Nicole Ferrante is in the final weeks of her MDiv degree at the Regis St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology. She has recently taken on the role of Campus Ministry Coordinator at USMC and is excited to serve the St. Mike’s community in this new capacity.
Christ is risen! Alleluia!
Throughout the world, these words are being joyfully proclaimed as we celebrate Easter, the Resurrection of our Lord. But as these words leave our lips, do we really take time to ponder in our hearts what they truly mean?
Christ is risen… It is easy to take these words for granted, so many years later. But let us put ourselves for a moment in the shoes of the closest followers of Christ; those who walked with him, ate with him, prayed with him, and laughed with him; those who loved him as a son, brother, teacher, and friend; those who hoped in him as something more, something greater, though they were only beginning to grasp an inkling of what that might be.
On Good Friday, a man was crucified. A man who seemingly had his whole life ahead of him. A man of compassion and hope, beloved by those near him. An innocent man, guilty of nothing but the justice and mercy that permeated his being and the promise of change in the world around him. Jesus, the Son of God, uttered his final words, and breathed his last.
The disciples must also have been left breathless in the despair that threatened to crush and suffocate them. Wordless in their sorrow, which simply couldn’t be expressed.
But the story does not end there. For on the third day, the tomb is found open and empty. The linens that wrapped Jesus’ body, left behind. And Jesus, risen from the dead, makes himself known in a new way to his followers.
Jesus was dead; now he lives. Hope seemed lost; now it abounds. And something of the goodness, greatness, and boundless love of God is grasped in the human heart in a totally unprecedented way.
A new breathlessness takes over: the utter breathlessness of wonder, of a heart so full that for the first moments one is entirely caught up, forgetting to exhale. A new wordlessness takes place, born not from emptiness, but from a sudden fullness that cannot be expressed, nor comprehended. For what human words could begin to convey the joy and the monumental significance of the mystery that has taken place? Two thousand years later, as we continue to ponder the events of Easter Sunday, let us not forget to take a moment to be wordless in our wonder. To feel that fullness in our chests, which chokes us up and overtakes us. And may it be out of that moment of silent, all-encompassing wonder that our joy is born, and that together we are finally able to proclaim with the fullness of our being: “Christ is Risen! Alleluia!”
Blessings to all as we begin this Easter Season!
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