes the hearts of
many this Easter. The mother who grieves for her AIDS-infected son, the husband
who wonders how he will support his young wife and children now that he has
been laid off, the child in Iraq who has known only hopelessness and
despair—sorrow permeates the souls of a legion of believers despite Easter
lilies, white vestments and newly-lit Paschal candles.
When I was a junior in high school, I heard a homily
during a daily Mass in the Chapel of our local Catholic high school that I
recall vividly years later. The priest, the Reverend Stephen G. Barnett, remarked that if Jesus Christ has truly
risen from the dead, then how can we not be joyful?
The priest’s point is well made. We are compelled to rejoice. Our corresponding
attitude must be that of profound gratitude and gladness, given the triumph of
Jesus over the tomb. No matter how heavy our crosses, we are to reflect the
happiness of the Church during this fifty-day Eastertide.
The authentic joy of Easter is perduring; it does not
disappear at the first sight of conflict or pain. Rather, it remains steadfast
through thick and thin and recalls for us the glory of the Risen Christ that dispells
the blindness instigated by Satan and the fallen angels.
Even though the disciples “had seen the Risen Lord,”
they were not free from trials and suffering. Yet, whenever they had to bear
their own personal Calvary, the disciples remembered the inimitable promise of
their Friend: “I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Saint Matthew 28:20) Misunderstandings (even among
the disciples themselves), physical hardships and merciless beatings could not
damper the “resurrection joy” experienced by the followers of Christ or erase
the pledge of Jesus to remain with them whatever the situation.
Contemporary disciples of the Messiah take comfort in
the abiding presence of Jesus in a world marred by sin. Nothing can diminish
what Jesus did nearly two millennia ago. He invites us to die with Him, but He
also invites us to live with Him—here on earth through divine grace and someday
in Heaven.
When the last Easter egg is discovered, the joy of
Easter continues unabated for the disciple of the Savior. The gladness of the
Resurrection changes lives. Christ’s victory gives hope to the lonely and
suffering. Jesus has fulfilled the first promise: to rise from the dead. Now, a
second guarantee has been established for His disciples: salvation for those
who accept His joy and who seek to walk in His steps.
Pope Saint John Paul II exclaimed:
“We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song!” Christ Jesus lives! How can
we not be joyful?
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