Die to Live

(March 31, 2021) This week, Christians are celebrating Holy Week. Many of us will participate in  Mass and other church services at least once before Sunday’s celebration of  Easter. 

The scripture readings for this week are familiar and we know the story.  Sometimes what’s familiar can become routine or humdrum and so, to combat  that attitude, I wanted to look at Holy Week as if for the first time. I was searching  for a way to understand it better intellectually so I could comprehend it deeper  spiritually. (This was in line with an earlier reflection I wrote about moving our  faith from our heads to our hearts.) I’d like to share with you a few thoughts that  came to mind surrounding Christ’s passion, death, resurrection, and ascension.  This is a simple explanation; it’s not very profound, and it’s not meant to be a  lesson in catechism. I hope that my sharing these images helps both you and me  wrap our heads around what we call the Paschal Mystery, and fosters a more  meaningful Holy Week and joyful Easter for all of us. 

First, I had to understand that, throughout history, people had been offering  animal sacrifices to God to atone for their sins. These sacrifices had to be done  repeatedly over time because sinning against God is a grave matter, and no  animal sacrifice could sufficiently repair the damage done by sin to the relationship between God and the people. Jesus, in His love for us, offered  Himself to be the perfect sacrifice to forgive sin -- everyone’s sins -- once and for  all. And so in humility He became a man to live among us, to show us that God  loves and forgives us, and to teach us how to love each other (see Matthew 5). Jesus knew His message wouldn’t be received well by everyone, and that what He  said and did would make some people angry enough to want to kill Him (see John  11:45-53). Out of love for us He obeyed the Father’s plan. He willingly became the  sacrifice; He took the sins of the world upon Himself on the cross and became  “the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). 

Now, here are the images that came to mind while I considered all of this. Right  before His death, Jesus talks about a grain of wheat needing to die in order to live 

and become many seeds (see John 12:24). This is true of other plants, too. Their  seeds have to be buried in order to become fruitful plants. Some things don’t  have to die but do have to be broken open for their glory to shine. For example, a  geode looks like an ordinary rock on the outside; cut it open and we see the  magnificent colorful design inside. Eggs, peanuts, and sunflower seeds all have to  be broken open to be useful to us. 

We believe that Jesus was born fully human and fully God. His divine nature caused Him to be filled with all of God’s love, joy, peace, hope, etc. His human  nature meant He could show and share God’s love, joy, peace, etc., only as His  body allowed Him to. Specifically, He could be in only one place at one time. 

When Jesus was beaten and crucified, His body was ripped open by the scourging,  the crown of thorns, the nails, and the sword. As I picture all of this happening, I  imagine all that love, joy, peace, and all the rest escaping the confines of His body  and being flung out upon the spectators at Calvary and the whole world. Similar to how a seed dies so that a tree can grow from it, Christ willingly gave up  His body so that His Spirit inside could ‘escape,’ in a sense. In other words, Christ  had to be broken open, killed, and then raised up so that the power of God’s love,  peace, joy, and all the rest can be showered down upon the world. This  ‘showering’ is the Spirit, the Gospels, all of scripture and the sacraments, that propel His love, peace, joy, etc., forward into history. 

Through His resurrection, Jesus proves that love is stronger than evil; sin and  death no longer have power over us. Death doesn’t get the last word. And,  through His resurrection and ascension back to heaven, Jesus is no longer limited  by a physical body. He can be everywhere, at any time. We can sing for joy  because He is with us now and always! If we let Him, He will put His Spirit into our  minds and hearts; He will equip us to fight evil and spread His love to the world. Hallelujah! 

I hope this imagery helps you as much as it helped me to better understand the  immense love behind Christ’s passion, death, resurrection, and ascension. May  we all have a blessed Holy Week and a Happy Easter! 

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he  has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ 

from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This  inheritance is kept in heaven for you.” 

1 Peter 1:3-4 

“Lord, help me grasp the magnitude of Your love, and inspire me to spread it to the world.” 

This article is a personal reflection by Gina Bedell © 2021. It and other reflections written by her invite  the reader to ponder a given topic and then seek deeper answers through prayer, additional spiritual  reading, and/or consultation with clergy or other persons who may guide the reader to a deeper faith  and understanding of God’s love and will for their life.