ON THE THIRD DAY

A MESSAGE FOR EASTER SUNDAY

The triple aspects of joy, sorrow and glory we find in the Rosary are reflected in the timeline of our Lord’s life, death and resurrection.  In the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary, we reflect on the thirty-three years of the Saviour’s presence, dwelling amongst us.  For three of those years he was made manifest to us in his daily life, his miracles and teachings.  The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary turn our meditation into the sad death vigil, as our Lord hangs for three hours on the cross of salvation, before finally giving up the ghost at three o’clock in the afternoon.  Now, after three days of darkness in the tomb, with the world empty and seemingly deprived of hope, the sorrow of despair is suddenly turned into everlasting joy as news of the Resurrection is spread abroad and the Glorious Mysteries begin.

The repetition of this triple element of time reflects the Blessed Trinity and specifically the loving union of the Three Persons of that Trinity.  Just as the Redemption story had its beginning at Creation, in the eternal loving will of the triune God who made heaven and earth for us, so too it came to fruition in the offering of the Son to the Father, through the love that is the Holy Ghost who proceedeth from both.  And again it was all done for us.  Now on Easter Sunday, the Redemption story reaches its climactic conclusion in that same loving union, not a real conclusion of course, but the end of an old covenant and the beginning of a new one, a covenant both new and everlasting, whose price was the Precious Blood of Christ.  That Blood streamed forth from Christ’s Body, from the bloody sweat of his Agony in the Garden, to the tearing of his flesh at the scourging at the pillar, the piercing of his head crowned with thorns, and from each of his most sacred wounds inflicted on Calvary.  It streamed forth until there was none left, and only water was left to flow from his side, pierced with a lance.

With our Lord’s last drop of blood, the Old Covenant was fulfilled, and with the Resurrection, the New Covenant began.  Blood was now restored to Christ’s living Body, and that Blood is new and everlasting, a perpetual source of grace to us, his children.  Once again, it is all for us, and we stand in awe at the immensity of love that God has for us.  It is not enough, though, to stand and gape.  We must follow his example, rising from our own tomb of sin to the glory of the Resurrection.  We must throw off the darkness of our past and embrace the light of glory.  For today is a special day, it is the Day of Resurrection, the third day on which Christ rose again from the dead.  This is the day that the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad therein.