A Message from the Pastor
This Sunday, we commemorate the most momentous event in the entire universe: Jesus Christ’s triumphal rise from the dead over all the evil forces in the material and spiritual worlds. We know what Christmas and Good Friday are about because we’ve experienced the birth of babies and the death of loved ones. But Easter? Most of us would say we have absolutely no experience with that. So, let’s take a closer look at this great and mysterious truth.
First, Jesus raised himself from the dead—something no one had ever done. His death was not a suicide, and no one took his life—He gave it. As we read in John 10:18, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” Jesus was absolutely free and could have avoided death, but that would have meant not being true to himself or his divine mission. It would have been like St. Maximilian Kolbe, the martyr of the Nazi concentration camps, announcing at the last minute, “Wait! I don’t want to die in place of anyone else, even if he’s the father of many children! I rescind the offer of my life.” Of course, Christ never considered reneging on his love and obedience to the Father.
Notice that Jesus’ resurrection was completely different from the resuscitation of his friend Lazarus, who returned to the same type of existence he had before dying. No, Jesus was “raised to new life,” and those who knew him before his death no longer immediately recognized him. Think of the two disciples whom Jesus joined on the road to Emmaus. Only after many hours together did they realize it was Jesus who had been with them. The difference between this new life and Christ’s old life was so great that it was hard to recognize him again.
But what does Jesus’ resurrection mean for us today? It means many things. It means that God’s power is infinitely (quite literally) greater than all the evil in the world. God always has the last word. Good will always triumph over evil at the end of time.
Moreover, as we will see on Pentecost Sunday, it means that Jesus rose from the dead not to disappear into the heavenly realms but to make his home in us. We are now invited to “live in Christ” so that we will no longer fear death as before, no longer see it as the end of life but rather as a change in life. Jesus has pierced the veil between this life and the next and has gone ahead of us, saying, “Do not be afraid.” And because Jesus is the Son of God, we know that his words are true and show us the way to be fully human.
Easter and Pentecost inaugurate a new era, one in which a new field of energy is released, and the New Testament strains to describe it as “peace,” “love,” or “joy.” Jesus teaches us the real meaning of love: it is never possessive, suffocating, or controlling. It is a love that goes out from itself and gives life to others.
On behalf of the Dominican friars at St. Tom’s and our entire staff, I wish you and your loved ones a happy and blessed Easter.
Fr. Tom McDermott, OP