by Bishop James Conley
Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
This ancient Easter greeting of Christianity echoes the cry of the Angels to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary when these two faithful disciples, not without some trepidation, came to the tomb that Sunday morning after the Crucifixion, intending to anoint the body of Jesus. The Angel told the women: “He is not here, for he has been raised, just as he said.” (Matthew 28:6.) Is there not a more joyful cry known to all of creation? “He is not here, for he has been raised, just as he said.”
For Christianity, there is no truth more central to our faith than that of the Resurrection. He is not dead, He is alive! The resurrection changes our hearts, our attitudes, the very direction of our lives. It gives us the most profound hope. It gives us courage against our greatest fear: our fear of death.
Because of the fall of our first parents, we are drawn to sin and we die. We are wounded by the reality of death—and rightfully so. We have within us the desire to experience good things, beautiful things, and to know the truth—and we don’t want to enjoy these things merely for a short period of time, but forever. And so knowing that this life ends for us at some point in time is a kind of wound within us.
However, because of the resurrection of the Lord, our greatest fear, the fear of death, has been healed by God himself. And it’s good for us to remember how God healed this wound. God came down to our level to heal us, and He came to reveal supernatural truths, truths otherwise unknown to us.
God did not just shout commands at us from above from the heavens. He did not send us a guru or a mere motivational speaker to inspire us. Rather, he established a people that were uniquely his own—the people of Israel, who would be a foreshadowing of the Body of Christ, the Church. And in these chosen people he would be revealing himself, ever so gradually.
He consecrated priests, prophets, and kings, who would serve as mediators of his love and guidance. But all of this was pointing to that which the mind could not imagine—even the minds of the ancient Israelites. God would heal this wound by becoming one of us.
He would come down to our level, humbling himself in every way. He came down to our level—the very depths of human experience. He didn’t just pass through, observing our wretched situation like a politician making a 15-minute visit to the slums for a photo-op, shaking a few hands and returning to his palace. Instead, he faced the bitter hatred of the crowds, the misunderstanding of those around him, the anguish of abandonment, and betrayal.
Jesus takes all of the afflictions of the world upon himself. He experienced all that we detest. He went to the absolute depths of our woundedness, as he accepted the chalice of a torturous death.
Jesus did all of these great things for us, out of obedience to his Heavenly Father. This chalice of death, he doesn’t want to drink of it any more than any one of us. In the Garden of Gethsemane as he sees the conspiracy against him moving closer to an imminent death, he says, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39).
That cup did not pass from Jesus. He died on the cross, but he was resurrected by the Heavenly Father.
Jesus is the revelation of the Father. And what makes the resurrection so beautiful, solemn and triumphant is that Jesus wants us to share in his resurrection. Through him that fear of death is vanquished. And it is the love of Jesus that pushes this fear away, as St. John says, “true love casts out all fear” (1 John 4:18). Jesus gives us peace in knowing that all will be well in the end for us if he is with us. All we must do is remain faithful.
On April 12, I had the honor of celebrating the funeral Mass of Sister Mary Ines, a member of the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters, more commonly known as the Pink Sisters. The Pink Sisters are a contemplative religious order who spend much of their day praying before the Lord in Eucharist. While Sister Mary Ines was born in the Philippines, she spent 36 years of her life at the convent in Lincoln. Sister Mary Ines was known as a joyful, saintly woman who would answer the door at the convent, and listen to people as they would make their prayer requests. Those who frequently interacted with her commented on her sharp mind as she would remember these people for whom she was praying many years later.
Sister Mary Ines spent her whole life already in the presence of God, praying many hours on a daily basis in front of the Blessed Sacrament, praying for all of us in the Diocese of Lincoln. She was a joyful woman because she believed in the resurrection of Jesus. She dedicated her entire life to being in the presence of the Lord, as she longed to see him face to face one day. She knew in staying faithful to Jesus, his presence in her life would continue into eternal life. I mentioned at her funeral Mass that we can imagine her spending Easter in heaven with God and all the angels and saints.
Our faith is contingent upon the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, as it is the validation of everything he ever taught us. With his Resurrection, he demonstrates his mastery over both life and death, foreshadows our own future resurrection as we follow him in all things, and vanquishes our fear of death. Most profoundly, it proves to us that nothing—not even death—can keep Him and His love from us. Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
