This Easter season, the Sisters give glory to God, our Merciful Savior,
through their original arrangement and heartfelt recording of
“Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam“.
You may be familiar with the popular Easter hymn: “This Joyful Eastertide” by George Ratclifffe Woodward (1894). The first verse and refrain are:
This joyful Eastertide away with sin and sorrow!
My love, the crucified, hath sprung to life this morrow.
Had Christ, who once was slain,
ne’er burst his three-day prison,
our faith had been in vain. But now hath Christ arisen,
arisen, arisen, arisen.
We often hear in these jubilant Easter hymns colorful phrases that arouse the senses such as “trumpet blasts” and “Where, O death, is now thy sting.” These age-old hymns give vigor and conviction to our solid confession that Christ is alive and victorious over evil and sin and that, ultimately, good conquers sin and death!
The full meaning of Easter and its triumphant reality was only slowly learned by Jesus’ closest friends. On that first Easter morning, there were no trumpet blasts, parades of triumph, royal mantle or scepter and throne. There was a folded, perfumed linen, weeping women, and a man who looked like the gardener. There were whispers and rumors, disciples fleeing out of town, locking themselves up in rooms, and holding vigil with the Virgin Mother.
Caravaggio’s captivating painting of “doubting” Thomas putting his finger into Christ’s side expresses this paradox very beautifully. The expression on Thomas’ face shows both the strain of sorrow and fear as well as the staggering awakening we all must experience when we are brought to touch the flesh of God and experience the power and mercy of His wounds which heal ours. We will hear this gospel reading proclaimed this Sunday as we meditate on Jesus’ Divine Mercy beckoning us to come close to him.
As we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday after Easter,
may we let our hands be grasped by our Resurrected Lord and be placed in His sacred side, where all of our sins and wounds are healed.
