Friends,
if you couldn’t tell by the way the church is decorated, by the vestments that
I am wearing or by the festive music that we are singing, today is a great day
of rejoicing. Christ the Lord is risen
from the dead; and for this we rejoice!
Yet, there is a great truth, hidden beneath the surface of this reason
for our celebration, that should add depth of joy to our celebration, and it is
this: that the way to the resurrection is through suffering.
Most
of us, perhaps, live relatively comfortable lives. Nevertheless, if we’ve lived long enough, we
realize that even those comforts that we enjoy haven’t kept suffering
completely out of our lives. Rather, we
have all experienced suffering in some way.
We’ve lost loved ones through death and we’ve watched loved ones suffer;
we’ve been hurt by those closest to us; we’ve lost jobs and, perhaps, material
goods through natural disasters or through the malice of other people. In these and countless other ways, suffering
has touched each of our lives.
Suffering,
for many people, is a thing of despair; and if we think about it even for a
little bit, we can see why. We
instinctively know that our life spans are limited; and so if suffering becomes
too great a part of it, we begin to despair that there is any hope of enjoying
this life that we have been given. For
those for whom daily suffering is intense, this lack of hope can be stifling:
leading them to isolate themselves from the world and, in some cases, to contemplate
ending their own lives.
This
is why today’s celebration—the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead—is
such good news: because not only has Jesus redeemed us from the punishment due
to sin, but he has opened for us a life beyond suffering: one into which we
enter precisely through suffering. Yes, Jesus’ resurrection is a thing of wonder
and awe; but it would be much different if he had lived a comfortable and full
life and died at a ripe-old age of natural causes, wouldn’t it? We’d certainly be overjoyed to see him again,
but would it truly be the victory we’d hoped for? No, Jesus’ resurrection holds such great
power because it comes precisely after he suffered horrendously: that he, the
only truly innocent man ever to live, suffered the full brunt of evil that the
world could produce and defeated it by rising from the dead. In doing so, he demonstrates for us that
suffering in this world is not meaningless; but rather that, when it is
accepted and endured in innocence of heart, for the love of God and our
neighbor, it will speed us along the path that leads to the life beyond
suffering that Jesus has opened for us.
My
friends, we do not proclaim an easy salvation.
Rather, we proclaim a salvation won for us through suffering: a
salvation in which we participate through suffering. And this, as I’ve said, is the great truth
hidden beneath the surface of today’s celebration: that if we embrace the
sufferings that come to us in this life—the daily sufferings that we experience
because of our sins, those we suffer simply because this world is broken, and
most especially the sufferings that come to us precisely because we are
disciples of Jesus—then we are uniting ourselves more perfectly to Christ in
his suffering. And when we are united to
Christ in his suffering, then we will also be united to him in the fruits of
his suffering: the new life beyond suffering that he has opened for us.
This
is why we have taken on voluntary suffering for the last forty days: to remind
us that suffering in this world is not to be avoided at all costs, but rather
that, when embraced for love of God and our neighbor, suffering unites us more
perfectly to Christ and, thus, prepares us to experience the resurrection with
him. If you have spent these forty days
well, then by all means celebrate in praise and thanksgiving for the grace of
God that has worked within you. And if
you haven’t spent these days well, then you, too, should rejoice: because the
fruits of the resurrection of Christ are not just for those who can claim
“victory” at the end of these forty days, but rather it is for everyone who
still struggles to live the life that God has called them to live. For these I say, “God is on your side! Continue to struggle and you will find grace
to overcome. Your faith will be evident
in the struggle, and by faith the life beyond suffering which Christ has opened
for us will be yours!”
This
truth couldn’t be more evident to us than here in this Mass: in which we offer
back to God the perfect sacrifice of his Son in thanksgiving for the salvation
that his suffering won for us.
Therefore, let us put our whole hearts into this offering: for Christ is
risen and we have life in him.
Given in at St. Joseph Parish: Rochester, IN – March 31st,
2024
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