By Catholic Stewardship Consultants
www.CatholicSteward.com
Easter Sunday fell this year on April 20. But even now, while this glorious day has come and gone and as the springtime days of May have arrived, remember that Easter is far from over — the celebration of the greatest feast day of the church year continues for 50 days after Easter Sunday.
On Easter Sunday we celebrated Christ rising from the dead, following his gruesome passion and death.
On that glorious Sunday — three days after he died — Christ fulfilled his promise, “Destroy this temple and I will rebuild it in three days” (Jn 2:19), and the promises of the Old Covenant, “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers. They will strike at your head while you strike at their heel” (Gn 3:15).
Through his resurrection, Jesus broke the chains of sin and death, opening for us the way to eternal life. Yet his mission was not over. He was back with his disciples, showing them that what had been promised to their fathers had been fulfilled.
“Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things” (Lk 24:46-48).
Yet again, there is still more. After all, Jesus is not still walking the earth, showing us himself, is he?
Forty days after his resurrection, Jesus ascended to his Father’s right hand. That day falls on May 29 this year, but the feast of the Ascension is moveable and will be celebrated on June 1.
And 50 days after Easter, the Father sent his Spirit, just as Christ promised he would. With that (the feast we celebrate as Pentecost, which falls on June 8), Christ’s salvific mission was accomplished, and it is with the celebration of that great feast that we conclude the Easter season — a season of joyful recognition of the salvation Christ won for us.
Having been beaten and killed for our sins, Christ rose from the dead breaking the bonds of sin. Then, after he ascended to his rightful place in heavenly glory, the Lord sent the Holy Spirit, and now, armed with the power of the Spirit, the church serves as the sacrament of salvation on Earth — offering us sanctifying grace (a share in the life of Christ himself) through the sacraments.
As you can see, the Easter season offers us a time to commemorate some of the most important events in the history of salvation. In fact, it can rightly be called the most important season of the church year, for it is now — during these 50 days — that we celebrate the fruits of Christ’s sacrifice.
Today, though Christ has won the victory over sin, we are all still living in a tainted world. We still feel the effects of sin because we do not yet fully partake of the fruits of Christ’s victory. That we will only know when (and if) we, by the grace of God, enter eternal glory in the heavenly kingdom.
Let us all take the time this Easter season to thank God for the gift of salvation. Spend time reflecting on how much we have opened our hearts to the grace he pours upon us. May we all be more aware of the glory Christ has won for us and, in so doing, willingly detach ourselves from the fruits of this world so that we may be more receptive to the fruits of his grace.
