+ These past days we have walked in the darkness of the betrayal of Our Blessed Lord into the hands of the Jews and of the Roman authorities. We have witnessed His denial by one of those closest to him and have felt the bitter tears that flowed as its reality sank in. We have been taken aback not only by the rapid arrival of a death sentence so unjust as to be beyond scandalous, but also by His own seemingly complicit acceptance of the same. We have knelt at the foot of the Cross—and we have kissed it. We have seen even the most faithful of disciples scatter and flee. We have endured the emptiness of Holy Saturday, waiting and wondering what will come next?
We have experienced all of this in a world where our dear Ukranian brothers and sisters may receive a death sentence and its execution instantaneously, without even a farcical trial. We have recoiled in horror from Our Lord’s betrayal and denial at a time when even ecclesiastical authorities will betray the Truth of Christ’s teaching, or perpetuate falsehoods in respect of what it permits or forbids—even in respect of the very Sacred Rites we have celebrated in these holy days.
So too, we have been forced to face ourselves; to face the reality of our own lurking in the shadows and our perpetuating of falsehoods in respect of what is required of us. The condemned Jesus has looked at us with eyes that permit no obfuscation in respect of our own sins and the evil that they have caused. Bitter tears have rightly fallen down our cheeks as we have realised the suffering that we ourselves have occasioned in our helpless state.
Our world, the Church and yes—we ourselves—find ourselves in darkness, confusion and even despair. For by ourselves we are helpless: we cannot overcome the evils that threaten us. We cannot help but to fall into sin and perpetuate evil even further still.
We are helpless. We are condemned to darkness and confusion and despair. And we justly deserve this abysmal state.
Yet, as we have experienced anew in the lessons of the Paschal Vigil, Almighty God thinks otherwise. For time and time again He has intervened in human history to save His People from perdition—from threats from without and from the perdition that their sins deserve. And in the end, His mercy and love have become Incarnate in His Beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has offered the last drop of His Precious Blood in agony on the Cross to save you and to save me from our sins. Such is His love. Such is His mercy.
So incredible is this reality, so powerful it is, that it shattered the physical death shamelessly inflicted on Our Lord and emitted a light that no darkness can ever extinguish. For no matter what sins, no matter what human strife or ecclesiastical discord we may witness, the Lumen Christi — the light of Christ — shines more powerfully, showing us the path of mercy, of Truth and of forgiveness.
For it is by this light, the light of Easter morning, that St Peter, the bitter tears of denial barely dry on his face, ran in hope to the tomb and became the rock upon which the Church is built. By this light the love of St John was fired into that of a great apostle. By this light countless generations of Christians have lived and persevered unto glory amidst the worst of wars, persecutions, heresies, schisms and other strife.
For this light is nothing other than the light of supernatural hope. It reveals to us what is true and what is false — in ourselves, in the Church and in the world. It shows us the path to take, even if the next steps that we must take along it cause us to hesitate because we cannot necessarily see what will come next. It gives us the grace and clarity necessary to persevere in and to deal with whatever our own times confront us, even when we fear that we shall not be up to the task.
Let us bask in this glorious and inextinguishable light. Let us drink ever more deeply of the fountain of grace which the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ reveals to us, that flows anew in the Sacred Rites and Sacraments of His Holy Church. For even as the shadows of the Cross fall upon us personally in suffering and illness, even as our countries or the Church are plunged into the darkness of confusion and strife, the Light of Christ shines — never more brilliantly than in this Holy Mass of Easter which we now offer as worthily as we are able.
Surrexit Dominus vere – Alleluia!
We have experienced all of this in a world where our dear Ukranian brothers and sisters may receive a death sentence and its execution instantaneously, without even a farcical trial. We have recoiled in horror from Our Lord’s betrayal and denial at a time when even ecclesiastical authorities will betray the Truth of Christ’s teaching, or perpetuate falsehoods in respect of what it permits or forbids—even in respect of the very Sacred Rites we have celebrated in these holy days.
So too, we have been forced to face ourselves; to face the reality of our own lurking in the shadows and our perpetuating of falsehoods in respect of what is required of us. The condemned Jesus has looked at us with eyes that permit no obfuscation in respect of our own sins and the evil that they have caused. Bitter tears have rightly fallen down our cheeks as we have realised the suffering that we ourselves have occasioned in our helpless state.
Our world, the Church and yes—we ourselves—find ourselves in darkness, confusion and even despair. For by ourselves we are helpless: we cannot overcome the evils that threaten us. We cannot help but to fall into sin and perpetuate evil even further still.
We are helpless. We are condemned to darkness and confusion and despair. And we justly deserve this abysmal state.
Yet, as we have experienced anew in the lessons of the Paschal Vigil, Almighty God thinks otherwise. For time and time again He has intervened in human history to save His People from perdition—from threats from without and from the perdition that their sins deserve. And in the end, His mercy and love have become Incarnate in His Beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has offered the last drop of His Precious Blood in agony on the Cross to save you and to save me from our sins. Such is His love. Such is His mercy.
So incredible is this reality, so powerful it is, that it shattered the physical death shamelessly inflicted on Our Lord and emitted a light that no darkness can ever extinguish. For no matter what sins, no matter what human strife or ecclesiastical discord we may witness, the Lumen Christi — the light of Christ — shines more powerfully, showing us the path of mercy, of Truth and of forgiveness.
For it is by this light, the light of Easter morning, that St Peter, the bitter tears of denial barely dry on his face, ran in hope to the tomb and became the rock upon which the Church is built. By this light the love of St John was fired into that of a great apostle. By this light countless generations of Christians have lived and persevered unto glory amidst the worst of wars, persecutions, heresies, schisms and other strife.
For this light is nothing other than the light of supernatural hope. It reveals to us what is true and what is false — in ourselves, in the Church and in the world. It shows us the path to take, even if the next steps that we must take along it cause us to hesitate because we cannot necessarily see what will come next. It gives us the grace and clarity necessary to persevere in and to deal with whatever our own times confront us, even when we fear that we shall not be up to the task.
Let us bask in this glorious and inextinguishable light. Let us drink ever more deeply of the fountain of grace which the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ reveals to us, that flows anew in the Sacred Rites and Sacraments of His Holy Church. For even as the shadows of the Cross fall upon us personally in suffering and illness, even as our countries or the Church are plunged into the darkness of confusion and strife, the Light of Christ shines — never more brilliantly than in this Holy Mass of Easter which we now offer as worthily as we are able.
Surrexit Dominus vere – Alleluia!
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