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    On Christmas, we celebrated the arrival of the Lord of Fulfillment as the Babe of Bethlehem. With our fellow Christians, both in our own time and in all times, we flocked with the shepherds to see this miracle of the Son of God sent down to earth as a child.
    This past Thursday, we participated in another journey with the faithful, this time to the upper room, where Christ pronounced the mystery of the Sacrament of His Body and Blood to His disciples, and through them, to all believers. We sat with them as He pronounced the truth of Grace: that the Christ must suffer at the hands of the Jews and Romans and die one of the most excruciating deaths known to man. Like the disciples, we doubted and did not understand.
    This Friday, we joined the women and the apostle John before the foot of the cross. We kept a heart-wrenching vigil with them as we saw our Savior murdered for our sins. We winced when Christ cried out at God’s abandonment, because we know that abandonment was our doing. We wondered with the centurion as darkness covered the land in the middle of the day and the earth shook. We wept as our Savior cried out ‘It is finished,’ and gave up His spirit and died.
    Saturday, we waited. Our Savior died for us. Our Savior paid the price for our sins. We waited and watched. In our hearts, we hid with Jesus’ disciples in the upper room, wondering what our fate might be. Yet, we know. We smiled, even in our sadness, because we know what comes next.
    And what is next is today. Jesus Christ is Risen today, Alleluia! He is Risen, He is Risen indeed, Alleluia! Today, with the women, with the apostles, with the disciples, with the men on their way to Emmaus, with all Christians in all times, we proclaim the glorious mystery of our crucified Savior raised from the dead. Today we know the truth of our salvation, that is our sins paid for and our place in heaven assured through the merit of Jesus Christ our Savior.
    So we see the Child of Promise as the resurrected Lord of Fulfillment. And in the Fulfillment we wait for the final fulfillment, when our Lord Jesus Christ will return for us, gathering His children into His arms in His Kingdom. Praise be to God that this is so. He is Risen, He is Risen indeed, Alleluia!
Amen and Amen
Blessed Easter
DLH
