Today, is Easter
Sunday, the day of the Resurrection, the Sunday of all Sundays, 50 days to
celebrate, 10 days longer than Lent as if to show it is worth it, 50 individual
days that are to be celebrated as one perpetual Sunday.
This is the day that our entire lives have led up to, this is the day that reminds us of what Christ did for us and why it matters, because this is the day, as we heard last night in the Exultet: “When Christ broke the prison-bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld.” For He cast out the very darkness of sin and death, destroying both by stretching out his arms upon a cross. So that in the words of St. Maximus of Turin: “The light of Christ is an endless day that knows no night.”
This is why today is not just a continuation of our celebration of Christmas, but the very fulfillment of the mystery of the Incarnation, because the Cross is not just a symbol of the sacrifice we have recalled these past couple of days, it is the very marriage of Heaven to earth, of the divine to the human as it also says in the Exultet.
The Cross, therefore, was and is the bridge from this world to the next, the Cross joined our universe to God’s so that Heaven was not just opened by the Cross, but became the very road to our salvation. This is why the Cross still exists, not just as a reminder of the violence that was done, of the sacrifice that was made for us, but as a symbol and example of how Christ destroyed its power, drained death of its strength and made it, as He makes us, a new creation in Him.
This is the day that our entire lives have led up to, this is the day that reminds us of what Christ did for us and why it matters, because this is the day, as we heard last night in the Exultet: “When Christ broke the prison-bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld.” For He cast out the very darkness of sin and death, destroying both by stretching out his arms upon a cross. So that in the words of St. Maximus of Turin: “The light of Christ is an endless day that knows no night.”
This is why today is not just a continuation of our celebration of Christmas, but the very fulfillment of the mystery of the Incarnation, because the Cross is not just a symbol of the sacrifice we have recalled these past couple of days, it is the very marriage of Heaven to earth, of the divine to the human as it also says in the Exultet.
The Cross, therefore, was and is the bridge from this world to the next, the Cross joined our universe to God’s so that Heaven was not just opened by the Cross, but became the very road to our salvation. This is why the Cross still exists, not just as a reminder of the violence that was done, of the sacrifice that was made for us, but as a symbol and example of how Christ destroyed its power, drained death of its strength and made it, as He makes us, a new creation in Him.
This is why the Easter season is so triumphant, even more so than Christmas, because our entire lives are defined by this very moment, our entire history of salvation points to this very day.
Because, this is the day when Christ conquered the cross, this is the day when Christ rose from the dead. Today, the tomb is empty, today victory is born.
If Christ did
not rise, none of us would be Christians, we would not be here at this moment
right now, we would not even be in this church, we would not gather every
Sunday, in fact, we would have absolutely nothing to celebrate, because our
celebration is of our new life in Christ, and there would be no new life if He
only laid down His life on the cross and died.
That is why without the Resurrection, Christianity would not make sense, it would appear, as the reading from last night puts it, as sheer nonsense, venerating a cross, as we did on Good Friday, would seem futile, and our own death, pointless, hopeless, because, not only did Christ rise, but by His rising in our same flesh He sanctified it, He made it holy, so we could share in His same Resurrection, and death, indeed, could, at last, be destroyed.
If then the cross is truly what gives our lives meaning, it is, indeed, the Resurrection that is the completion of the cross; the summit of our existence and the reason for our rejoicing, because, by Him, life itself has been redefined because death itself, sin itself, faith itself are no longer the same.
Perhaps, because we say it so often it might lose some of its impact, but Jesus, our savior and our God, has not just destroyed sin, not just vanquished the darkness, He has destroyed death itself. So, that the wood of the tree that crucified Him has become the beacon of our salvation, the blood that He shed, the gold with which He purchased us, and the stone that sealed His tomb, the doorway to Heaven.
That is why without the Resurrection, Christianity would not make sense, it would appear, as the reading from last night puts it, as sheer nonsense, venerating a cross, as we did on Good Friday, would seem futile, and our own death, pointless, hopeless, because, not only did Christ rise, but by His rising in our same flesh He sanctified it, He made it holy, so we could share in His same Resurrection, and death, indeed, could, at last, be destroyed.
If then the cross is truly what gives our lives meaning, it is, indeed, the Resurrection that is the completion of the cross; the summit of our existence and the reason for our rejoicing, because, by Him, life itself has been redefined because death itself, sin itself, faith itself are no longer the same.
Perhaps, because we say it so often it might lose some of its impact, but Jesus, our savior and our God, has not just destroyed sin, not just vanquished the darkness, He has destroyed death itself. So, that the wood of the tree that crucified Him has become the beacon of our salvation, the blood that He shed, the gold with which He purchased us, and the stone that sealed His tomb, the doorway to Heaven.
This is why we
should have that same level of excitement, that same desire to run to the empty
tomb, the way St. Peter and the other disciple did.
Today the very reality, the hope of our lives is realized, and for many days after, the Churches throughout the world will shake with excitement and praise, because today the heavy stone was removed, our salvation was made clear, and the impossible not only became possible but had us, like those entering the tomb, seeing and believing.
So, that when we say “He is Risen!” It is more than just another pious thing to say, it is the very essence of what we long for, the very source of our strength and the foundation of our faith.
Today the very reality, the hope of our lives is realized, and for many days after, the Churches throughout the world will shake with excitement and praise, because today the heavy stone was removed, our salvation was made clear, and the impossible not only became possible but had us, like those entering the tomb, seeing and believing.
So, that when we say “He is Risen!” It is more than just another pious thing to say, it is the very essence of what we long for, the very source of our strength and the foundation of our faith.
For, this is not
just one day among Sundays, it is the Sunday, the greatest and most important
Sunday in our lives, because it is an opportunity to rise, to become dead to
sin and to become fully alive to God, to look at this day as a brand new day,
as a Son that will never set, as an eternal morning that will never cease.
Because in the words of St. Augustine we are an Easter people, which is why the song, the unbroken song, the word that emerges from our lips, the word that defines us is one the word we buried at the beginning of Lent and, like Christ, has risen again.
The word that we will sing, say and shout until our throats are raw, the word, “Alleluia,” because the strife is over, the battle is done, and the only way to summarize it all is in that single word, because it means “praise God,” and that is all we can do, that is what we are called to do, praise Him, because, this day reminds us of the reality of what Christ did for us, it reminds us that our faults were washed away, that our hope was restored and that our lives were changed.
Let us then roll back the stone, let us not be amazed, but, rather seek Jesus always, seek Him often, because today, indeed, Christ is Risen! He has triumphed over sin and death, He has brought us salvation and, therefore, there is, indeed, only word to say, and we should say it loudly, we should say it joyfully and we should say it often, so that with one voice we may cry out: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleulia!
Add a comment