It’s Easter! Christ has risen! Alleluia! He has opened the gates of heaven, destroyed death, and welcomed souls into the joy of eternal life.
Yet we’re not quite there; Earth is still our home. And so, we might understandably ask just how Christ’s death and resurrection affect us “here are now”. How does the resurrection change our day-to-day lives?
“In his dying, he destroyed death; in his rising, he restored life.” (CCC 1067) Christ by his death and resurrection has merited for us the grace to sanctify our earthly lives and go to Heaven when we die. But heartaches and headaches, trials and tears all still come and the suffering of each is with us in our daily lives. Why is this so? How are we to understand the continued presence of suffering in the world even after the death and resurrection of our Lord? Was his destruction of death only partial or his restoration of life only temporary?
Not at all! The difficulties surrounding us are not a deficiency in God’s redemption but the result of his super-abundant mercy. By his grace, he uses these difficulties for our good. Just as silver is tried by fire, so our loving God tests and refines us through difficulties. (cf. Zech 13:9) The trials we receive purify us. The hardships we are given sanctify us.
To make sense of this mystery, consider the awesome and mysterious events of this past week. It was through the death of Christ that the effects of sin were destroyed. And now by the mercy of God, through our trials and hardships, we can receive the life of Christ. Suffering is no longer a sign of defeat, but a source of life, for Christ has conquered it. Thus St. Paul said, “I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Cor 12:9)
You and I have each been given a cross, and it is a wonderful gift. For with this cross, we are able to follow Christ in his passion and beyond to the resurrection. Our crosses unite us to Christ in this life so that we may be perfectly united with him in the life to come. “If we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.” (Rom 6:8) In this way, our personal troubles and pains do not hinder our lives but enhance them. By the mercy of God, they become for us a ladder leading straight to God.
Truly today we have reason to celebrate! For God has so gratuitously blessed us that even our small earthly trials can lead us closer to him in heaven. “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Phil 1:21)
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Image: Carl Heinrich Bloch, Consolator, detail (public domain)
