May 4 Mon
How should the resurrection of Christ affect my life?
We should reflect on the impact on our lives produced by the power of Jesus’ Resurrection, which we celebrate in the liturgical season from Easter to Pentecost.
We may experience what the first disciples did when they met Jesus after the Resurrection, asking themselves: "Is it true? Or is it an illusion of my mind?"
This question is crucial because, if it is true, everything must change in our lives.
If it is not true, everything will remain the same, and our lives will lack purpose.
If we have never asked ourselves this question, it may be because we are unwilling to change anything; it might seem easier not to doubt.
If Christ had not risen, his Passion and death, no matter how significant they were, would remain mere expressions of goodwill without any consequence for us.
Conversely, if it is a real and historical event, even if it exceeds our understanding, it becomes a powerful light and energy that must change our perspective on life, death, and the afterlife.
Thus, the resurrection of Jesus Christ confirms that He is God, even though the disciples did not recognize Him at first because He had transformed Himself. However, when He revealed His identity to them, the disciples recognized Him unmistakably.
This recognition, however, did not allow them to hold on to Him, as we cannot physically embrace Him. We cannot take or clasp Him with our arms since the Lord exists in another dimension.
Therefore, the transition from His divine dimension to ours occurs only because He approaches and connects with us. The most intense moment of that closeness is the Eucharist.
That is why the Eucharistic adoration is a personal face-to-face communication -an embrace- with Jesus, even though He remains in His divine dimension and we cannot see Him as He truly is. In this regard, faith in the resurrection leads us to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist itself nourishes our faith in the resurrection.
It is worthwhile to pause this Easter to consider the profound impact of Christ's resurrection on each of us and on all humanity, lest we squander that spiritual energy suppressed by our inability to open ourselves to Jesus or by the hardness of our hearts.
Yet we will not be able to share in our Lord's resurrection unless we unite ourselves with Him in His passion and death. To accompany Christ in His glory, we must first enter into His sacrifice and be genuinely united to Him as He lies dead on Calvary.
Christ's generous self-sacrifice is a challenge to our sin.
"May we never die through sin; may our spiritual resurrection be eternal."
Let's turn now to the days between the Ascension and Pentecost. As a result of the triumph of Christ's resurrection, the disciples are filled with faith; they eagerly await the promised Holy Spirit. They want to stay close to one another, and so we find them "with Mary, the mother of Jesus," praying as one family.
With excerpts from Nicolás de Cárdenas