Apr 8, 2010
Every Easter we come again to the moments that define us as a believing people. The Last Supper, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection—these sacramental celebrations, far more than Christmas or any other feast of the Christian calendar, set us apart from every other religious tradition in the world.
In every reading from Scripture during Holy Week, we encountered the One who lived, suffered, died and rose again to new life so that we too might have life. Those extraordinary days of the Triduum, which we just celebrated, are like no others. They’re “holy” in the deepest sense of the word, they are other than our daily reality. They are true, historical events that are also above and outside of history, and they are alive again in a new way at every Easter down through the centuries.
The real person who is Jesus Christ is not a plastic figure who can be molded and changed to suit the attitudes of the world. The Gospel is more than a collection of warm sentiments about a man who lived a long time ago and became a positive role model for us all. The message of Easter is far more beautiful than that—and also much more demanding.
The good news of Jesus Christ is bad news for the enemies of the God who is the source of all truth and mercy, justice and human dignity. That’s why Golgotha happened. That’s why no Christian message of hope would exist without the bloody nails of the cross. There was no “virtual reality” in the crucifixion. The blood and the dying were brutally real. And that’s also why the Resurrection is no illusion.