April 9
Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord
“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.”
Readings
Reflection
Praised be Jesus Christ! He is risen! Alleluia!
I offer for our consideration the powerful opening of the First Letter of St. John, which begins like this (it sounds a little like the first chapter of John’s Gospel):
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life—for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us—what we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.
Believe it or not, this reading does not appear in our lectionary at Sunday Mass, but it is an important apostolic testimony to the profound reality of the Resurrection. The Incarnate Lord—God having taken to himself our humanity—really dwelled among us, and he allowed himself to be seen and touched and loved by us. Jesus endured his horrific suffering and death, so that we might come to have eternal life with him and to ever grow in our appreciation for the extent of his love for us. For those who let it, the feast that we celebrate today is forever the cause of our joy, the foundation of our faith, and the only way by which we have life. The Resurrection is the source of all grace, through it we also receive Hope that enables and strengthens us to walk differently amid the darkness of the world. Jesus has overcome the world, and still he has power over death.
This Lent we’ve had the opportunity to journey through Fr. Jacque Philippe’s Interior Freedom, in which we learned some important lessons for understanding the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. If we only know or understand “hope” from the perspective of the English language, we can be left grasping at something that may or may not be there. This is not Christian hope, nor the kind of hope we receive from the power of the Resurrection. Hope is, as found in the Catechism:
“…[Hope is something] that does not disappoint.’ Hope is the ‘sure and steadfast anchor of the soul…that enters…where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.’ Hope is also a weapon that protects us in the struggle of salvation" (CCC1820).
To further simplify, we could say hope is the persevering sense or the steadfast trust given to us to await and expect everything from God especially as it comes to us through the merits of the passion, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. In other words, hope rooted within us is pervasive confidence in what Jesus has done for us. So one who has the gift of this hope is not wavering in wondering whether or not Jesus has been raised from the dead, but rather is convinced of it, and now allows the implications of Jesus’ Resurrection to be the foundation and motivation for everything else in life.
Having hope, one truly enjoys radical interior freedom and the fullness of life here and now. Jesus wants us to know this gift.
Fr. Philippe notes, “It could be said that, while charity is the greatest of the three theological virtues, in practice hope is the most important. As long as hope remains, love develops. If hope is extinguished, love grows cold. A world without hope soon becomes a world without love.” As we celebrate anew the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus, may we receive an infusion of divine hope to propel us toward living with greater confidence in Jesus’ power over death. May this Hope that we receive again be strength for us to bear his light and life confidently into the world around us, without fear that anything could come and rob us of this amazing freedom.
Peace,
Fr. Foley
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