The Resurrection of the Lord, Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015 THE LORD IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED! As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Resurrection of our Lord, there are a number of passages from the Letters Letters of St. Paul that capture my attention and help me to understand and apply this most pivotal experience of our Christian faith. The first text St. Paul shares with us is in his First Letter to the Corinthians: “Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed; let us celebrate the feast with … sincerity and truth” (5:7-8). The second passage comes from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans: “Just as Christ was raised from the dead b y the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection” (6:4-5). The third one is from St. Paul’s Letter to the Colossians: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, … think of what is above, … for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (3:1-4). The fourth is another from his first Letter to the Corinthians: “Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough? Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened” (5:6-7). What’s the Word? THE DEFINING EXPERIENCE OF FAITH Easter – or the Solemnity of the Resurrection of our Lord – is the most important, most defining, and most characteristic feast day of the Christian faith because the Easter experience reveals through Jesus God's gift gift of life, our hope for living, living, and our mission to proclaim life. As I see it, we have before us the four most important aspects of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and of our own existence as an Easter people: 1. This is the time of great great rejoicing and celebration because definitively Jesus Christ – who suffered and died for us – has been raised to new life by the Father. This is an indisputable fact, perhaps not perfectly provable by empirical evidence, but nonetheless verifiable by faith in the heart, by experience generated by hope, and by love as witnessed by his disciples. 2. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is our resurrection too because we are members of the Body of Christ, and our resurrection happens not just at the time of physical physical death but right here, right now as we experience the transformation of spirit and change of heart. 3. The newness of life we have because of resurrection brings with it a new responsibility for living this “life to the full” (Jn 10:10) – a new way of thinking thinking and speaking and acting, not according to the “lowest common denominator” of society, not according to the “majority opinion” or the “majority rule” of the people around us, not according to the prevalent morality or buffetbuffet-style beliefs, beliefs, but rather according to a higher standard of values and virtues, namely, those of Jesus Christ himself, accomplishing, as St. Francis of Assisi says, the goal “to serve, love, honor, and adore the Lord God with a clean heart and a pure mind”; to “hold onto the words, words, the life, and the teachings, and the holy Gospel of him who humbled himself”; and “to love the Lord God … with every effort, every affection, every emotion, every desire, and every wish” wish” (First Rule, Chapter 23). 4. When we live the resurrection in our own lives in this way, we become “yeast” for the world around us, both transforming others by our witness and servicing others in compassion by our apostolic activities in the name of the Risen Lord. This is Easter! This is the Resurrection! This is “making all things new” (Rev 21:5). This is why today is so special, so extraordinary, so pivotal in our lives. Happy Easter! Fr. Benet A. Fonck OFM The grand festival of the Resurrection is not just one day (Easter Sunday), but a whole week of “Easters” because every day of Easter Week we experience through the Word of God another actual encounter (hence interaction) with the Risen Lord. Easter Monday, April 6: Through Word and Sacrament we encounter the risen Lord as he takes away our fear and commissions us to tell the Good News that he frees all from death by his sacrifice and sends forth the Spirit from the Father. Alleluia! Easter Tuesday, April 7: Through Word and Sacrament we encounter the risen Lord as our intimate friend and teacher who sends us forth to renew our baptism and proclaim the message of Easter. Alleluia! Easter Wednesday, April 8: Through Word and Sacrament we encounter the risen Lord in the breaking of bread; he interprets life for us, shares with us his presence, makes our hearts burn, and heals us to “rise and walk” to proclaim the Gospel. Alleluia! Easter Thursday, April 9: Through Word and Sacrament we encounter the risen Lord as he gives us the gift of peace, assures us of his real presence, and explains to us the meaning of his death and resurrection so that we can give witness to this new reality. Alleluia! Easter Friday, April 10: Through Word and Sacrament we encounter the risen Lord as he feeds us and becomes for us the “Bread of Life” who empowers us to make Christ the Lord the cornerstone of our lives and to give testimony to the new life of Resurrection in word and deed. Alleluia! Easter Saturday, April 11: Through Word and Sacrament we encounter the risen Lord as the Good News himself who calls us to proclaim the Gospel to every creature, to witness to God’s healing, to strengthen faith, and to melt the hardened heart. Alleluia! Catholic Easter Prayer Lord, the resurrection of Your Son has given us new life and renewed hope. Help us to live as new people in pursuit of the Christian ideal. Grant us the wisdom to know what we must do, the will to want to do it, the courage to undertake it, the perseverance to continue to do it, and the strength to complete it. source: New Saint Joseph People's Prayer Book ©2015, Benet A. Fonck OFM
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