Reflection
Christian faith proclaims that the cross is not the final word. It blossoms into the tree of life: “He is risen, Alleluia.” This Easter Good News has always involved bodiliness. Faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ affirms that it is not his soul alone which is saved from death but his whole body-person-self. Starting with a humiliated body laid in a tomb, the resurrection story tells of the creative power of divine love triumphing over the crucifying power of evil and the burying power of death. What this means in the concrete is not seriously imaginable: “We see now in a mirror only dimly.” Yet the empty tomb stands as a historical marker that the love of God, stronger than death, embraces biological existence itself and rescues it from annihilation. The exuberant joy that breaks out at Easter comes from the realization that this destiny is not meant for Jesus alone but for the whole human race. The outcome of his death signals that a blessed future awaits all who go through the shattering of death, which is everyone.
Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ
Prayer
Allelluia! Alleluia!
Action
Reflect on your concept of the resurrection and what it means for all of creation. Read a copy of Creation and the Cross by Elizabeth Johnson.
Suggested Reading
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8:11
And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.
1 Corinthians 6:14
Easter is the event that brought radical news for every human being, for history and for the world: the triumph of life over death; it is the feast of reawakening and of rebirth. Let us allow our lives to be conquered and transformed by the Resurrection!
Pope Francis
Faith in the Resurrection of Jesus says that there is a future for every human being; the cry for unending life which is a part of the person is indeed answered.
Pope Benedict XVI
The message of Easter is that God’s new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you’re now invited to belong to it.
N.T. Wright
We do not live by what is possessed but by what is promised.
Walter Brueggemann
To celebrate Easter means to stand in the light of the empty tomb and decide what to do next.
Joan Chittister
Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.
Martin Luther
Easter offers meaning and hope to all people.
Michael Morwood