We’re still in Easter? We’re still in Easter. I love the way the Church does things. Penance and solemnity are important. So important, in fact, that we need a full 40 days of Lent to reflect and prepare. If you think that’s a lot, though, let me tell you about how important celebrating the mercy and saving graces of God. Easter is 50 days of celebration and feast. This season is so long that it can be easy to kind of drift through it without really thinking about why it gets so much time and focus.
Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. Now, maybe you read that sentence and found yourself thinking something along the lines of, “Well, duh. Any other breaking news?” Sure, fair enough. We know that already. That Jesus is risen is so obviously essential and foundational for our faith that St. Paul said “…if Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain…” So yes, as long as there have been Christians, there has been the knowledge that Christ has risen, and risen indeed.
The danger, though, is that we can forget how insane that is. Christ died. Soul and body were separated. The body was a corpse. There was no pulse, no breathing, no brain activity. Jesus, the Son of God, second person of the Trinity, God Himself, died. And then, then it got interesting. The dead Christ was risen back to life. He showed His wounds, spoke, and ate with friends. In His dying and rising, death itself is destroyed. If we aren’t blown away by this, we need to wake up, and fast. His death was the price of our sins. Jesus having risen is our hope for life. It isn’t enough for Christ that the sin of Adam and Eve be undone. No, the Garden isn’t where God wants us, but the perfection of Heaven.
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