The glorious Resurrection of Christ gives rise to consoling joys as well as important lessons for faithful men and women to learn as they journey toward eternal blessedness.
Newsroom (21/04/2022 09:00, Gaudium Press) The man made in the mold according to the spirit of the Divine Master – he who responds to the graces obtained through Mary’s entreaties, who is faithful, who entirely obeys the will of God and whose soul is shaped by the doctrine of the Church – possesses such a temperament that no disaster, ruin, sorrow, persecution or misery can strike him down and divert him from his apostolic path.
On the contrary, the greater the setbacks, the greater his courage; the more unexpected the defeats, the greater his will to react; the more terrible the blows he receives, the greater his determination to keep on fighting.
And if it happens that he falls prostrate during the fight, God – Who watches over him and his spiritual descendants – will see to it that from his example and his lesson disciples are born who continue his work. And so, from glory to glory, from step to step – but from pain to pain, and from suffering to suffering – it is possible to raise up works of unimaginable greatness and beauty.
But these works, born of pain, fidelity, constancy and the complete giving of oneself so that God may execute His will upon men, are also born of devotion to Our Lady and union with Her, which obtains for us graces that are unspeakably strong, profound and invigorating.
Joy that prepares us for new trials
Another lesson that Our Lord’s triumph over death gives us is the joyful celebrations that recall it.
The pomp of the splendid and brilliant Liturgy of the Easter Vigil and of Resurrection Sunday tell us of all the legitimate and even glorious joys that a faithful man can enjoy in his life.
However, the mission and the works of the converted Apostles teach us that there is no joy that diverts the faithful man from the path of pain; there is no happiness that softens him, that removes him from the austerity with which he walks the path to Heaven.
On the contrary, since this joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, man comes out of this day of celebration and glory more willing to endure all the humiliations, all the pains and all the sacrifices necessary for the great battle of salvation that he will have before him.
For this reason, as we celebrate Easter of the Resurrection, we must ask the risen Jesus, through Our Lady, for the strength of spirit by which no trial will lead us to despair, nor glory that will lead us to slackness.
Thus, through this path of sufferings without discouragement and of triumphs without relaxation, we shall at last reach the imperishable glory of Heaven, by the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, and by the entreaties of Mary Most Holy, our Mother, to whose prayers we owe so much.
Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm
