First of Two Parts

My thoughts at this moment are very much on the mystery of the resurrection, the mystery of Jesus’ resurrection and the mystery of our resurrection.

The meaning of Jesus’ resurrection is at the heart of Christianity. Everything that we Catholics believe about God and about ourselves is tied to the resurrection of the Lord. I know that in my own mind this was not always true. There was a time in my life when I wondered why we emphasized the resurrection of the Lord and why we saw our own resurrection as the culmination of our following of Christ. I really did not see why the resurrection of Jesus and our resurrection is right at the heart of the Christian faith. Even as I write those words I think how strange my view of Christianity must have been.

In my early life as a Catholic, certainly in grammar school, high school and perhaps into college and the seminary, I had a dualistic view of the human person. I thought of a human person as consisting of two realities: the soul and the body. The soul was the more important reality, the body the less important.

In fact, as part of my understanding of the human person, I almost thought of the body as evil, something that we got stuck with that caused most of our sinning. I could not figure out why it was important that our bodies joined our souls when our bodies rose from the dead. What was important to me was that our souls entered into heaven. That was what mattered. With such a view it is easy to see why the resurrection did not seem that important, much less the center of Christian faith.

While I was studying for the priesthood my view of the human person and the mystery of resurrection began to change. As I recall, the change was related to changes brought about by the liturgical movement and by developments in theology and in scriptural studies. I came to think of the human person as one reality. I came to think of the human self as a bodily self. The human body was not some kind of addition to a being who was basically an angel but rather an essential component of every human person.

Jesus’ resurrection came to mean not some final miracle that Jesus performed or that was performed for Him by His heavenly Father but as an event that summed up the entire meaning of His message and His mission.

In his book “The Word, In and Out of Season: Homilies for the Major Feasts, Christmas, Weddings and Funerals” (Paulist Press) Father Richard Viladesau writes the following about Jesus’ resurrection:

“The resurrection tells us that God is our absolute future, but what enters that future is human life, the earthly person in history. The message of Easter is that God triumphs in matter, in the earthly reality that we share – not simply in the ‘beyond’, but in the very heart of things.

The resurrection of Jesus means that it was precisely the one that was crucified who is now in glory. Therefore the resurrection first of all validates Jesus’ way of living in the world. It proclaims that he was right in his message and his conduct: right in siding with the poor and oppressed; right in his message of service and forgiveness, and in seeing God’s love and affirmation as present and triumphant; right in placing love as a value above all others; right not to grasp at life, but to give himself over in trust even in death.”

The resurrection is the fulfillment of all of Jesus’ preaching about the kingdom of God and about His Father’s love for all. The resurrection reveals that love wins and death loses. It reveals that the most dreaded human experience, death, has been changed and transformed from what seems like a failure and an ending to a fulfillment and a beginning. The resurrection of Jesus reveals God’s plan for Jesus and also God’s plan for us. It reveals that we are not angels, never were angels and never will be angels. We are human persons, bodily persons redeemed by the Christ and called to risen life.

All doctrines and moral teachings that we accept as Catholics are related to Jesus’ resurrection and to our resurrection. Every sacrament is ultimately about the resurrection. In every sacrament, we meet the Risen Christ. Easter is not just another feast day. It is the most important feast in the liturgical calendar. Every Eucharist is a celebration of Jesus’ victory over death. A proper response at every Eucharist and especially on Easter is “Alleluia!”