The Resurrection is here, sisters. The long-awaited light.
Is it illuminating your world today? Or does jubilation feel like a spiritual mismatch as you continue to fight some darkness?
Here’s the thing about resurrection: it’s easy to cradle its hope in hindsight.
But we who have the benefit of hindsight forget the reality of Christ’s Resurrection for those who actually witnessed it.
Christ’s followers spent sleepless nights after Calvary cloaked in grief, wracked with the guilt of betrayal, filled with confusion and overwhelm. Christ had personally promised to destroy death and rise on the third day, but in the aftermath of His brutal passion, any thought of His rising was beyond their comprehension.
In the twilight of Easter, Mary Magdalene crept to the tomb, not with the hope of meeting the Living Christ, but with the certainty of tending to His remains. She who had intimately experienced His miracles and healing still struggled to overcome the blindness of grief, the impossibility of hope in human terms—even as she stood face-to-face with the resurrected Christ. The disbelieving disciples running to the tomb still had to overcome their fear and accept the truth despite the proof.
And even when they courageously began to live in truth of the Resurrection, their suffering didn’t end.
Yet neither did their joy.
On the contrary, they weathered mini-Calvarys of suffering and persecution—even martyrdom—with the help of the grace they received through Christ’s Resurrection and a deeply-infused trust in the ultimate resurrection of the body when Christ comes again at the end of time. (See Catechism of the Catholic Church 1002.)
Our life, too, is a series of mini Calvarys and resurrections. Our spiritual seasons won’t always match liturgical seasons. We might doubt the possibility of resurrection for our circumstances in human terms—and we might initially be clouded with doubt and confusion even when we meet He Who did arise face-to-face.
But to live in the truth of Jesus' Resurrection today means holding fast with faith to God’s promises, even in the darkness or haze of spiritual twilight. In uniting every small cross and consolation to Christ’s great Cross, we participate in His Resurrection. We are infused with the hope of final resurrection of our bodies—when every earthly cross will be swallowed up by eternal joy.
Happy Easter, sisters.
This Alleluia and Adoration video will lift your heart this Easter morning!
Megan Hjelmstad is a wife and mom 24/7 and an Army Reservist in her “spare” time. She is the Stories Manager for the Blessed is She Instagram account. She’s a bibliophile, tea drinker, sleep lover, and avid admirer of Colorado’s great outdoors. When the writing bug hits, you can find out more about her here.
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