Tonight during Easter Vigil Mass we sang the words, “For everything must die to rise again. Everything must die to live anew.” My thoughts naturally gravitated to Shawn and I envisioned his new life and realized that the only way he could afford it was through his death. The Easter Message is Shawn’s message, and my message and each person’s message. One day death will knock for us and meet us at an unknown hour. For those who believe, this will be our entrance into true life.
I looked at the cross hanging directly in front of me pondering the idea that Christ broke the hold of death on our lives. Death has lost its sting. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, death can no longer have the final word. Gazing at his outstretched arms, I fixed my eyes on a new concept. Could these same arms take hold of me in my brokenness and make me new? Could they replace a shattered life so that death would lose its grip and life would ultimately prevail?
The word trust enters into my contemplation. Can I trust this Savior as friend, as counselor, as healer and conqueror? Tonight the music convinced me that I could. We sang about "the third day”. Jesus told his people he would rise again on the third day. Skeptical, guards were stationed outside his grave to confirm this nonsense. Yet, on the third day, it is recorded for the first time in history or since thereafter, that a man known as Jesus did indeed rise from the dead.
This "third day" then becomes relevantly important for our Christian beliefs. Jesus spoke truth. He conquered death. He embraces my healing as his own. And He is making all things new.
