The Lenten penitence and sorrow of Holy Week have given way to Easter joy! Not only during Lent but frequently throughout the year, we are reminded of our call to take up our cross and to unite our suffering with Christ.
Now in the Easter season, we celebrate and feast in the joy of the Resurrection of Jesus.
If we experience the reality of the cross in our lives now, wouldn’t we also have some share in the Resurrection already in this life?
St. John Paul II said, “Believers are called to become an echo of the event of Christ, to become themselves an ‘event.’”
Our imitation of Christ is not limited to a sharing in His Cross. Becoming an echo of the event of Christ includes sharing in His Resurrection.
How is it that we share in Christ’s Resurrection in our lives now?
Insight from the Gospels
The Sunday Gospel readings through the Easter season provide insight into how we share in Christ’s Resurrection.
Each Sunday during Easter, we hear from the Gospel of John. Jesus speaks words of consolation and imparts Divine promises.
Last Sunday, we celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday. In the Gospel, we heard Jesus say, “Peace be with you” (John 20:21).
Peace is a way we experience Jesus’ Resurrection in our lives now. The peace of Christ is deep and abiding. It brings rest and steadiness, even in the midst of trials and challenges. Peace among friends, in families, and in communities are also experiences of resurrection in our broken world.
Jesus’ Resurrection makes it possible for us to live in peace with one another.
The Third Sunday of Easter, on May 1, brings great hope for all of us.
In the Gospel, we hear of Peter’s encounter with Jesus on the beach.
After denying Jesus three times, Peter returns to his old life of fishing. Jesus calls to him once again and asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?”.
Jesus offers Peter the opportunity to be reconciled, forgiven, and sent on mission. Receiving the forgiveness and mercy of Jesus is a resurrection experience.
Jesus told St. Faustina, “The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to My mercy” (Diary of St. Faustina, 723). Like Peter, we are given the opportunity to begin again.
When we receive reconciliation and forgiveness from Jesus, we are receiving the grace won for us through His suffering, death, and Resurrection.
May 8 is the Fourth Sunday of Easter. This Sunday’s Gospel goes back to John 10 to remind us of two great promises from Jesus.
Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28).
First, Jesus promises that we, his sheep, will hear his voice. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, our ears are opened to hear our Lord’s voice.
Opening the Bible and reading the Word of God, we hear our Good Shepherd’s voice.
Second, Jesus promises eternal life. He does not say he will give us eternal life sometime later after their earthly death. He says, “I give them eternal life” — I am no grammar expert, but I read that as present tense. Jesus gives us eternal life — even now.
The Fifth Sunday of Easter is on May 15. On this Sunday, Jesus gives us a new commandment, a new way of living.
Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
The Resurrection of Jesus makes possible this new way of living.
Through the power of Jesus’ Resurrection, we are able to love one another.
When we are patient, forgiving, and generous with others. When we put others before ourselves. When we look at another with compassion rather than judgment.
All of these are experiences of the graces won for us by the Resurrection of Jesus, giving us the ability to love one another.
The Sixth Sunday of Easter is May 22. In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit.
He says, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you” (John 14:26).
The Holy Spirit has been given to us in Baptism and Confirmation.
The Spirit is forming and teaching us in the ways of becoming an echo of the event of Christ.
The Spirit also reminds us of all that Jesus has said.
When you remember a Scripture passage or the new commandment to love, these are resurrection moments.
When you experience an increase or activation of the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit, these are resurrection experiences.
Experiencing resurrection
These Gospel passages highlight a few instances of how we experience resurrection in our lives now.
Any way we experience renewal in our faith, newness of life, or a new beginning, we are experiencing the fruit of Jesus’ Resurrection.
We are called to persevere daily in carrying our crosses in life with Jesus.
The strength for this perseverance comes from the hope of resurrection.
The way of the cross leads to resurrection and new life.
May we carry the hope of resurrection with us always.
Sarah Pandl is a member of St. Christopher Parish in Verona. She works for The Evangelical Catholic and loves living in tune with the liturgical calendar of the Church.