Fullness of Life

I don't think we can appreciate the "shock and awe" the disciples experienced at the empty tomb and the prospect, later verified, that Jesus had risen from the dead. They had just witnessed his excrutiating death, had fled into hiding in fear of their own, and now a complete reversal. What must that have been like? Certainly it was a "first", but looking back, as we did last night at the Easter Vigil, it all does make sense, not according to human logic...never...but according to the divine plan. All things, from the creation of the world, to the passage through the Red Sea, to the wedding imagery, the life-giving, all satisfying waters, the effective word of Isaiah, to the new heart and new spirit promised by Ezechiel to the "newness of life" described by St. Paul, point to something as radically different but as calmingly certain as the resurrection of Jesus. Not only his, but ours as well. "As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God. Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as being dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus" (Rm 6:3-11). Can we fathom this deepest of mysteries, this greatest of feasts? Wisely, the Church gives us 50 days to ruminate on it and digest it. Today we will celebrate with Mass fraught with joyfull Alleluias, family meals, colors, Easter eggs and bunnies, perhaps even new "Easter Clothes" or Bonnets, but behind all these frills let us remember that we are celebrating the newness, the fullness of life.
Bro. Rene