The RESURRECTION - Christ appears as the Risen One [1]

The single most important event in human history, which has forever changed the course of life, is the Resurrection of Christ. Considered the “crowning truth of our faith in Christ.”[2] It concerns and involves all of us in “the building of a new era”[3] from that Easter day onward. The Gospels relate that the Risen Christ appeared to his disciples in the Upper Room.[4] It must have been quite the experience since they witnessed him being crucified and put to death three days prior. Christ comes to bring the gift of peace to his own; he assures them that it is truly him; he gives to them the Holy Spirit; he puts to rest their fears; he heals the wound of their disbelief; he shares a meal with them; he strengthens their faith. Easter is truly a revolution in that all of humanity and the cosmos, my life and yours, has forever been altered because of it. Christ’s Resurrection has changed all things; we now have access to the Father and our lives are renewed. Things are really different now. Our former comprehension of greatness and authority now has a deeper, fuller, new meaning; the human quest for glory, praise and recognition is now purified and given a new understanding; power is seen as service; forgiveness supersedes vengeance; fear has given way to faith/trust; compassion is the response to misery; mercy complements justice; peace and serenity replace our anxieties; healing has come to infirmity; death itself has been overcome; enemies are loved and forgiven; selfishness is exchanged for selflessness; hope has taken the place of despair; God’s love has taken up its rightful place and been restored as the one thing necessary.

There is a depth which we can never fully comprehend this side of heaven with respect to the newness of life which Christ brings to us in and through his Resurrection. It was there in the Cenacle that appearing to them, his friends and followers, Christ manifested the new life of the risen, one that we are called to embrace in the here and now of our daily living and by doing so prepare ourselves for the life eternal that awaits us. The Resurrection of Christ is also the pledge of a new life very much in our reach and willed by God for us. Even today, we can experience the power of the resurrection for the risen Christ says to us, “Because I live, you shall live also.”[5] This is the heart of the Easter faith. This is why this unique and central celebration fills us with renewed hope and encouragement in this world oftentimes marked with brokenness, pain, sorrows, and tears; this is why we truly hold that life is worth living because it has been redeemed, we have been bought back, we have now access to Christ’s new life, to the Power of the Resurrection today and each day of our earthly life until we enter definitely into the Kingdom of the eternal Resurrection. Importantly, the beauty of it is that we encounter the Risen Christ each day in the Church, the community of believers, in the Words of the Holy Scriptures, in the Sacraments and in service to those in need. By engaging with our faith in this way, and experiencing now the closeness of the Lord in our lives, we already live lives of Resurrection People. Moreover, with the grace of the Holy Spirit we have hope that we do not lie buried in the tomb of our sins, vices, addictions, despair, discouragement or doubts. Rather, we are daily renewed, to daily live lives marked by joy and peace, justice and love, and in all things and at all times lives that strive to be pleasing to the Lord.

The apparition of the Risen Christ in the Upper Room ushered in a season of a new life. By his death on the cross, Jesus has rescued us from sin and everlasting death, and by his resurrection, a path for new life has been set forth before us. Just as the stone from Christ’s tomb was rolled away and he stepped out gloriously alive, he offers us that same opportunity every day to rise to a new, better, holier and more joyful life. If we are able to acknowledge our many different tombs and what is keeping us buried, we will emerge to a lifestyle which will fill us with deep meaning. If, in faith, we bring those instances of death and burial to the Risen One asking for some share in his own Resurrection power, then a new and full life waits us, not only in eternity, but here and now, today and every day.

What the Risen Lord offers us is a season of living the abundant life, a life of meaning and of purpose, of goodness and truth, of beauty, virtue, love and joy, of holiness and of service. All of this is ours for the taking. It is up to each of us to accept this gift. Through the Resurrection of Jesus, we have been freed from the shackles of sin — the empty tomb is for us a call to live life to the full by living it for his glory and his purpose. Fruit of a profound reflection on the meaning of the Resurrection, the great saint and doctor of the Church, John Chrysostom, in a well-known Easter sermon, preached the following: “O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? Christ is risen and you are abolished. Christ is risen and the demons are cast down. Christ is risen and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen and life is freed. Christ is risen and the tomb is emptied of the dead: for Christ, being risen from the dead, has become the Leader and Reviver of those who had fallen asleep. To Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.”

Anecdotal Illustration

Let us take for example the experience of receiving the gift of a wonderful, unique, and expensive work of art. It is a marvelous painting from a Renaissance master which we intend to display and keep. In our home we look intently around the many rooms, dwelling spaces, different areas; we consider the ambiance, the different settings, the lighting. Nothing works; nothing is good enough, suitable enough to showcase the magnificent art piece of great value and beauty. So, we decide to change things around: we demolish some walls, rearrange, make space and reconfigure the entire site so as to build around the priceless, gorgeous and inestimable masterpiece. This is what the Resurrection is for us. We do not fit it into our lives, squeeze its reality and power in the smallness of our daily activities or pepper its might willy-nilly throughout our comings and goings. We build our life around the Resurrection. We reconfigure ourselves because of it; we re-dimension our relationships, our careers, our dreams, and our hopes in light of it: it is central, it is a gift, it is a living reality. It is our saving reality — it is Christ alive in us.[6]

Questions to Ponder

In my life, how real is the Resurrection and its power? Have I entered fully and consciously into the new life of Christ? Can I name a difference that Christ’s Resurrection makes in my life and daily decisions? What are those tombs and boulders that keep me from living the new life of the Resurrection here and now? Do I benefit from the weekly celebration of Christ’s Resurrection by participating in Sunday Mass? How are things different in my life because I am in Christ and live for him? Do I know someone who is buried in sin and pain that needs the power of the Resurrection to pull them out? Is Christ’s Shalom-Peace my daily blessing to others? When was the last time I witnessed to the Resurrection and shared with someone what it means to be alive in the Lord and to follow the Risen Christ Jesus? Does my family honour the Resurrection of Christ in the Upper Room of my domestic church? Am I living the abundant life of Jesus Christ? If not, then, why not?

[1] For a more fulsome explanation of the Resurrection of Christ, see the CCC, 638-658

[2] CCC, 638

[3] CCC, 642

[4] Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36-43; John 20: 19-23

[5] John 14:19

[6] Adapted from a talk by N.T. Wright