one day be thus transformed, and made like unto our Lord’s glorious Body. “He (Christ) will reform the body of our lowness, made like to the body of His glory” (Phil. 3, 21). The dead body of the just man is laid in the grave, as a grain of corn is laid in the earth, that it may spring up glorious. “It (the body) is sown in corruption, it shall rise in incorruption; it is sown in dishonour, it shall rise in glory; it is sown in weakness, it shall rise in power; it is sown a natural body, it shall rise a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15, 42 — 44).
Service of the Angels. Even as, thirty-three years before, angels announced the Birth of our Lord, so rich in blessings to man, so now did they announce and bear testimony to His glorious Resurrection. They take most active part in all that concerns our salvation.
Mary, the Holy Mother of God, was the first to behold the risen Lord, for, according to the most ancient tradition, He appeared first to her, to console her, and to reward her for her faithful love and deep compassion.
Generosity. Magdalen and the other women bought costly spices, and got up before the break of day to visit the grave of Jesus and render Him their last service of love. As a reward, they were the first of all our Lord’s followers to learn the glad tidings of the Resurrection, and to be charged with the honourable embassy of carrying the good news to the apostles.
Easter (the first Sunday after the first full moon in spring) is the greatest feast in the ecclesiastical year.
Paschal Communion (the soul’s resurrection). “As Christ is risen from the dead, so may we also walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6, 4).
The terror of sinners. When the soldiers on guard saw the angel they trembled with fear, and fell to the ground, as though they were dead; and yet they were brave soldiers, who had never trembled on the field of battle! How will sinners tremble when the Lord of the heavenly hosts comes to judge the world.
One sin leads to another. The chief priests and scribes were not a little terrified when the soldiers came and told them of our Lord’s Resurrection. The voice of their consciences cried to them: “He whom you have killed is, then, after all the Son of God! Do penance and believe in Him!” But they suppressed this inner voice and obeyed their wicked impulses. They hated Jesus, and resolved to prevent at any price the people from believing in Him; and therefore they bribed the soldiers to support them in their wicked lie, that the Body of Jesus had been stolen by His disciples.
The obduracy of His enemies was the reason why our Blessed Lord did not show Himself to them after His Resurrection. They would not believe in Him before, and they would not have believed
