The Monthly Note
April 2007
It’s true, Jesus has risen
by Fr. Ovila Bélanger, OP
When I preach about the Resurrection of Jesus, I always feel the need to emphasize that it is a real event. The Resurrection is not a deception, it is a fact.
It is true that our daily experience is that of death and not of resurrection. Everyday, we see people around us die, and we know that their bodies disappear after a few years. We have never seen a deceased person come back to life.
But we Christians strongly claim, that 2000 years ago, a man named Jesus died on a Cross on Good Friday and came out of the tomb alive, on Easter. If He has triumphed over death, it is because He is stronger that death. He is God, because only God can triumph over death.
Our faith in the Resurrection of Jesus rests on the testimony of the Apostles. After Pentecost, the Apostles proclaimed with certainty before the Jews: « This Jesus that you have crucified, God has raised Him». Even if the Jewish authorities forbade them to preach and put them in jail, nothing stops them from declaring that Jesus is alive. After Easter, He appeared to them on many occasions; He showed that the wounds in His hands and on His side, He spoke with them, He ate with them.
We Christians have a total confidence in the Apostles. They are simple people that have both feet on the ground; they have no interest in lying to us. Besides, they all died as martyrs because of their faith in Jesus. Nobody would accept martyrdom for a cause they didn’t believe in. This means that the Apostles speak the truth when they say that Jesus has risen. We are not wrong when our faith relies on theirs.
The Resurrection of Jesus reflects very much upon us. It transfigures our life, it transfigures the world. It is not just a super-miracle. With resurrection, a new world is born. We are not beings that are destined to death. We were created to live and to live eternally. We firmly believe that we will be raised, like Christ. Our faith in Resurrection does not keep us from having ordeals. Besides, our human life consists of many mysteries that we cannot penetrate, but the Risen Jesus tells us that life will overcome evil and death, for us as for Him.
If the last word of our human existence is life, then our vocation is to be bearers of life here on Earth. This means being artisans of justice and peace, supporting all effort of fraternity, mutual aid and sharing in our world.
Ovila Bélanger, Dominicain
«Why do you seek the living one among the dead?» (Lk 24, 5)
