The Joy of Eastertide
Restored Relationships!
I love Christmas for its childlike joys, the sparkling lights, the shiny wrapped gifts, the beauty of the Babe in the Manger Who was born for us. Even the youngest child can grasp the reasons that this is such a beautiful time. “It’s Jesus’ birthday!” The Angels in Luke 2:14 tell us: “on earth peace to men of good will.”
But the magnificence of Easter, despite the bunnies and chicks and candy, takes a little more maturity and experience to truly appreciate. When we tell a child that Jesus was dead and now He’s alive again, they don’t really grasp the immensity. He has come back to us, as He said He would.
If we have been with Him in His sufferings, now we can experience His deep joy. “So also you now indeed have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no man shall take from you.” (John 16:22) We lost everything when we lost Him, when we killed Him by our sins, but now He has returned to us.
This joy no one shall take from us. “He is Risen as He Said.” (Matt. 28:6) He told us that He would suffer, die, and then rise again. No other human being has ever done that. He has triumphed over sin, and death, and evil people, and plots and machinations, and has come back to His friends.
His friends? Hardly. Only a few of them really proved themselves His friends. The rest fled, denied Him, or despaired of His forgiveness. But He saw through their weakness and offered His Wounded Hand to them in friendship.
In Mother Mary Loyola's book, "With the Church vol. 1", she writes of Saint Peter’s reconciliation with Our Lord:
“From the moment of that meeting after the Resurrection there had been no doubt, no misgiving. In [Peter’s] simple heart all was love and trust as before, only a more gentle humility, with more tender compassion for the fallen and the weak.”
Sometimes Our Lord allows us to fall into faults and sins so that we may have that gentle humility and compassion for others. When we return to Him contritely, as Peter did, He is quick to forgive and restore us to His Friendship.
The story of Easter is all about renewed friendship and forgiveness…relationships restored…and dying to sin while resurrecting to a new life of grace, light and joy.
By His death, He also restored the relationship between God and mankind. He tells Mary Magdalene in the Easter garden: “Go to my brethren, and say to them: I ascend to my Father and to your Father, to my God and your God.” (John 20:17) He made us His brothers and sisters, and mended our Father/child relationship with His Eternal Father. He is now OUR Father and OUR God. We could spend hours just reflecting on that immeasurable gift from the Risen Lord!
“Must we not make an effort, at Easter above all, to meet the Love that comes so far to seek us, that breaks out in the cry: ‘I am risen and am still with thee!’”
~ Mother Mary Loyola, "With the Church vol. 1"
As we continue to read together Piety and Personality: The Temperaments of the Saints, you might enjoy flipping to the chapter on St. Mary Magdalene, because of the reflections on her Easter interactions with Our Lord, and what we can learn from them. I also recommend:
With the Church vol. 1: Advent to the Ascension by Mother Mary Loyola
and:
The Risen Jesus by Most Rev. Alban Goodier, SJ
Wishing you a joyous and blessed Eastertide!