...Life through Death... (from a May 5, 1985 conference)
I have some very nice evergreens in my garden. They live forever, as it were. But this winter the frost was so evil that their leaves dried up and shriveled, and the twigs died; and I thought, that is the end of that. But, do you know, where the twigs and leaves fell off, beautiful little buds and fresh green shoots sprang forth as soon as the warm sun of spring appeared, and in some cases, I think, the last state was better than the first. It is rather like that with our sins if we are sorry for having committed them. Parts of us have died; some of our actions were destructive and not constructive; but what does Jesus do about it when we are sorry, and especially in the beautiful Sacrament of Penance? He does not just die on the Cross under the burden of our own frost-bitten actions and make our sins drop off. Jesus rises from the dead; He brings new life out of death; He makes fresh new buds and shoots spring out from the scars of our sins. He gives us not only forgiveness but new life. It is the way God does in fact, through Christ, bring good out of evil.
The triumph of the resurrection is the spring time rising of Our Lord, which brings new life to what was dead, warmth to what was frozen, and makes even more fruitful what was made useless by our sins. The joy of Easter is the joy of those who are healed and conscious of being healed, the joy of the forgiven conscious of that forgiveness.
There is a certain type of temperament that tempts its owner never to admit that he is guilty of sin. He may confess his sins, but he does not really in the very depth of his conscience admit that he really did knowingly, deliberately, and consciously disobey God and is fully responsible. Persons with this defect find it almost impossible psychologically to admit fully in their very depths that they have failed. . . I heard of a six year old Catholic boy who was extremely naughty, and his mother reprimanded him: “You know, Tommy, you have been very naughty indeed.” And Tommy agreed: “Yes, mummy,” he said, “I have been naughty, but it was not a sin.” “What makes you think it was not a sin?” asked his mother. “Well,” said Tommy, “I have not yet reached the age of reason!” How easy it is to underestimate our responsibility for what we do. God may make allowances for us in that state, but we shall not experience the entrancing mercy and love of God for us if we do not really accept the need for forgiveness. So I think we cannot really have the joy of Easter unless during it we are conscious of God’s forgiving love, which not only has forgiven us, but is geared toward forgiving us still. God loves us. Jesus loves sinners. We are perfectly safe unless we actually love sin, hold on to it, and refuse to make amends. . . I suggest that we should remember our past sins not as so many falls but as so many times Jesus has picked us up again, a cause of confidence and security for the future. . .
Jesus is with us. “Peace be with you,” He says. “Come to Me and I will give you rest.” “Have courage, for I have overcome the world.” “You believe in God; believe also in Me.” We have God with us as a human being, one Who, as John Paul II said, is at one and the same time, “our brother, our friend, our Savior, and our God.”
After the Resurrection, no locked doors or prison walls prevented Jesus from coming in and being with His disciples. And no barriers of our own personal defects can stop Him coming to us, if only we want Him. . Amen, Come Lord Jesus!
