It is because of His immense love for humanity that Our Lord Jesus Christ offered His life at Calvary in order to gain our salvation. And withHis resurrection, He gave us eternal hope that we can also reach the kingdom of our Father in Heaven.
The Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ is one of the most important aspects of our Catholic faith. With this event, Our Lord had clearly shown His holiness, power and divinity.
Why did the Lord needed to be resurrected? St. Paul has said that if Jesus was not resurrected, our faith will be meaningless and pointless. This only shows that if Jesus was resurrected, so do the others who died will be brought to life in the day of judgment. And being the Head of the Church, He offered His life for sinners like us. It is because of this that we, being followers and members of the mystical body, are also hoping to receive the promise of salvation. The resurrection that occurred to Our Lord will also happen to us if we just have faith and follow Him.
Many people have witnessed the death of Jesus at Calvary including His friends and followers and also by those who did not believe that He is the Messiah. His death was also seen by the Roman soldiers stationed at the foot of the cross. St. Longinus, a Roman soldier, was one of the fortunate who had witnessed this important event; afterwards, he became a disciple of the Apostles. They were the ones who professed and confirmed all the things that happened regarding the death and resurrection of the Lord. The officials of the empire during that time did everything in order to suppress their accounts but to no avail.
The people who first witnessed the events also gave their accounts. Our Lord appeared to St. Mary Magdalene on the morning of Easter Sunday. Upon enetering the tomb, she saw two angles near the place where Jesus’ body have been lain. One was at the head and the other at the foot. The angels asked her why was she weeping. She answered “They took away My Lord and I do not know where they have put Him.” She turned around and saw Jesus but she did not recognize Him. Jesus asked her why was she crying and who was she looking for. She thought He was just a gardener, that’s why she answered: “Mister, if you who took him away, tell me where you have placed Him and I will bring Him back.” Jesus called her by her name and she instantly recognized Him. She said to Him, “Rabbouni” meaning “Teacher”. At that moment, her grief vanished. The Lord commanded her to tell everything that had transpired to His disciples and followers. (John 20:11-18)
On the evening of the same day, Jesus appearded to His Apostles. While the Apostles were among themselves, Jesus stood in the midst of them and said, “Peace be with you!”. After greeting them, He showed them His wounds on His hands and side. It happened that of the Apostles, St. Thomas, was not present. And when the Apostles recounted what had transpired, he did not believe them. Adding that he will only believe if he himself would see the wounds with His own eyes. A few days later, the Apostles were again among themselves and this time St. Thomas was present with them. Jesus appeared to them again. He commanded St. Thomas to put his fingers through his wounds so that he will believe that indeed the Lord had resurrected. St. Thomas did what he was told to do and afterwards said: “My Lord and my God!” proving indeed that Jesus was infront of him.
Being Catholic fauthfuls, these proofs are already enough for us to believe that Jesus died abd resurrected for sinners like us. We do not need to look for many more signes that we cannot comprehend. We must only believe in Him and that is enough.
The mystery of His death and resurrection is very profound. He is resurrected by means of His divinity and His own power, a sign that His being God and King of Heaven.
The fulfillment of the resurrection of Jesus is also a sign of the fulfillment of the promise of salvation, the resurrection of the dead. Sin is the reason why we experience death. And in death, the soul leaves the body and go to Purgatory to be cleansed. The souls of the condemned go down to Hell to be punished eternally. The body will rot and goes back to dust from where it came from.
Death came to the world due to the sins of our first parents, Adam and Eve. And because of this, we, as children, need to pay the sin by death. If one man committed that sin and caused our death, one man was needed to repay that sin. Through Jesus, He became a man to save us and defect death in order for us to gain salvation.
In the day of Judgment, Jesus accompanied by angles and saints will go down from Heaven to reward the good with eternal life and punish the evildoers. “For an hour is coming in which all those in their tombs shall hear His voice and come forth. Those who have done right rise to live; the evil does shall rise to be damned” (John 5:27-28). And thus this statement being fulfilled, all those who have died will be resurrected and will go back to their former form. But this new body will not be the same as old. The resurrected body of the blessed will never again experience hunger, thirst, pain and even death. These bodies will be perfect; will never get tired or grow old. The beauty and holiness of these bodies will stay forever.
In the resurrection of the dead, their bodies will be at the prime of life. This only means that it is in the time of their youth. They will not have their body in its state of infancy or old age. These characteristics were shown by the Lord during His resurrection. The evil doers will also rise from their graves with the just. But their new bodies will be filled with loneliness due to sin. Also their bodies will also be complete but this does do them any good at all because they will suffer the eternal fires of hell.
According to Catholic teachings, we must also give respect to the bodies or remains of the dead. Their remains must be blessed with holy water so it cannot be used by the devil; they must also be buried so it can return to dust from which it came in the hope that someday they will be resurrected to receive salvation.
The burning of the dead or cremation can be prohibited by the Holy Church. This is only given permission if the reasons do not contradict that of the Catholic faith.
The crucifixion and death of the cross of Our Lord only shows His immense love for us. He gave His life for us so we can have salvation. And with His resurrection, Heaven is again open for sinners like us. Just follow and believe in Him, with the Blessed Virgin Mother and all the Saints, we too shall reach Heaven.
