easter is only for the dead
"The man who loves his life loses it, while the man who hates his life in this world preserves it to life eternal." —John 12:25
There are two more weeks until Easter. We are on the threshold of one of the most significant moments of our lives. Do we expect to meet the risen Christ this Easter? The risen, glorified Jesus is about to come to us in a special way. Easter is nothing less and can be nothing more. However, to experience the resurrection, we must be willing to die. Only the dead can come to life.
"I solemnly assure you, unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit" (Jn 12:24). We must accept the deaths of repentance, sacrifice, obedience, suffering, and persecution, or we do not have the prerequisites for resurrection. "Continually we carry about in our bodies the dying of Jesus, so that in our bodies the life of Jesus may also be revealed. While we live we are constantly being delivered to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal flesh" (2 Cor 4:10-11).
The old song says: "Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die." We might paraphrase it: "Everybody wants the resurrection without the crucifixion, the glory without the cross, Easter without Lent."
Prayer: Jesus, may the next two weeks be a real-life "way of the cross."
Promise: "I will place My law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be My people." —Jer 31:33
Praise: Praise Jesus, the Suffering Servant, Who laid down His life and picked it up again.
Reference: (This Easter, meet the risen Christ by renewing your baptismal covenant by using our tape series Baptismal Promises on audio AV 83-1, AV 83-3, AV 84-1, AV 84-3 or our video series starting with V-83.)
Rescript: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, October 27, 2005
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