*You may have noticed that the hclm.org blog has been a little slow as of late.. Yeah, um, so did Holy Cross Member Bethany Sciortino. The cool thing is she actually volunteered to write a few posts for us. I hope you guys enjoy her writing as much as I do. -Chris Johnson
He is Risen Indeed – a reflection on Easter
An article by Bethany Sciortino
Like a lot of people, I spend a good portion of Easter Sunday devouring candy; my husband can attest to my borderline addiction to sugar. But, honestly, I never really understood the correlation of candy and rabbits to Easter. It is a German tradition that uses rabbits and eggs to symbolize reproduction and fertility – hardly age appropriate stuff for a child's Easter basket, right? But, I do have kids and the Easter bunny is cute and fluffy and I like to see my kids have fun, so I succumb to the marketing ploy of attaching a gimmick to a Christian holiday and I invite the Easter bunny into my home. Had I known he would show up at 5:30 in the morning I might have reconsidered, but I digress.
We went to church in the morning, and after a long day of ups and downs from sugar consumption and two Easter egg hunts, we wrangle the kids into their beds and unwind for the night. Nick, my husband, suggests that we watch The Passion of the Christ. It had been several years since I had seen it and Easter Sunday seemed to be the appropriate day to watch it again.It reminded me of when I was a kid, and each Easter we would watch the movie, Jesus of Nazareth – you know, the 70's mini-series where Jesus had piercing blue eyes? Great movie. The Passion, however, is spoken in three different languages. I have never been partial to movies with subtitles, but somehow this film transcends the language barrier and I feel as though I am not reading, but feeling the dialogue. And, it doesn't take long before I am overwhelmed with sadness and crying like a baby.
Tears stream down my face as I watch the graphically brutal scene of Jesus being scourged. The incredible pain and torture that He endured, the suffering He experienced tends to put things into perspective pretty quickly. After the humility and the pain, He carries the very cross upon which He will be crucified, all while bleeding, being stoned and cursed. All at once I feel incredibly insignificant and terribly ungrateful. I am pretty much sobbing at this point; how stupid could I be? I think of all the complaining I have done recently – getting up all night with a newborn baby, nursing a leg injury, arguing with the kids, feeling the strain of finances.
That is my big cross to bear – blessings. I am incredibly blessed and here I am complaining. Thanks to cinematography, I watch this one man – Jesus – lay down his life willingly and endure the hatred of mankind so that I could be blessed – to hear the cry of a newborn baby, to have legs with which to walk, children whom I could love, and income to feed my family. My cross is dipped in gold; Jesus' was wrapped in torture.
I think everyone should watch this movie on Easter, because the truth is Easter has little to do with chocolate chickens and marshmallow eggs. The mystique of colored baskets and fluffy bunnies always wears off, but Jesus' love endures forever. We are celebrating Easter Sunday, and every day thereafter, for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, following his death - the most brutal in history. Easter is about Jesus dying for me, for you, for fulfilling the prophecy that if we want God's forgiveness, all we have to do is ask. Easter is about knowing that no matter how heavy our own crosses feel, Jesus felt my pain first. He is with me – I am never alone.
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