Christ is Risen: So what? Now what?
Fr. John Riccardo
April 7, 2021
Christ is Risen: So What? Now What?
“So what?” Now what?” Those are two questions that a friend of mine, who works in the coaching and teaching field, is fond of asking at the end of every presentation he leads. They come to mind as we enter into this glorious season of Easter. Christ is risen! So what? Now what? What practical difference does Jesus’ resurrection from the dead make, or should it make, in my life and yours?
The Church gives us 50 days to celebrate, ponder on, and enter deeply into this question, but my own personal experience tells me that many of us don’t do Easter all that well. I know I don’t! Is there something we can do to better celebrate these days? Fear, anxiety, and discouragement seem to be—and are—rampant, both outside and inside the Church. How can the Lordship of Jesus, Victor over Sin and Death, penetrate our lives in these days and replace them with trust, hope, and confidence in the One for whom nothing is impossible?
Jesus rising from the tomb.
We are aware of many priests and bishops who spent some part of the past few days and weeks preaching the kerygma to their congregations, trusting that St. Paul was telling the truth when he wrote to the Romans that the gospel is “power.” Many lives have been touched by a newer and deeper appreciation of what Jesus was doing on the cross. And we know many lay men and women who have come to a deeper confidence in the Lordship of Jesus by praying deeply with that same gospel on their own.
The beauty of Easter is that the Church gives us time. Time to celebrate. Time to rejoice. Time to reflect. Time to enter deeply into the various dimensions of what Jesus has done for us. No one can possibly exhaust the mysteries we are celebrating right now in a single day. But there is a need to be intentional and deliberate in our celebrations, our rejoicing, and our prayer and reflection.
So, again, what can we do to better enter into Easter and receive what the Lord might want to offer us? We’d like to offer the following suggestion for bishops, priests, and deacons. Much like we think it’s important each year to set aside consecutive Sundays to break open the gospel, we think it’s important to use these Sundays of Easter to break open for the faithful the effects of the resurrection.
And, if we’re a man or woman in the pews, it might be worth each week of the Easter season focusing our prayer and attention on a different practical difference Jesus’ resurrection makes. As we do this, we want to avoid being somehow triumphalistic, as the cross and suffering are always going to be essential parts of our lives as disciples of Jesus. But Death has been defeated, and Satan has been defeated, and surely this makes a difference now.
What, then, are those effects of the resurrection? Well, there are many! But the following are perhaps especially worth considering. First, Jesus has re-created us; second, He has transferred us; third, He has destroyed Death; fourth, He has canceled our sins; fifth, He has rendered Sin impotent; sixth, He has humiliated the enemy; seventh, He has given us access to the Father; and eighth, He has given us authority over the enemy and sent us on mission to get His world back.
Next week, we’ll start to break these open. Now, though, let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help us use these weeks well, better understand what Jesus has accomplished for us, and be heralds of hope in an age desperately in need of it. Christ is Risen!