Easter: The Feast of Our Redemption The Apostle Paul calls us to be spiritually literate. He says, “Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not continue in ignorance, but try to understand what is the will of the Lord.” Ephesians 5: 15 – 17. In other words, he is advising us not be indifferent to the seasons of grace. Doing so is foolishness. Easter is the biggest feast in the Church. It is bigger than Christmas. The whole Church gathers herself together and becomes alert to the events at the core of her redemption. Easter marks that point in time when God enters the fray to interrupt the downward descend of mankind. It is the creation of a new world. “See, I am doing something new. Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” Isaiah 43:18. The apostle Paul unlocks the mystery, “So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. And all this is from God, who had reconciled us to himself through Christ…” 2 Corinthians 5: 17. Thus on Easter, the world is born anew. It is created anew. The Easter story is a creation story. The creation of a world in which all things are held together in Christ. We become a creation that is beyond destruction. Our redemption is unprecedented. As long as we remain in Christ, the devil can rest assured, we are not candidates for hell. It therefore follows that Easter is not only bigger than Christmas, but is bigger than original creation story. That’s why His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI says, “When we realise that a single Heart stands on a higher scale than the whole extent of the universe…then we can begin to understand that the act by which God becomes man, that he who is the Creator… comes down to enter into human existence and unites himself with it, so that he himself is this man – that this act is an event far greater in significance [than the creation of the world].” How great is the love of Jesus? We could not ascend to Him, so he descended unto us, that with Him, we may ascend to the Father. He said, “And when I am lifted from the earth, I will draw everyone to Myself.” John 12:32. These 40days are our honeymoon with the Man who so dearly loved us. To appreciate this love, we must appreciate his passion. The essential element in Christ’s suffering is not pain but love and obedience which led him to endure the pain. The wounds of Jesus are a mirror of his love for us. That passion did not end in just pain but even death as if to say, “You are worth dying for. Do you not perceive it?” In our attempt to perceive it, to discern, we have chosen the Devotion to the Holy Wounds of Jesus. Every single day we will focus on a particular area of suffering, a particular wound and allow us to be drawn into deep intimacy with Jesus.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 14:24:41 +0000
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