Exult, let them exult, the hosts of heaven, exult, let Angel ministers of God exult, let the trumpet of salvation sound aloud our mighty King’s triumph! This is the night when Christ broke the prison-bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld. O truly blessed night, when things of heaven are wed to those of earth, and divine to the human.
This is the night, dear sisters and brothers in Christ, toward which we have been journeying on pilgrimage these past 40 days. Our Lenten journey has been one of sacrifice, struggle, and self-denial. We have entered more deeply into the mystery of the life, crucifixion, and death of our Lord and have conformed ourselves more closely to him. Now, on this Easter night we come to experience the unsurpassable joy of his resurrection.
This is the night on which our Blessed Saviour says to us: “O sleeper, awake! I did not create you to be held prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.”
The sin that separated us from our Creator has been overcome. Death, which cut us off from the life of God, has been transformed into the means of our redemption. On this most holy day the Cross takes on new meaning. It is no longer a brutal tool for execution; it is the tangible symbol of God’s infinite love. With St. Ambrose we joyfully exclaim: “Death is, then, no cause for mourning, for it is the cause of mankind’s salvation.”
Christ has broken down the gates of hell and has rescued us from our bondage to sin. Christ has flung the gates of heaven wide open, and, as the Good Shepherd, tirelessly seeks out his lost sheep. Christ has gone to the farthest reaches of forsakenness, complete alienation from his Father, in order to be in complete solidarity with us who have gone so far astray. He comes to where we are, not to leave us there, but to lift us out of the sin that we were helpless to do anything about on our own. He dies the death that was due to us in order to lift us up with him in his resurrection and take us to his Father’s house.
The Bridegroom has come to be with his people, “to wipe away every tear from our eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away” (Rev 21:4). Our Blessed Lord makes all things new. In his death and resurrection he has invited us to share in the newness of eternal life.
Truly this is a time to exult and rejoice in the glorious triumph of Almighty God. His victory, which was planned from the beginning of time, has been accomplished. Forevermore, “future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!” (Ps 22:31).
Happy Easter. Christus Resurrexit, Resurrexit Vere!
Kevin Ponte – St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta
Fot. Joshua Eckstein/Unsplash.com