He is Risen.
Just yesterday, we celebrated Christ’s Resurrection. Easter, for Christians is the holiest feast of the liturgical year. Christ has conquered death, sin and the depths of hell through his resurrection. The most glorious feast, indeed.
Easter is more than a day on the calendar, it is the reality in which we live, whether it is acknowledged by all or not. Truth does not cease to be truth just because it is denied.
As baptized Christians, we are partakers in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
For through baptism we have been buried with him into death, so that, in the manner that Christ rose from the dead, by the glory of the Father, so may we also walk in the newness of life.
Saint Paul - Romans 6:4
Through our baptism, we have been immersed not just into water, but into the very death and resurrection of Christ. Through baptism, we are one with Christ - His new life is also ours.
The Chains of Sin
Despite our baptism, we often find ourselves chained by our disordered passions. The freedom of a life in Christ is rejected time and time again due to those chain links of sin. To err is human, for sin makes us stupid and it begs the question, do we love sin more than we love Jesus?
Each day the pleasures of it creep into our hearts and we are fooled into believing it will bring us more joy than the Almighty. Do not let those lies take root. Sin is nothing but slavery. Sin destroys us. It destroys our mind, our body…our soul.
And all for what? A fleeting moment of gratification?
For the wages of sin is death. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23
The Freedom of Christ
Our inheritance as God’s children will be forfeited if we reduce ourselves to the chains of sin and rejection. Today, let us as Christians, as God’s children live the reality of the Resurrection. This is the reality of Christ giving us new life.
For we know this: that our former selves have been crucified together with him, so that the body which is of sin may be destroyed, and moreover, so that we may no longer serve sin.
Romans 6:6
The words of Saint Paul are urging us to imitate Jesus - in death and in life. Die to self, rise and conform to God’s Will.
Through our words and deeds, we must love. The love of Christ leads us to everlasting life. If we serve sin, this leads to eternal death and suffering.
Reflection
What aspect of your life do you find yourself struggling with the slavery of sin?
[pause, contemplate]
Now you must unshackle the chains. The first step is prayer. The second, confession. Finally, penance.
Today, you walk in freedom. Today, righteousness is in your heart.
For sin should not have dominion over you. For you are not under the law, but under grace. What is next? Should we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? Let it not be so! Do you not know to whom you are offering yourselves as servants under obedience? You are the servants of whomever you obey: whether of sin, unto death, or of obedience, unto justice. But thanks be to God that, though you used to be the servants of sin, now you have been obedient from the heart to the very form of the doctrine into which you have been received. And having been freed from sin, we have become servants of justice.
Romans 6: 14-18
Men,
Christ has conquered death. Let us conquer ourselves.
Today, we walk a new life, in Christ Jesus.