Just a few thoughts about the Easter Season. I tried to observe Lent as spiritually as I could, and when Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of Holy Week arrived, I felt it was one of the most glorious contemplative experiences of my 97 years.  I saw the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus in a marvelous new way, as the Pascal Mystery of Passover from slavery to freedom, as the Hebrews did in Pharaoh’s Egypt. But now, through the Crucifixion of Jesus, all of us rise from the oppression of limited, temporary time and endless death into eternal life. “ I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” ( John 11: 25-26.) All of a sudden, everything seemed to converge on an understanding of Jesus’ Resurrection as spiritual rather than material. Different sources were saying we must not be fixated on the ‘miracle’ of  Jesus’s body rising from the tomb and physically appearing to Mary Magdalen, then to the Apostles, then to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Though we will always “wonder” what the physical touching of Jesus’ resurrected body in the scriptures really meant, (after all, the meaning of ‘wonder’ to the scripture writers was what we now call “miracle”, they are not necessarily talking about a literal, actual physical event rather than a mystical vision or a contemplative ecstasy.

    Dominic Crossan, of whom I am a fan, spoke about the hundreds of paintings, stained glass, mosaics, and frescoes, that showed not a bodily resurrection but an “Anastasis”, a “rising up” of followers of Jesus after his crucifixion, convinced that “love is stronger than death.” And Paul saying, “Death, where is thy sting?” Modern scripture scholars talk about the crucifixion and resurrection, not as Jesus dying for our sins, or atoning for original sin, or opening up the gates of heaven by God’s only son to appease God’s anger at the lot of us, as only God could do.

    Instead, Christianity conquered the Roman Empire because the Romans had a morbid fear of death, and were spellbound by a loving, healing, innocent Jewish prophet who came back from a horrible crucifixion and inspired thousands of his followers to face death with joy. The Apostles, the disciples, the many women followers of Jesus went all over the then-known world, and established meetings, gatherings (ecclesias or ‘bringing togethers’)- which we now call ‘churches.’ This is the movement that has always continued to spread throughout humankind because of the Easter Event. Now that’s the miracle mankind was looking for.

This was all confirmed for me when I read that Pope Leo, on the anniversary of Pope Francis’ death, which was on Easter a year ago, made this statement: “Death is not a wall, but a door that opens wide onto the Mercy that Pope Francis tirelessly proclaimed.”     Sounds a lot like Jesus to me.