1. The lenten exercises have, as their purpose, make us comprehend the gravity of sin, the source of all evils. Sin is also the principal impediment why it is so hard for us to truly know and love Our Lord Jesus Christ, the reason why it is so hard for us to recognize His wisdom and goodness.
2. After subjecting ourselves to these lenten exercises, we can now comprehend better why Our Lord suffered and died the way He did: because “… the wages of sin is death”, because “by one sin (that of Adam) death entered the world; so too by the obedience of One (Our Lord who is the new Adam) death should be conquered”, and because lastly “without the effusion of blood there can be no remission of sins”.
3. However, Our Lord did not intend Good Friday to be the final purpose of redemption. Those who have followed Our Lord when he multiplied the bread, or when He cured the sick, or when He raised up the dead, but not when carried His cross, for them everything ends on Good Friday. But for those who followed Our Lord just like Him by carrying his or her own crosses, just like Our Lady who stayed till the end at the foot of the cross, for these followers there will be a Resurrection Sunday.
4. Was it really necessary for Our Lord to rise again from the dead after completing His mission of redemption? Not really, since as true God nothing was ever lacking from Him. However, for our sake, then yes it was necessary as St Luke says “It was necessary that Christ should suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.” How does His Resurrection benefit us? Let’s follow the teaching of St Thomas Aquinas.
5. Firstly, for the exaltation of divine justice, to which it belongs to exalt those who humble them-selves for God, according to the canticle of the Blessed Virgin Mary: “He dethroned the mighty, and exalted the lowly.” Therefore, if Christ humbled Himself even to the death of the cross out of love and obedience to God, it was necessary that he should be exalted by God by His glorious resurrection.
6. As God’s wisdom is much greater than ours, we sometimes cannot comprehend His goodness when He allows some evils to bring forth greater good for all. Now, we cannot doubt someone’s goodness if we see that he is just. That is why for us not to doubt in Our Lord’s wisdom and goodness, His immediate resurrection was necessary for our sake to prove divine justice.
7. Secondly, for the confirmation of our faith; because by His resurrection our faith in the divinity of Christ was confirmed, as St. Paul says: “If Christ has not been risen, then is our preaching vain, and our faith is also vain”.
8. No person who ever claimed to speak in behalf of God ever did so many miracles like Our Lord. No person who claimed to be true God Himself ever proved his claim by prophesying many times, with great detail, his own death and resurrection from the dead. Only one Person ever did claim and prove He is true Man and true God: Our Lord Jesus Christ.
9. Thirdly, to give us firm hope, particularly against that which our nature abhors the most: death and corruption. Because when we see the resurrection of Christ we can now hope — and we do hope— that we too will be resurrected; on the last day our bodies will be resurrected and reunited with our souls. Therefore St Paul says: “If it is preached that Christ is risen from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?”
And in the book of Job: “I know through the assurance of faith that my redeemer, that is Christ, lives, having risen from the dead, and therefore at the last day I shall rise from the earth... this my hope is laid up in my breast.”
10. Fourth reason is to give a definite form to the life of the faithful, according to Sacred Scripture: “As Christ was raised from death to life by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life”; and further: “Having been raised from the dead, Christ dies no more; even so ye also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
11. Lastly, Christ’s Resurrection complements our salvation for as He suffered evil and humbled Himself by dying, that He might deliver us from evil, so He was glorified by rising from the dead, that He might lead us to good things, according to Sacred Scripture: “Who was delivered for our sins, and was raised again for our justification”. The Passion of Christ wrought our salvation as far as the removal of evils; but the Resurrection, is the inchoation of our own resurrection and is the model of good things that await us if we remain faithful.
12. Dear friends, now you can see how even pagan nations have no problem celebrating Christmas, but even erstwhile Catholic nations now feebly, in the best case, celebrate Holy Week and Easter: because these most Holy Days require from us that we follow our Redeemer if we are to be redeemed, and because these Holy Days can only infuse in one’s heart a kind of happiness that the world —and worldly men— cannot comprehend.
13. We wish you a very holy and, therefore, happy Resurrection Sunday of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
fr. Fedel Ferrer
