Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on Palm Sunday, the 6th Sunday during Lent.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! The fifth article of the Apostle’s Creed is “Jesus Christ descended into Hell, and rose from the dead on the third day.” There are five (5) In Brief passages in the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding this article of the Creed. The following is a reflection on article 657.
Our faith is not in the empty tomb, but in the One who left it empty. Our faith is not in a heap of linens lying empty but in the One who had been bound by them who is bound no more. The empty tomb and the linens are signs of Jesus’ resurrection. Had Jesus not risen from the dead His body would still be in the tomb. Had Jesus not risen from the dead His body would still be wrapped in the linen (cf. Matthew 28:1-6; Mark 16:1-6; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-8)
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem houses both Calvary and Jesus’ empty tomb. Saint Helen found the Lord’s Cross there and her son the Emperor Constantine in the year 326 began construction of the Basilica over the spot where the ancient Christians had continuously held liturgical celebrations (cf. Murphy-O’Connor, Jerome. The Holy Land. London: Oxford, 1980, 37.). The Shroud of Turin is a relic venerated in Turin, Italy, which many believe to be one of the linens in which the Lord Jesus had been buried and from which He rose gloriously and in triumph on Easter. Scientific studies are not able to explain how the image of a man who had been crucified and scourged and crowned with thorns appear on the cloth.
Until the disciples met the Lord Jesus in the garden (Mary Magdalen), in the upper room (the eleven Apostles), on the road to Emmaus (two disciples), or five-hundred brothers (before the Ascension) it was the empty tomb and the linens which prepared the disciples to meet the risen Lord (cf. Luke 24:13-31; John 20:11-17, 19-29; 1 Corinthians 15:6)
By His resurrection on Easter Sunday Jesus Christ has overcome sin and death, the Cross and the grave. His body did not decay during the three (3) days in the tomb. In His risen and glorified body Jesus Christ has still the marks of His passion: glorified wounds, not foul and festering, but marks of glory which we adore with the Apostle Saint Thomas: My Lord and My God (cf. John 20:27-28).
We meet the Lord Jesus in the saving waters of holy Baptism. We meet the risen Lord Jesus in the Sacrament of the Altar, Holy Communion. We long to be with the risen Lord Jesus forever in Heaven even as we live and move and have our being in Him who dies no more and is the resurrection and the life (cf. John 11:25; Acts 17:28). Thanks to Christ’s resurrection from the dead now we have life in Him and we have hope for glory ourselves (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:22; Revelation 21:4).
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr