Easter Sunday—12 April AD 2020
Ave Maria!
[Ordinary of the Mass]
[ Mass Text-Latin]
[Mass Text-English]
“This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”[1]
Happy Easter to all of you—but especially to those of you who took part in the Masses and ceremonies of Lent and Holy Week—and to those who made these observances possible
Today we celebrate the central mystery of our Catholic Faith: Our Lord Jesus Christ, who was crucified on Good Friday, has risen from the dead. The Easter Gospels speak of it in a negative sense: the tomb is empty, the burial cloths are in a heap, “You seek Jesus of Nazareth … He is not here.”[2] But then those Gospels turn more positive. He is seen by Mary Magdalen, by a couple of disciples making a trip through the country side, and by supper time He has rejoined His apostles in the Upper Room, where they had locked themselves for fear of the authorities. “Peace be to you. It is I, do not be afraid. Receive the Holy Ghost; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them.”[3] Ultimately, He is seen by nearly a thousand of people during the next forty days, prior to His Ascension into heaven.[4]
The Resurrection from the dead is, of course, a triumph for our Lord. It is His victory over sin and death, which had plagued mankind since the fall of His creature, Adam. It is his success over those who denied His divinity and contradicted His teaching. But it would be wrong to think of this conquest as a one time thing, relegated to a moment in time, centuries past.
Note the words of our Lord in the Upper Room. He has just barely said "hello" to the Apostles when He gives them the power to forgive sins. These were His priests, ordained by Him at the Last Supper, empowered to offer the same sacrifice He had just offered on the Cross, empowered to the dispense the graces He had procured for us. After a few brief weeks, these Apostles would begin to spread the Good News of Jesus throughout the world. They would be “Baptizing in the Name of the Father….”[5] They would be hearing confessions and forgiving sins as our Lord directed them. They would be offering the Holy Sacrifice, so that all the baptized could stand with our Lord at the foot of the Cross; could eat the Bread of Life and drink the Cup of Salvation. They would even lay hands on other men to replace those fallen away or taken in death, to augment their number, and to replace themselves when their time on earth was complete.[6]
All of this is to say that the victory of our Lord on the Cross is shared by all who follow Him; in whatever century, in whatever place.
In a way, it is our triumph as well as it is His. All who are baptized die with Him to sin, and rise out of the baptismal waters to eternal life. "Those who believe and are baptized will be saved" and certainly, there is no greater reinforcement to our faith in Jesus Christ than our knowledge of His Resurrection. And surely it is a triumph over sin that we can obtain forgiveness for our sins, and need not live in slavery to the power of the devil. When we recite the creed, and speak of “the resurrection of the body and life everlasting,” we can do so with the knowledge that Christ has already proven such a thing possible. So, Easter is our feast as well.
Jointly with our Lord, our triumph is today, but the story of our salvation is not yet complete. Today we begin a new season, that of “Paschaltide,” which will be fifty days long—which will be complete only after we have celebrated our Lord's Ascension into heaven and the descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost.
The forty days of Lent are over. Hopefully they prepared us well for this day. The penitential season is behind us—but please make good use of the habits you have cultivated during that time. Particularly those habits of prayer, and sacred reading, and Mass attendance; those habits of doing good and keeping the Commandments.
“This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Christ has truly risen from the dead! Happy Easter!
NOTES:
[1] Psalm cxvii :24 http://www.drbo.org/x/d?b=drl&bk=21&ch=117&l=24-#x
[4] Cf. 1 Corinthians xv:6 http://www.drbo.org/x/d?b=drl&bk=53&ch=15&l=6-#x
[5] Matthew xxviii: 19 http://www.drbo.org/cgi-bin/d?b=drl&bk=47&ch=28&l=19-#x
[6] Acts i: 26 http://www.drbo.org/cgi-bin/d?b=drl&bk=51&ch=1&l=26-#x;
Acts vi: 6 http://www.drbo.org/x/d?b=drl&bk=51&ch=6&l=6-#x
