Jesus' Suffering and Expectation of Resurrection

by Fr. John Granato  |  03/17/2024  |  Words from Fr. John

My Dear Friends,

We are moving through Lent at a fast pace. Easter is only two weeks away. These next two weeks are a special time for me. We start noticing more Mass readings talking about our Lord’s suffering and death, and this is capped off by the reading of the Passion on Palm Sunday and again on Good Friday. But there is also the expectation of the Resurrection as we move closer to Holy Week. The joy that comes from celebrating the Resurrection on the Easter Vigil and on Easter Sunday is exhilarating.

Of course, the Resurrection itself is a celebration of the new life promised to us through our faith in Jesus Christ and our being baptized into His death and Resurrection. In the Northern hemisphere, this new life is shown in nature with the coming of spring and the blossom of flowers. Our brothers and sisters in the Southern hemisphere do not experience Easter with the new life of flowers and trees and buds. So we have two more weeks of our Lenten penances and a focus on the suffering and death of our Lord, but we know the outcome. Jesus has won for us our redemption and salvation. The pouring out of His Blood is the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, the fulfillment of the previous five covenants God made with us. This new and eternal covenant is renewed every time we gather together at Mass, for we truly “do this in memory of me,” as our Lord says and as the priest repeats during the consecration.

God bless.