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