We adore you O Christ, and we praise you,
because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world
Scripture:
After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men. Then the angel said to the women in reply, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.” Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples. (Mt. 28: 1- 8)
Reflection:
I was pleasantly surprised to hear Barry Manilow’s song “I Made It Through the Rain” over the radio as I was driving home last week. I am a Manilow fan and have not heard this song for a long time. Co-composed and originally recorded by Gerard Kenny, Manilow revised the lyrics to make the song about the struggles of the everyday person:
We dreamers have our ways
Of facing rainy days
And somehow we survive
We keep the feelings warm
Protect them from the storm
Until our time arrives
Then one day the sun appears
And we come shining through those lonely yearsWhen friends are hard to find
And life seems so unkind
Sometimes you feel afraid
Just aim beyond the clouds
And rise above the crowds
And start your own parade
‘Cause when I chased my fears away
That’s when I knew that I could finally sayI made it through the rain
I kept my world protected
I made it through the rain
I kept my point of view
I made it through the rain
And found myself respected
By the others who got rained on too
And made it through
We all had our rainy days – from the mild drizzle of everyday ordeals to the intense downpour of major problems. We may have been partially soaked with the difficulties we encountered and drenched with the seemingly insurmountable trials that block our way. But somehow, we do make it through our rain – either unscathed or wounded.
Leonard J. Vander Zee in his article “He Showed Them His Wounds” mentions that “there are the countless inner wounds: the grief that never quite heals, wrongs that can never be righted, memories that cannot be erased, hurtful words or betrayals that still seem to have a direct line to our tear ducts or to the recurrent knot in our stomach. We are all scarred in one way or another. You can’t get through life without scars, inside or outside.”
Even Christ after his resurrection showed his wounds to his disciples. Jesus rose from the dead with a glorified body yet kept his wounds intact. Jesus’ request for Thomas to place his finger in his wounds and believe and showed his hands and feet to the other disciples resulted in their joy. This act may also seem to signify that Christ is assuring us that our wounds will bring us to our own resurrection if we just have faith in Him and in ourselves.
I find much consolation in this passage from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans “… we triumph even in our troubles, knowing that trouble produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope—a hope which never disappoints us, since God’s love floods our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us” (Romans 5:3, 5).
I made it through the rain
And found myself respected
By the others who
Got rained on too
And made it through
I pray that the resurrection of Christ our Lord continually remind us of God’s absolute sovereignty over life and death. That our human existence has changed from the cycle of birth, life, death, and decay to that of birth, life, death and eternal life.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Made_It_Through_the_Rain
http://www.reformedworship.org/article/december-2012/he-showed-them-his-wounds