Easter and Gratitude
“For those who have ever been honoured to be with somebody when they are dying, it sounds so morbid, but it is a beautiful thing. It is absolutely a beautiful thing,” says Father Brendan McGuire in an Easter reflection.
As we try to be present at the Easter celebrations of Good Friday’s passion and death of Jesus and the subsequent Resurrection liturgies, we can touch some of the beauty McGuire expresses about being born to eternal life.
“The resurrection is real. There is not even a sinew of my body that disagrees with it. And part of my belief is because I have been there for so many last breaths, but also, I have been there as they journeyed in life,” McGuire says.
Pain and suffering bring a clarity, an understanding, McGuire reflects. In the final moments of life there are regrets, forgiveness is sometimes needed, and the gift of eternal life follows.
McGuire shared the example of a parishioner who asked him to anoint his wife who was dying of cancer. The man explained they had not been in church for a long time, and he was anxious because his wife was not a Catholic, but she wanted to be anointed.
McGuire asked her, “Would you like to be a Catholic?”
Her eyes lit up. “Oh, can I be?”
He confirmed her. Later in the day she received her first communion. “She lit up like I had given her a million-dollar lottery ticket,” McGuire said.
These were the last moments of her life. “Father, thank you so much for this gift. I have loved the Lord, and I love you for bringing me back to the Lord.” That is the gift of eternal life. “I now see him. I am ready to go to him. I am at peace. You have given me peace.”
Joy and thanksgiving! In spite of facing death. “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances, give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
St. Thérèse of Lisieux told her sister Céline, “It is the spirit of gratitude which draws down upon us the overflow of God’s grace, for no sooner have we thanked him for one blessing than he hastens to send us ten additional favours in return.
Good Friday teaches us that God recognizes suffering and pain. He does not remain at a distance. Jesus entered into the suffering and became one of us. He is with us in our suffering. He accompanies us to the point of death. And he gives us the final word in the resurrection. Love wins. Eternal life is real. The joy of the martyrs will follow our pain and dying.
The night before his death Jesus used the symbol of wine to incarnate his very life blood which he has left for us to receive. As we receive the Eucharist, which is the body and blood of Christ, we incorporate Christ into our flesh – we become what we receive (St. Augustine).
Our human condition with all its nature, its weaknesses and flaws, its imperfections, becomes one with Christ. Our water is no longer recognizable. Its essence has changed. It becomes wine – the blood of Christ. Now it is possible for us to be Christ to our neighbour, to herald the Good News, to celebrate with our brothers and sisters in what is a foretaste of the heavenly banquet.
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