Easter and Faith in the Resurrection

There was a time when it was easy to say, "Christ is Risen" and feel a sense of expectancy pregnant with possibilities and joy.  There is a time now that the same phrase provokes a feeling reminiscent of anxiety, as a type of existential crisis.  We wonder, "Is it true?  Is it just metaphorically true or is it historically true?  What meaning does it have for me if it is true?"

We hear the exhortations to believe and then act as if you do believe.  What if you believe and don't have a clue as to how to then act?  The tendency is to read, study more, listen to every good reflection, and think the whole problem through searching for answers.  It seems though that many people have a good summary defining the problem of evil or why Christ died, but the resurrection is just declared as a happy solution, as though that is enough.  A happy thought like,"My husband died, but look he is alive again.  Problem solved."  Of course, it does not work that way at all.  We blame all the circumstances surrounding the death.  He should have done this or should not have done that.  The doctors or that other person should have done this or have not done that and so on.  Either way, the death is irreversible.  So, how does "Christ is Risen" change what happened?  Of course, it doesn't reverse the death of the husband.  Yet a metaphorical view of the resurrection becomes tiring.  Am I simply to believe that God will help me through the time of loss?  But desert me at the end?  Or that God is not really present, but the community's love and care for me will get me through my grief?  And then necessarily desert me at the end because the community can not prevent death?  No, a belief in the resurrection of the dead because of Christ's saving and raising power gives a better foundation for hope.  So, we have hope, but we are not to test that hope and that provokes more questions.

If I believe in the resurrection, then why not test the hope?   And why the drama of living life like a grand test which one can fail or succeed?  The grand test of heaven and hell keeps us from evil, but doesn't exactly inspire a holy life.  The doubt that these are realities at all prevent us from attempting to go completely for heaven, especially if a holy life means sacrifice.  Then again, the early Christians believed and believed despite no change in their circumstances, yet still they believed with ardent desire.  The spread and enduring nature of the faith through the ages becomes a testimony of its own.  This cloud of witnesses becomes a reason to continue searching as we wrestle with God for our answers.  In the meantime, we hear good advice from Pope Francis on Holy Thursday at the Chrism Mass.  Although, he was speaking to the priests, the ideas apply to all of us.  Pope Francis remarked that, "The priest who tries to find his priestly identity by soul-searching and introspection may well encounter nothing more than "exit" signs, signs that say: exit from yourself, exit to seek God in adoration, go out and give your people what was entrusted to you, for your people will make you feel and taste who you are, what your name is, what your identity is, and they will make you rejoice in that hundredfold which the Lord has promised to those who serve him."

John Paul II will be canonized in a week.  Experientially, there is a connection, but also a desire that the connection was less feeling and more reality.  So, we honor his life by our prayers, study of his writings, and how we live our life.  Perhaps, through the intercession of John Paul II, we will understand better the Risen Christ and how the resurrection affects the reality of our lives.  Christ is Risen.  He is Risen Indeed.