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| Prayer Before and Prayer After |
“Jesus said to her: ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in Me, although he be dead, shall live’” (John 11, 25).
First Prelude: Behold our risen Saviour, resplendent in heavenly glory.
Second Prelude: I pray Thee, O my Jesus, through the power of Thy glorious resurrection strengthen my faith, reanimate my hope and enkindle my heart with grateful affection.
First Point
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST, A PLEDGE OF OUR FUTURE RESURRECTION
Our Lord’s wonderful victory over death in His resurrection is a sure pledge of our future resurrection, as the Apostle testifies with the words: “And if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you; He that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead, shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because of His Spirit that dwelleth in you” (Rom. 8, 11). Knowing from so reliable a source that after the short rest in the grave,—short in view of eternity,—we shall rise again to receive heavenly joys as recompense for a holy life, must we not feel impelled to sacrifice everything to attain such exquisite happiness? Will not this truth be for us a sure guide to heaven? If the short, delusive pleasures of earth suffice to stimulate to the most heroic deeds, should we not exert every fibre of our heart to merit the pure, sublime and imperishable joys awaiting us in a happy resurrection? “The hour cometh wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God” (John 5, 28). “And the sea shall give up the dead that were in it and death and hell shall give up their dead” (Rev. 20, 13). Oh, truly blessed Easter! With what rapturous delight shall the just re-inhabit their body from which they have so long been separated! Here below it was the companion of their banishment, the frail dwelling place of their soul, the means to glorify God by mortification and suffering. How radiant are those members that have labored untiringly in the service of the Lord! What joy to have despised the world, trodden vain glory under foot, and sought the honor of God in all things, and now to receive from the Supreme Judge of life and death, the imperishable crown of everlasting glory! “They have sown amidst tears, but shall reap everlasting, all-surpassing joy and bliss.”
In the Apostles’ Creed, we daily say: “I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.” What an incentive to patience in sufferings and reverses! Are my feeble efforts to acquire virtue supported by this great hope!
Second Point
THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD, AN EXHORTATION TO LOVE AND GRATITUDE
Hope in the future resurrection must expand our hearts and incite us to offer them anew to our loving Saviour as a weak tribute of thanksgiving and love. For love of us, He assumed the weakness of human kind, abased Himself by submitting to the shameful crucifixion; for love of us, He triumphed over death to restore to us our forfeited claim to immortality and, as St. Paul puts it, to make the body of our lowliness like to the body of His glory. Must not the thought of Christ’s boundless love imbue us with the desire to coöperate faithfully with the graces which unite us most intimately with Him here on earth, and secure for us a place in His Divine Heart in the life to come! How could we be so ungrateful as to place obstacles to such love? Should we not, as religious, employ every opportunity to give joy to the Heart of Jesus and to make our future resurrection a glorious one? It was with these sentiments that the martyrs went exultingly to the most painful death, longing for the moment when they should have the happiness to be with Jesus. The thought of their future glory buoyed them up with invincible bravery, and supported them in the bitter pangs of martyrdom. Let us, then, courageously cope with the lighter temptations wherewith God wills to test our fidelity! Let us persevere in patience, and accept the slight crosses that we meet, with cheerful resignation to the holy Will of God. We will say with St. Paul: “Neither death, nor life, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ, Jesus, our Lord!” (Rom. 8, 38-39). Have I not reasons for special gratitude towards my Saviour for giving me, in my holy vocation, such a particular claim to a future glorious resurrection? Which sacrifice of love and gratitude has He a right to expect of me today?
Affections: Honor and love to Thee, O Eternal Son of God, who didst deign not only to die for us, but also to rise gloriously from the tomb. Thy glorious resurrection is the pledge of ours. Thou wilt have us live with Thee for all eternity, that Thy victory may be ours. Give us grace so to live that our body, too, may rise resplendent from the grave to share Thy glory for all eternity.
Resolution: In grateful love, I will make every sacrifice that Jesus demands of me today.
Spiritual Bouquet: “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that I shall see Him.”
Prayer: Take, O Lord . . .
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