9781644135945

The Easter Cycle
is the kingdom of God on earth. In the Church, which the neophytes have entered by
the gate of baptism, they receive supernatural gifts from heaven. Here they sing a “new
canticle,” the song of the baptized, the song of the beloved children of God who have
arisen from sin. Here in the celebration of Mass the Lord appears to us. We are like the
apostles fishing in their fragile boat, while He appears to us walking on the firm shore of
eternity. In the fire of His passion He has prepared for us fish and bread, which He offers
us in the form of the Eucharist. By this means we become new creatures, cleansed from
sin, and the seed of immortality is implanted in our souls. “Christ, rising again from the
dead, dieth now no more, alleluia; death shall no more have dominion over Him, alleluia,
alleluia” (Communion). We are now one with Him. By virtue of Holy Communion we
share His immortality. Death shall no more have dominion over us. Death must release us
when Christ calls us to eternity. Then we shall enter into the blessed kingdom of eternal
life. “Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom which was prepared for you
from the foundation of the world.”
“Ye men of Israel, and ye that fear God [among the heathens], hear. The God of
Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers hath glorified
His Son Jesus, whom you indeed delivered up and denied before the face of Pilate, when
he judged He should be released. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired
a murderer [Barabbas] to be granted unto you. But the Author of life you killed, whom
God hath raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses” (Epistle). We, the baptized, are
also witnesses of this miracle. Baptism imposes on us the duties of a witness, a martyr for
Christ. Therefore we celebrate the holy mysteries today with the holy martyr St. Lawrence.
He reminds us of the fish and bread on the hot coals in today’s Gospel. He is the patron
and the model of the baptized, the living representation of the ideal for which we should
all strive. Like St. Peter and St. Lawrence, we live among unbelievers and those who have
gone astray. We are witnesses of the risen Christ. We have been inspired by His example
and filled with grace by the reception of His holy body. We have become new men, risen
men. We now have new ideals, new strength, and a new outlook on life. We are, as it were, a
living testimony to Christ; He lives and works through us. We must bear witness to Christ’s
resurrection, not with empty words, but by the testimony of a holy life. “I live, now not I,
but Christ liveth in me” (Gal 2:20).
“Come, ye blessed of My Father.” Baptism gives us the right to expect that Christ will address
these words to us and that we shall stand at His right hand on the day of judgment. It gives us
the right to expect that we shall enter heaven triumphantly with Christ. Do we appreciate the
benefits of baptism and live worthy of so great a grace?
Baptism is not an empty ceremony. It is a call to martyrdom for Christ. Are we strong
enough for this? Are we detached from the things of the world? Are our lives truly mortified?
Can we say with St. Paul: “I count all things to be but loss for the excellent knowledge of
Jesus Christ my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but
as dung, that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having my justice which is
of the law, but that which is of the faith of Christ Jesus, which is of God, justice in faith;
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection [that is, the glorious life which He
now lives and which He imparts to His own] and the fellowship of His sufferings [that is,
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