Easter Sunday 9 April 2023 Life prevails
On this day above all others we celebrate our Lord’s coming
from the tomb, as an historical fact; and then what it means for us.
He did actually rise and was seen by many. It is not just a
legend; it is an actual event, as real as any other event in history.
But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was
impossible for him to be held in its power. It was impossible that the Anointed one be kept
captive by the grave (Acts 2,24)
And He could have risen sooner but for visiting the souls in
Hades, and giving us a few extra hours to reflect, as we do between Good Friday
and Easter Sunday.
Death is what happens when some kind of rift comes between
Created and Creator. We see death everywhere and it is depressing, but there is
a major work of reconciliation going on. Life is displacing death, conquering
it, setting itself up as the new normal.
We are accustomed to death interrupting what is otherwise
going fine; it will not always be able to do that.
It was sin that brought death into the world, and ever since
God has been helping us to get rid of the sin, and thus also death.
We still pay the penalty of physical death, but are freed from
eternal death; that is, that we will come back to life for ever once fully
reconciled with God.
God has power over all His creation. Life begins with God. He
is Life (as Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life (Jn 14,6).
To be near God is to be alive, to be far away is to be dead. Think of the Sun.
Closer means bright and hot, further away means dark and cold.
God is ‘and ever shall be’… He does not run down; He is all
vitality and power. Much of His creation suffers from age and decay, not God
Himself.
We are insecure and have fear of many aspects of death, but when
we turn our attention to Christ we get a very different view.
Faith helps us to see beyond the shadows.
We will live forever if God says so, and He does say that to
those who come to him for mercy. “Come to me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest. (Mt 11,28)
We can anticipate the Resurrection in this life. If it is
sin that causes all the trouble we will take serious steps to reducing that
sin.
It is hard to talk about resurrection because it is
something we have not experienced, nor have we even died. But we can work out
some things anyway.
Look at nature. The dawn comes back every day to reclaim
what the night has taken. A tree can come to bloom again and again, overcoming barrenness.
Even after a fire nature will regenerate.
If God can do this for His lesser creations, He can do it
all the more so for the human race, His special creation.
He invites us to trust in Him, basing our faith on Him and
His goodness, and not giving attention only to what we can perceive with the
senses.
Let us use this time of Easter to deepen our faith to the
point that we will never again be afraid of death while we have the Lord of
Life with us.
He can bring us back to life as effortlessly as He did for
Himself. He has risen, Alleluia. And so -in Him - are we.
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