Resurrection

(any excuse for a Caravaggio)

Just recently I've been thinking a lot about death. Burying the dead, in so much as we've had a lot of funerals of late, meeting with relatives/friends to plan the liturgy and all that this entails. It can be very emotionally draining and today I was particularly struck of the loss of someone very dear. It is hard to say goodbye, or even au revoir, sometimes. I was reminded, thank goodness for death because it reminds us of the resurrection.

The Resurrection changes everything.

The joy of the Easter season is now in full swing. Indeed, there are some who may feel that it is time to look forward now and move onto the next stage. Look to Pentecost and even to ordinary time. Maybe there are those who long to see the green again. This would be typical of me. I rarely stop to smell the grass, to take in that which is present now, to just be.

One of my friends here at Oscott, recently, gave a post communion reflection at Mass. His central theme was “the Resurrection changes everything” and when I reflect on his inspired words, I see the need to respond to the resurrection, the wonder of it, by relishing in that which has changed. Stopping and smelling the grass is now not seen just as relaxation, appreciation or even meditation, it is nothing less than wonder at the new creation. Yes, I need to slow down and enjoy the wonder of the resurrection.

Here are Michael Glover’s words, which he has kindly agreed to let me post on this blog.

During Lent we embraced a sombre tone in the celebration of the liturgy. We took on works of penance, fasting and almsgiving. As we approached Holy Week the chapel was shrouded in purple, hiding all its beauty. On Holy Thursday the Blessed Sacrament was removed and the chapel was made as bare. And on Easter Sunday there was a change…

No more trying to look happy as we aim to fulfil our Lenten observances, the chapel was unveiled and looked better than we can remember, the Blessed Sacrament was brought back and the chapel was filled with flowers, candles and the resounding song of Alleluia!

The Resurrection changes everything. Eastertide celebrates the change from death to life and everything is changed and seen in a new way. Even works of penance are changed; they now have a “post resurrection character”. Ratzinger relates a story of Haydn, who, while he was composing remarked “As I came to utter the words of supplication, I could not suppress my joy but loosed the reins of my elated spirit and wrote ‘allegro’ over the Miserere”. The Resurrection changes everything.