“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life and I shall raise him on the last day.” (Jo 6: 40)
The celebration of the mystery of the resurrection of our Lord cannot but make us think of our resurrection. If we believe in Christ, we will have eternal life and we will rise, as the last verse of today’s gospel reminds us. We are already in the third week of
Easter. It is, perhaps, a good opportunity to pause and reflect on the effects which the resurrection has on us. Here are a few examples to start with.
Saint Thomas Aquinas on Why Jesus Had to Rise
- Knowing that Christ had to suffer and rise again (remember Jesus’ words to the disciples of Emmaus), he humbled himself in obedience to God and, therefore, was exalted: Has the resurrection impacted me, showing me that the practice of humility is necessary to receive God’s favor? Am I humble so as to be exalted (see Luke 1: 52)?
- “And if Christ has not been raised, then empty [too] is our preaching; empty, too, your faith” (1 Cor 15: 14). Has my faith been augmented, by knowing that Christ is truly risen?
- It is almost impossible to separate faith from hope. Our faith tells us that Christ rose so that we will rise with him. Has my hope increased and filled me with spiritual joy during Easter?
- “Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life” (Rom 6: 4). Is my charity producing this newness of life within my soul, as an effect of the Lord’s resurrection?
- Christ rose to complete the work of our salvation. Do I let him work his salvation in my daily life, especially through the work of the theological virtues of faith, hope and love?[1]
Powerful Reminders
Dear friends, these questions, which help us examine the way we live the joy of Easter, in the context of the Christian virtues, are powerful reminders of our vocation or call to holiness. Holiness will find fulfilment in the glory of heaven, an immense happiness without end.
We have not seen Christ with our eyes as the witnesses to his resurrection did, but we see him through the eyes of faith. And during Easter we are, as the disciples of Emmaus, enlightened by the breaking of bread (a symbol of the Eucharistic celebration) and, hopefully, our hearts are burning within us, when the Lord also breaks for us the bread of the Scriptures.
Happy Easter!
[1] These reasons for the necessity of the resurrection of Christ are taken from St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica 3, q. 53, a. 1 where the saint explores why Jesus had to rise from the dead.
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