An Easter Blessing
Christus Surrexit Vere, Alleluia!
Happy Easter to all!
Upon waking this morning, I had a revelation. I’m not sure why I never saw this connection before, and I’m not sure I ever heard anyone mention it either. This is what came to mind as my eyes adjusted to the light of a new day:
Jesus rises on the third day. This is a basic tenet of Christianity and the Christian story. Jesus is crucified on what we now call Good Friday and then rises to new life on Sunday. Where had I heard “third day” before?
In Genesis, the very book that begins the Bible.
After creating light and darkness on the first day, after creating the waters and the skies, on the third day God creates the plants, trees, and seeds from the earth. Out of the earth comes life. Jesus, having been buried in the earth after his execution, rises to new life. He brings forth a new creation, just as God brought forth life at the dawn of existence.
“And God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.’ And it was so.” (Genesis 1:11, NRSV)
All of this is a reminder that on Easter, we are all called to wake from the slumber of our earthly existence and take part in new life. By the very fact that we can breathe, every moment is a moment of new life.
Dante, the 14th-century poet who wrote The Divine Comedy, named one of his early works La Vita Nuova. Translation? New life.
Today, my blessing for all of you, my prayer for you and your families and friends, and for the world, is for the grace to see la vita nouva around us, to appreciate it, and to love it.
God bless you,
Gary