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Victor Frankl, a world-famous Austrian psychiatrist, who survived a Nazi concentration camp noticed that those who survived the camp tended to have something or someone to live for!
Hence the expression, “A person with a why can live with any how!”
Christ was born to bring hope to us, to make life more meaningful in this world, and then offer us the hope of Eternity.
However, Easter morning began with a sense of hopelessness in the Apostles and other followers of Jesus!
They hoped that Jesus was the earthly messiah who would drive out the hated Romans and establish a mighty earthly kingdom.
Instead of fighting the Romans, he allowed himself to be crucified like a criminal.
Fearing they would be next, the Apostles lost hope and hid. When the Apostles heard the good news from the women that Jesus rose from the dead, they were slow to believe.
In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it says, “The empty tomb and linen cloths lying there signify in themselves that by God’s power, Christ’s body had escaped the bonds of death and corruption.”
The appearances of the Risen Lord and the transformation of the Apostles strengthened their belief that Jesus rose from the dead.
The Risen Lord
Theologian Wolfert Pannenberg wrote that the evidence for Jesus’ Resurrection is so strong that nobody would question it, except that, first it is a very unusual event!
Second, if you believe it, you have to change the way you live! This takes graced effort, but the benefits are Heavenly!
When they encountered the Risen Lord and received the Holy Spirit, the Apostles and other followers who deserted Christ were transformed into courageous witnesses of Christ. They helped to spread the gospel “to the ends of the earth.”
Eleven of the 12 Apostles died for Christ. God miraculously preserved John so he could care for Mary, a widow.
In first Corinthians 15:54, Paul shouts triumphantly, “O death where is your victory, O death, where is your sting?”
Easter offers us the hope we need to wipe away our tears, pick up the pieces, and start again after tragedy.
As Baptized Catholics, we believe that Christ’s rainbow of hope shines in good times and bad; however, our spiritual blindness can prevent us from seeing the rainbows of hope that God sends.
In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it says, “Christ will raise us up on the last day’; but it is also true that, in a certain way, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, Christian life is already now on earth a participation in the death and resurrection of Christ.”
The coronavirus tests our hope. But hope helped many to survive the pandemic.
On January 6, 2006, 12 miners died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
One of them wrote a note, “Tell all I will see them on the other side.” Despite the fact that they were dying, this miner and other miners had hope of Heaven!
Our incorporation into Christ’s death and Resurrection is brought about through Baptism.
During the Easter Vigil, catechumens are Baptized and we already Baptized are invited to renew our Baptismal promises.
In John 6:54, Jesus says,” Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise them up on the last day.”
Seeking the Holy Spirit
Lent and the Easter season are graced times to ask the Holy Spirit to help us to live our faith more fully as a family.
Families can make sure that they reflect upon the differences between secular Easter and the true meaning of Easter.
As a family, they can attend Mass and, if feasible, Holy Week services. During a meal in the Easter season, they can briefly share what it means that Jesus died and rose for us. They can share Bible passages about Jesus’ Resurrection.
Some families participate in Easter egg hunts. Some plastic eggs have cards that describe the Resurrection that can be discussed or reflected upon.
Family members can exchange Easter gifts as reminders of Easter (The teaching Sisters were experts at this.). It could be a medal or sacred picture or emblem, or a storybook or video of Bible stories or religious stories for the young. It could also be something more expensive.
Families can invite the elderly or homeless for Easter and invite capable children to be ministers of hospitality to them.
Family members can ask the Holy Spirit to inspire their imaginations to think of better gifts that remind other family members of the true meaning of Easter.
Family members can remind each other that Jesus is the reason not only for Christmas but also for Easter!
The Easter season lasts longer than the Christmas season and ends at Pentecost when the Easter candle is extinguished.
May the Easter season open us to being evangelized to deeper faith so we can evangelize others, for we cannot give what we do not have at home, work, or wherever we are!
Fr. Donald Lange is a pastor emeritus in the Diocese of Madison.