The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-04-11
EASTER THOUGHTS.

LAO / EN- 411OON41 l. ~.
On Easter morning all who
really love the Lord stand in
spirit by the tomb in the garden
and rejoice as all who loved the
Saviour rejoiced when for the first
time the news was carried far and
wide that the sepulchre on the hill
side was empty. The note Of Eas-
ter is a note Of gladness. The Cos
pels tell us in their sweet, simple
words, "Then were the disciples
glad when they saw the Lord. "
This JOY our Blessed Lord had
foretold. Only three days before
He had said to His Apostles, eye
now have sorrow, but I will see
you again, and your hearts shall
rejoice, and your joy no man shall
take from you" And so, the dis
ciples were glad because He Whom
they loved and Who loved them
and died for love Of them was
not dead but alive for evermore.
Faith and hope had faded out of
their hearts. Of that faith and
hope they spoke as of things of
the past: eve trusted that it
was He Who would have redeemed
Israel" They had seen Him re-
jected and slain, and now, when
He was among them once more,
with the old familiar greeting of
peace on His lips, the love that
had never waned even when hope
was dying in their hearts, was
famed into a brighter flame than
ever. They who had been crushed
under the ignominy of the Cruel
fixion were filled with joy over
the reversal Of the verdict of
Calvary. And so shall it be on
every anniversary that links all
who believe with the first disciples
Of the Lord-personal love for
Christ, the love which is the most
beautiful thing in life, will in
vest each recurrent Easter with
joy that nought else in the
world can awaken.
For another reason Easter has
always been regarded as the most
joyous festival of the year. The
Resurrection is the browning proof
that Jesus was, indeed, "God
manifest In the flesh" He sub
mitted to rejection and death at
the hands of sinful men, but He
was Lord of life and death, and
He arose from the dead, as He
said He would. The body in
which God deigned to dwell, the
flesh wherewith He became incar-
nate could not be held by death
before Him seals and stone and
guards became as if they were
not. This is the fact that the
Apostles placed in the forefront
of all their teaching. When st.
Peter preached in the very
streets through which Jesus had
passed on His way to Calvary,
this was the burden Of his mes
sage-Jesus Whom they had cru
CITED and slain was risen from
the dead, whereof they all were
witnesses. When ST. Paul pre-
sented to the civilized world of
Greece and Rome the claims of
Christianity he staked his whole
cause on the Resurrection. And
on the Resurrection of Christ do
all Christians stake their faith
it is the keystone of the arch of
Christian evidences. The miracles
of Christ were not merely signs
they were also revelations of the
Saviour's personality, and the
Resurrection, the eliminating
miracle of all, is sign and a
revelation, for it irradiates with
a food of light the Person of
Christ and makes plain to all in a
manner that all can understand
that "He Who was born of the
seed of David according to the
flesh was declared to be the Son
of God with power. The Resur-
rection of Christ in the rock upon
which the Christian religion rests.
Against it all storms beat in vain
the wave and the foam pass
away; the rock stands firm
through the ages.
Again, Easter kindles a new joy
In the heart of the world because
the Resurrection, which illumines
the dark places of human exist