As we joyfully arise to greet a new day in celebration of the Resurrection, I am reminded of something written by one of our greatest popes. Pope St. Leo the Great in the 5th century once wrote, “No one, however weak, is denied a share in the victory of the cross. No one is beyond the help of the prayer of Christ. His prayer brought benefit to the multitude that raged against him. How much more does it bring to those who turn to him in repentance.”

 

Some of our Lord’s last words, as He hung dying on the cross, were to forgive His persecutors (cf. Luke 23:34). As St. Leo the Great instructs us, if the Lord brings Himself to forgive even those crucifying Him, how much more will He forgive those who repent.

 

Lent reminds us of the need to repent. Lent moves the Cross to center stage in our lives, and if we remain with our attention fixed on the reality of that Cross, then Christ’s sufferings call us to consider our own sins and failings. This is a matter of identifying with the Lord, of embracing His sufferings as our own, of realizing that He endured this excruciating pain for the purpose of redeeming us from our sins.

 

Oh, what a wondrous mystery! That while we were still sinners, He died for us (cf. Romans 5:8). That when all seemed lost, the apostles found an empty tomb. Christ is risen. “No one, however weak, is denied a share in the victory of the cross.”

 

May our hearts be moved to repentance. May we see in Christ’s sufferings a share in our own. When the hardships of life overwhelm us, may we always remember what Christ endured and take courage, for Mary Magdalen found an empty tomb. The apostles with uncontrollable joy and overwhelming wonder proclaimed, “We have seen the Lord” (John 20:25). Take courage! Christ lives!

 

Happy Easter!