The Resurrection

Holy Week Retreat-in-Place 2020 The Resurrection: A Journey We Must Make

Often we talk about examining a situation “in retrospect.” What if we viewed the passion and death of the Lord from the point of view of the Resurrection? What would that look like? That would mean that we would have to look at everything that Christ redeemed from the position of victory. This is looking at something from the perspective of Divine Providence, from God’s own point of view. Is this even possible? Only God can reveal this to us, as he did to two disciples on their journey with Jesus on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24). Jesus tells them that “All this had to happen.” Christ had to suffer and die and rise again, so that we could live, free from the domain and enslavement of sin. Can we say the same thing about all the events of our life—the good, the bad, and the ugly events—that they all had to happen, for reasons greater than what we can imagine, ultimately for our salvation? We must explore our human journey from this angle, from the perspective of Resurrection Victory and the place of Divine Providence. It is a journey we must make! Clearly the current events of our life are downright ugly. There is the reality of the pandemic, of sickness and death that generates fear within us. There is also the reality of our struggle with sin. And God inserts Himself into all of

This Abbey Church in which we are gathered is that empty tomb filled with the joy proclaimed in the Exsultet. This empty tomb is the whole world, and indeed the entire cosmos, created anew by the resurrection of Jesus. This empty tomb is where all God’s promises through the prophets are realized in us in this night, where God pledges, “…I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you…” This empty tomb is where we were buried with Christ in Baptism, “so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.” All is different, yet all is the same! - Abbot James Albers Easter Vigil Homily

by Fr. Jay Kythe

this, into the human reality of brokenness. God Himself chooses to suffer and to die. But in order to understand this from the perspective of Resurrection Victory, examine all the beautiful artwork and iconography of the Resurrected Christ, and you will see something incredible: he still has the marks of his wounded flesh on his Resurrected Body! These marks are trophies of victory, marks that sin and death have not had the last word! We may also see him holding—not carrying—His Cross! The instrument of his Passion and Death has become a trophy for Him, showing it to the world to give others hope for a share in that same Resurrected glory. In a way he cries out, “This has not overcome Me!” When we see the Resurrected Christ, we see someone who has made it through the valley of the shadow of death. And when I am asked to walk through it, the Good Shepherd walks before me, with his crook and his staff to comfort me. At that moment I look up at the hands that hold that shepherd’s staff, and they are pierced hands. This is One I can trust to lead me through difficult times, especially through times such as these. We are called to keep our eyes on Jesus. Recall the story of Jesus walking on water from Matthew 14. The disciples are frightened when they see Him. In response he says to them, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” These are encouraging words from Jesus Himself to hold on to during these days of the pandemic, when we may feel fear and anxiety. Even St. Peter had to keep his gaze on Jesus, for when he gets distracted by the wind and the waves, he begins to sink. There is an important lesson in this for us: All is well when we keep our eyes fixed on God. We must gaze on God, who never ceases to gaze on us. However, it takes only a nanosecond to remove our gaze, and fear (and a whole host of the seven deadly sins) floods our hearts immediately! These deadly sins are compelling; they grab us and threaten not to let us go. But it also takes only a nanosecond to return to that gaze, for the gaze of God hasn’t left us. Even if the worst should happen, that we will sink under the water and drown, we will still be well. We will remain in his gaze for eternity. If I stand with Christ in his Resurrection Victory and examine my life and the world, considering all the bad things that have happened and are currently happening, how do I handle the bad memories? I may turn to him and ask, “Was that suffering you went through on that Friday afternoon traumatic for you?” I would think that he would answer, “No. It was not traumatic. It simply was. It is now a memory, perhaps even a bad memory. But it needed to happen for the salvation of the world.”

Thanks be to God that this is the same night in which we receive the Light of Life, the Resurrection Mystery, rather than passing us by, envelopes us and we become one with the Light, running with that Light so that the darkness of death might never overtake us again. - Abbot James Albers • Easter Vigil Homily

Consider how we often end up nourishing bad memories. They become traumatic memories because we tell ourselves the ugly stories over and over again. We do the same when we hold grudges. We tell ourselves and anyone who is within earshot that bad story. And it stays bad. It doesn’t have the chance to become just a memory of an experience. This is a distinction we see in the Gospels. The Gospels don’t describe the crucifixion in gory detail. They don’t speak of how he was pierced by nails, bleeding profusely, in agony on the Cross, unable to breathe. Rather they simply state, “and he was crucified.” It is a story of an experience. No details needed. The pandemic one day will simply just become a story. A story that is a chapter in a larger story, one that began with Creation and will end with the Book of Revelation. If the Bible were a timeline of human life, somewhere after the last epistle and the Book of Revelation would be our life. We would find ourselves caught up in a larger drama of salvation. If we could hold on to this concept, we would see that our current state of affairs, including all the ugly deaths that are occurring, are part of something greater, something amazing! In The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, two of the main characters, Sam and Frodo, have a realization of this during a dark part of their journey (The Two Towers, Book IV, Chapter VIII: The Stairs of Cirith Ungol). Sam and Frodo have the following conversation (the whole section is worth reading!):

‘Yes, that’s so,’ said Sam. ‘And we shouldn’t be here at all, if we’d known more about it before we started. But I suppose it’s often that way. The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo: adventures, as I used to call them. … Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually – their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But

I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn’t. And if they had, we shouldn’t know, because they’d have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on – and not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call a good end. … I wonder what sort of a tale we’ve fallen into? … Why, sir, I never thought of that before! … Why, to think of it, we’re in the same tale still! It’s going on.

Don’t the great tales never end?’

‘No, they never end as tales,’ said Frodo. ‘But the people in them come, and go when their part’s ended. Our part will end later – or sooner.’

Christ in Glory by Giotto

The same can be said of us. We’re in a story that began tragically, with the Fall. There was a fantastic climactic moment of a Savior-Warrior, God Incarnate, defeating the Enemy! There are many stories that describe the events of the Triduum from the perspective of Divine Providence, from the perspective of Christ’s victory. The Exsultet from the Easter Vigil is one such story. Others are written by Early Church Fathers. My favorite one is the “Ancient Homily on Holy Saturday” (you can find this online easily or in the Liturgy of the Hours). Seeing our lives as part of this great story of salvation puts everything into perspective. We are learning the art of trustful surrender to his providential will. Here is a challenge to you, a most difficult challenge. “If I had access to all the wisdom and knowledge of God, I would DEMAND that things happen EXACTLY the way they have.” Can I say that about the pandemic? Can I say that about the tragedies that I have experienced? Can I say that about my life? It is indeed a most difficult challenge! But it is a way that I can say, “Yes, Lord, Thy will, not mine, be done.” And it can only be done when I stay with him, in the gaze of his merciful love, and refuse to leave him.

Watch Fr. Jay’s talk with Q&A or read the unabridged version at Kansasmonks.org/jaytalk Have questions? Email us at info@kasnsasmonks.org