Maxine King

For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

Dear friends,

In our reading from his first letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul shares some characteristically strong words with the members of the church of Corinth who have allegedly doubted the resurrection of the dead.

Saint Paul’s first response is not to give logical proof or rebuttal to attack their lack of belief, but is to point to the fact of Christ’s resurrection as the foundation for the Church’s doctrine of the general resurrection of the dead -- and not only the foundation for this particular bit of doctrine, but for every doctrine and practice of the Church. I think it is worth meditating on the centrality of Christ’s resurrection to the life of the Church today, as the Church continues to celebrate and ponder this great mystery.

We have just emerged from the Sacred Triduum of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, which constitutes the center of the Church year from which all else flows. Not only logistically, but the content of the liturgies of the Triduum explicate the central facts of every Holy Eucharist: when our Lord instituted and commanded us to continue the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, when he suffered death on the cross for our redemption, and when he mightily rose again. The Triduum’s centrality demonstrates that every liturgy finds its meaning in the act of Easter -- Christ’s triumph over death.

The centrality of Christ’s resurrection means the preaching and faith of the Church is anything but in vain. We have experienced the fact of Christ’s resurrection in our sins being forgiven, in being grafted onto Christ’s Body in baptism, in the receiving of Christ’s Body and Blood in Holy Communion, in the Word being proclaimed and inwardly digested.

Saint Paul’s words might sound harsh, but they are good news--for we are not to avoid pity because of anything in this world that might justify our practices as Christians, but because Christ is truly risen, and that with and through him we will rise as well.

Maxine King
BITD Corps Member