Easter Sunday The Resurrection of the Lord

Today's Mass Readings

Look at everything we do daily to stay alive, not to mention what we do to prosper and find happiness. We have to provide food and shelter for ourselves and our family or community and care for our children and the sick and elderly among us. We need to work, hopefully at a meaningful job, cultivate loving relationships, and build up our community. And so on. We have much to do to keep up with the demands of living here on earth.

But the most essential need in life is not up to us to accomplish. That need is for salvation. We depend on God to forgive our sins and draw us into union with Himself, beginning here on earth but lasting for eternity in heaven. The most essential part of human life is not our work but God’s.

That is what we celebrate this Easter and in these last few days of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. We acknowledge and give praise that God has satisfied our greatest need: reconciliation and eternal life.

The scriptures say, “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God did not wait until people stopped sinning before sending his Son to lead us to the Father. His Son experienced the effects of our sin, as he was reviled and persecuted and even put to death. That did not stop God from loving all of us, not just the virtuous ones, but all of us, for we all put Christ to death by our sins.
Easter celebrates God’s total gift of love for us. He has given us life and light and love that we receive through faith in his Son, who died and rose for our sake.

And what we receive from Christ is not only salvation and eternal life, which is beyond our ability; we also receive the grace to accomplish what is within our competence—our daily obligations, care for others, and service—with love and faith. Now, it is not merely survival that guides us but the conviction that Christ lives in this world, those around us, and ourselves. Not only have we been saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus, but the world has been transformed, and we have the power to carry that transformation into our homes, monastery, and world.

Reflection by Abbot Benedict Neenan, OSB