Here’s our Easter reflection written by our Spiritual Director, Frank Kantor:

Suffering and Glory

‘And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter his glory?”’ (Luke 24:25-26)

As we prepare our hearts and minds for the amazing events of the last three days of Holy Week this year, let us be reminded of the words of Jesus to the two perplexed disciples on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection. Their messianic expectations had been shattered by his cruel and shameful execution as a criminal upon a cross. They could only interpret this tragic event through their limited view of reality which excluded the redemptive suffering of the Servant of Yahweh proclaimed by the Jewish prophets.

As we too bear witness to a world in great anguish and suffering this Easter, let us remember that the glory of the resurrection which we celebrate on Sunday passes through the sufferings, death, and burial of Jesus commencing on the evening of Maundy Thursday. This Paschal Mystery remains at the centre of our faith as Christians and is the basis for our hope and consolation amid the many desolations causing such great pain and suffering in the world right now.

Let us hear again the words of Cyprian Bishop of Carthage during the great plague that afflicted the Roman Empire from AD 249-262 when commenting on the way that Christians responded said, “what sublimity, to stand erect amid the desolation of the human race, and not to lie prostrate with those who have no hope in God; but rather to rejoice, and to embrace the benefit of the occasion; that in thus bravely showing forth our faith, and by suffering endured, going forward to Christ by the narrow way that Christ trod, we may receive the reward of His life and faith according to His own judgment!”

Paul says it more simply and profoundly when speaking of our privileged status as children of God and fellow heirs with Christ (provided we suffer with him so that we might also be glorified with him), he says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8: 17-18).

Wishing you an inspiring, hopeful, and blessed Easter season!