WORD ALIVE
In the vigil service of Holy Saturday tonight, Christians await the Lord as He comes forth from the tomb. The paschal candle symbolizes the Risen Christ dispelling the darkness of sin and death.
This is dramatically enacted as the church, with all the lights switched off, is enveloped in darkness. Only the paschal candle, the light of the risen Christ, is lighted.
Holy Saturday ushers in the greatest of all the Church feasts – Easter.
What’s the meaning of life?
There’s a story about a young man who visited a seminary. On the walls of the corridors and bulletin boards were various posters which read: “Christ is the answer.”
Wondering what it all meant, the puzzled visitor scribbled the following below one of those ubiquitous posters: “What is the question?”
If “Christ is the answer,” what question is He answering?
Easter answers the question: After suffering, what? It also answers such fundamental questions like: What’s the meaning of life? Is life meant to be nothing but a vain struggle for a modicum of joy and satisfaction terminated by death?
Without the Resurrection, faith is useless
Christ’s rising from death is the Father’s seal of approval on his life and work. As St. Paul puts it, “If Christ has not risen, in vain is our preaching and our believing in it” (Read 1 Cor 15,13).
In other words, faith in God, our prayers, our striving to do good would all be useless if Christ did not rise from death. As St. Paul puts it, “If He did not rise, let’s just eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.”
This is the epicurean philosophy of some people today. They say: “Life is short. Enjoy it to the maximum since there’s nothing more to look forward to after death.”
An atheist who has this thinking or one who does not believe in Christ’s teachings is like a man who is smartly dressed in the coffin but nowhere to go.
But Jesus’ teaching on life after death is clear and categorical. At the Last Supper, He said: “In my Father’s house there are many mansions… I go ahead and prepare a place for you.”
Not just a historical event
Easter is not just a remembrance or re-enactment of something that happened over 2,000 years ago but is something present.
Hence, the death of Christ should teach and induce us to die to our old self. The person who struggles to get rid of pride, selfishness, hatred, dishonesty or give up gambling, drinking, and other vices, that are detrimental to one’s health and pocket, exemplifies Christ’s rising to a new life.
Joy of the Resurrection
Like Christ, we all have our own Calvary, our passion and death. But like the Redeemer, we too will know and feel the beauty, the joy of the Resurrection, if we but live it in the spirit of Christ.
If we suffer and die with Christ, if we die to our old self, then it won’t be only the resurrection of Jesus Christ but our own resurrection.