The resurrection necessitates death. If we want to rise to joy, hope and new life within us, we have to die to ourselves first. As Christians, we become immersed into the Paschal Mystery, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, through our Baptism. Through participation in the Paschal Mystery, we grow in union with Christ, which means that if we die with Him, we will also rise with Him.
All our sin, all our shame, and all our struggles He bore on the cross for us that we might live through the merits of His sacrifice as we enter into the Paschal Mystery with him. I recently heard a seminarian speak about the process of the resurrection and he beautifully described it in three parts–death, freedom, and wounds.
In order to rise with Christ, we have to die first. That is what He did, and if we are to be united with Him, we have to follow Him through all parts of the Paschal Mystery. Sometimes we want to just skip to the "good" part, but in so doing, we will never be perfectly united to Christ.
Dying to self comes in many shapes and forms. It can be dying to your old ways marked by sin and saying no to temptation. It can be dying to your own will and doing God's will instead. Whatever it is, this death brings freedom. We learn to trust in God's ways and not our own, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11). We learn that God's ways and plans are always better than our own.
From death to self we are brought to new freedom, but we still have wounds. When Jesus appeared to the apostles in the upper room, He showed them His wounds. Perhaps God allows the wounds to remain because He brings good from them, just how Jesus' wounds helped Thomas believe in the Resurrection. Perhaps our own wounds can help others believe in Jesus, too, when they see what we have been through and how God brought us through it. It takes a long time for our wounds from the past to heal, but God has a plan for them to be healed in His timing, and perhaps it is not until Heaven.
As we rise to new life this Easter, let us reflect upon the areas in our own lives where we need to die, find freedom, and give our wounds to God and use them for His glory. Happy Easter! May you find joy in the Resurrection! Alleluia!
