Easter Sunday (Year C) - 17 April

A reflection on Christ's resurrection by the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J Sheen:

 

"As a soldier may return from war wearing the ribbons of victory, so Jesus rises from the dead wearing the scars of battle against sin! Everywhere in the Easter scenes, we meet a Great Soldier with His Scars! Mary Magdalene, who had anointed His Feet for His burial just a few days before and then once again knelt at His Feet at Calvary’s hill, now on Easter morn recognises Him to be not the gardener but the Risen Saviour, as clinging to His Feet she sees there the livid red memories of riven steel.

 

"Jesus of the Scars assured us that evil will never have an ultimate victory. The worst thing that evil can do is not to bomb cities but to kill Goodness itself. But being defeated in its mightiest moment, when evil used its strongest arms, by His Resurrection from the dead, we may be sure that it will never be victorious again. Well, indeed, may the nail-torn Christ say: 'I have overcome the world.'

 

"Jesus of the Scars knows what death is, for He is the only One Who ever came to this world to die. Everyone else comes to live. Death was a stumbling block to Socrates. But to Christ it was the goal of His Life, the gold that He was seeking. Breaking those bonds of the grave, by His Resurrection, He has taught us to say: 'O Death, where is thy victory? O Grave, where is thy sting?' No longer can men say there are no tears in the eyes of the Eternal, no pain in the heart of God. Take then your Christ with lily-white Hands, with uncrimsoned robes and unpierced Brows, and Eyes undimmed by sorrow! Take Him from our midst! He is too soft for these hard days!

 

"Scarred men come for healing only to scarred hands! Only a Risen Jesus with Scars can understand our hearts. This is not an age of wars but an age of scars! We all have scars! Everybody! Scars on bodies - the wounds of war; scars on souls - the wounds of godlessness. Scars of hate, fear, anxiety, melancholy, bitterness! Either scars fighting against Thee or scars fighting with Thee! Scars born of the offensive against Love; Scars born of the defence of Love!

 

"We come to the glory of Easter Sunday through the evil of a Good Friday, to a halo of dazzling light through the ignominy of a crown of thorns, to the dawn of a new day through the darkness of a high noon.

 

"Calvary is only a momentary scandal. Goodness in the face of evil must suffer, for when love meets sin it will be crucified. A God Who bears His Sacred Heart upon His sleeve, as Our Lord did in the Incarnation, must be prepared to have crows peck at it. But at the same time, Goodness can use that suffering as the condition of overcoming evil! It can take anger and wrath and hate and say 'Forgive.' It can take life and offer it for another. Evil may have its hour, but God will have His day." (Our Grounds for Hope)

 

 

 

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.