Catholic Hermit's Easter Thoughts and Blessings in Christ

"Brothers and sisters:  
If you were raised with Christ, 
seek what is above, 
where Christ is seated 
at the right hand of God. 
Think of what is above, 
not of what is on earth.  
For you have died, 
and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  
When Christ your life appears, 
then you too will appear with Him in glory.
                        ~ Colossians 3:1-4

"Resurrection of Christ" ~ Fra Angelico

Easter, 2020, following a Lent that likely will not be forgotten by any of us living through it, nor by the historical accounts of COVID-19 global pandemic.  For the first time in the history of this and many countries around the world, people have not been able to gather to celebrate Jewish Passover or Christian Triduum:  Holy Thursday's Last Supper, Good Friday, Easter Resurrection of Christ.

For many years, waking upon Easter morning, a first thought is:  Christ Is Risen!  A second thought is of Mary Magdalene, or Mary of Bethany (as considered by most accounts one and the same person), standing by the empty tomb of Jesus Christ, grief-stricken and with but His burial cloths, not knowing where is His corpse.  Only after Jesus appears as a gardener and then reveals Himself to Mary and tells her to go and inform the others that He lives, that He has risen from the dead--does she begin to grasp the joy of this encounter with her beloved Lord.

A third thought, here, in the blissful silence of Solus Deus Hermitage while awaiting the growing light of earliest of dawn's glimmers, is that of what each Easter for these many years has been the sense of reality that Christ rose, but I very much bodily remain here; and the crucifixion aspects of my earthly suffering never take a day off be it a feast day or solemnity.  But one of these Easters, Jesus will take me with Him--sans my ever-painful body.

In the meantime, the mind, heart, and soul have the blessing of always being in His Real Presence.  On this Easter morning--particularly this year--the relief of a new dawn, a fresh beginning of the spiritual rising with Christ gives such immense hope and faith and love!

I'm fully forgiven the sins the Lord helped me recognize; I am to rise, go forth (even if not physically out of bed and no means of leave-taking yet more pain resulting from spinal cord injection a few days ago), and sin no more.

Now, of course I will sin again in some fashion or form.  I am human, indeed, as much as Christ Is Risen, Indeed!  And I'm not particularly upset nor bothered by the reality that I will muck up again, and repeatedly, of this or that sin of my human flaws--those that I am aware of for years and those that I am not yet recognizing as part of my imperfect, human condition.

I don't want to do wrong, don't intend to sin or offend God or hurt others.  But I more consider the tremendous love of God for me, and that Jesus is merciful.  And while we already--amidst our celebration of Christ Is Risen on yet another Easter--anticipate the Ascension of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost some 40 days from now, we know in fact and reality that the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, is with us in the Trinity of His Real Presence.

The Holy Spirit continues to guide and teach me in the way of the spiritual life, in the path of narrow traversing of this temporal life.  The Holy Spirit will keep on pointing out my temptations and my flaws, will stop me in my tracks of doing wrong or will shine His Light on what it is of which I might already have erred.  And then the Holy Spirit will help me examine my mind, heart, and soul--rutting out whatever my body in action, or my mind in thoughts and heart in emotions have caused disruption in the bliss of beloved unity of what is the nothingness of me with what is the All of God.

This process of sowing within the means of learning to love, and of loving to learn to love His Real Presence and all others and else whom the Trinity loves including ourselves, creates the reality of Christ's life through us, with us, and in us.  We are constantly evolving into union with Him, through the process of being born again into Christ, and of falling and being saved by Him, and then picked up and rising yet again, over and over, with the Risen Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ!

The Triduum is an on-going reality for each of us.  In Christ we live, think, feel, move, and have our being.  In Christ we die to ourselves; in Christ we rise to eternal life in praise and communion with His Real Presence--an eternity that begins now, today, this Easter and every third day following the first and second days of symbolic-yet-actual metamorphosis of spiritual regeneration.  God's All begets  our always rejoicing.

The following homily is of thoughts from St. Gregory of Nyssa, monk and bishop (c. 335-395):

"Here is a wise saying:  'The day of prosperity makes one forget adversity' (Sir 11:15).  Today the first sentence passed against us has been forgotten--more!--not just forgotten but cancelled!  This day has wiped away completely all remembrance of our condemnation.  In former times childbearing took place in pain; now we are born without suffering.  Formerly we were no more than flesh, born of the flesh; today, what is born is spirit, born of the Spirit.

"Yesterday we were born mere children of men; today we are born children of God.  Yesterday we were cast out of heaven to the earth; today, He who reigns in the heavens makes us citizens of heaven.  Yesterday, death reigned because of sin; today, thanks to Him who is the Life, righteousness regains its might.

"In former times one man opened for us the gates of death; today, the one Man brings us back to life.  Yesterday, life was lost to us because of death; but today, Life has destroyed death.  Yesterday, shame caused us to hide ourselves beneath the fig tree; today, glory draws us towards the tree of life.  Yesterday, disobedience expelled us from Paradise; today, our faith causes us to enter it.

"Once again the fruit of life is held out to us to be enjoyed as much as we wish. Once again the stream of Paradise, whose water irrigates us through the four rivers of the gospels (cf. Gn 2:10), comes to refresh the whole face of the Church....

"From now on what are we to do but imitate the mountains and hills of the prophecies in their leaping for joy:  'Mountains, skip like rams; hills, like lambs of the flock!' (Ps 114[113[:4).  'Come, then, let us sing joyfully to the Lord!' (Ps 95 [94]:1).  He has broken the power of the enemy and raised up the great trophy of the cross....

"So let us say:  'The Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods!' (Ps 95[94]:3).  He blesses the year by crowning it with His bounty (cf. Ps 65[64]:12), and He gathers us together in spiritual chorus in Jesus Christ our Lord, to Whom be glory for endless ages. Amen."  

Blessed Easter, dear readers or anyone who stumbles upon this blog post and manages to read through to this my personal greeting and blessing through, with, in Christ Jesus: 

God bless His Real Presence in us!  He is Risen! Alleluia!  Our sins are forgiven, Christ's blood shed for us.  We are now given the freedom and strength, the mystical means of abiding in Christ:  to rise through, with, and in Him, and to live in His merciful love for all eternity!