The Miracle of Easter Sunday

Dolores Pfeuffer-Scherer

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Mar 29, 2024

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I was reading a faith-based article recently that quoted Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, “Unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday.”

The quote made me stop in my tracks in the very best way. It got me thinking about how we all go through many seasons in our lives; good, bad, terrible, and joyous. Life gives us a merry-go-round of emotions and events that sometimes leaves us gasping to catch our breath.

We work, we have families, we raise children, and so often we feel like we are pulled in a thousand or more directions. We suffer losses, of people, jobs, and friendships. We then carry on. Often stressed, and usually busy, we just live our lives.

But then, some moments grab us and we find ourselves struggling. What happens when we get through the fires, through the difficulties that just about break us to pieces? Do we find comfort in the miracle of the Resurrection, or do we hunker down and focus inward? In those moments do we realize the truth of the above quote?

The message is clear: after the darkness, we find the light.

The miracle of Easter or Resurrection Sunday that Christians celebrate each year is the bedrock of our faith. Jesus is mocked and driven to his emotional and physical limits. He is crucified and the next day is a waiting period of shock, sadness, and mourning.

Then, the miracle happens.

His resurrection offers us hope. It offers us solace. It allows us to see the forgiveness and mercy God holds for each of his children. His life and death illustrates to us that our faith is a living part of our lives. We should always keep it front and center. Especially during our tribulations and trials.

While we know all of this, how many times do we lose sight of this essential truth? Why do we insist on absorbing and owning our problems, thinking we need to solve everything? We worry, we stress, we do it over and over.

At the time of his death, what did Jesus do? Did he seek comfort from within himself or did he turn towards God?

Right before he died, Jesus cried out, “Father, into your hands I command my spirit.” He suffered and paid the greatest price for each of us. Instead of focusing on himself, he knew at the worst moment, that God had him, as he has us all. He will guide us through, but we need to allow him the power in our lives to do so.

It’s incredibly humbling to see what that moment means to each of us.

On this Good Friday, let us join together and recognize how the life and death of Jesus should be our personal bedrock, not just in weekly church services, but every day.

At a time when church attendance is lessening, how can we realize the power and truth of this message? How we can apply it to our lives? Believe me, I am guilty of not attending church enough. I often keep my problems within, making myself an anxious mess, but I am working to change this.

One significant change I made this year was starting and maintaining a prayer journal. A place where I can come and spend time with God every day. The unanticipated benefit of this has been that through writing daily prayers, thoughts, and Bible verses, I have begun to reframe past life events, but also my present. It is a “safe space” where I lean into my faith and a reminder to keep it front and center each day.

Which is why that quote hit me so deeply this year. The archbishop was correct and if you allow yourself to step back and look at your life through the lens of faith, it suddenly becomes clear that the miracle of Easter is not just about one weekend over two thousand years ago. It is present, here and now. It is today, tomorrow, and it was also there yesterday.

The Easter miracle is our gift. It is God’s gift to the world. It is for every one of us and our charge is to keep it close to us, regardless of the season we are walking through.

Let us keep the sorrow and the joy of this weekend with us for the rest of the year. Know that the sorrow of Good Friday leads us to the joy of Resurrection Sunday. In John 8:12 Jesus states, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

Speaking for myself, I intend to keep that light in front of me this Easter and beyond. Have a blessed Easter.