If in that Syrian garden, ages slain, You sleep, and know not you are dead in vain, Nor even in dreams behold how dark and bright Ascends in smoke and fire by day and night The hate you died to quench and could but fan, Sleep well and see no morning, son of man. But if, the grave rent and the stone rolled by, At the right hand of majesty on high You sit, and sitting so remember yet Your tears, your agony and bloody sweat, Your cross and passion and the life you gave, Bow hither out of heaven and see and save.
If this poem by AE Housman sounds a little “off” to you, that’s because it is written by a self-described non -believer. The work is a plea to Christ to make Himself known to the world – as proof of His existence and of His resurrection. In our sometimes-challenging world, we seek proof of God alive and truly present to us. The good news is that in our life as Catholic Christians we have that: in the living word of God (Scripture) in the Sacrament of the Eucharist where Christ is truly present in the form of bread and wine, and in the Church where we – the Body of Christ – gather to hear Him, receive Him, and experience Him in the gift of one another.
The church will be crowded on Easter because all of us – in various stages of belief – make our way to hear and experience Christ, truly risen. Why? Because we desire hope and it is in the Church that we learn that God desires the same for us. The proof is in Word, Sacrament and Encounter. Those who ran to the tomb of Jesus when they heard that he might have risen, saw the burial clothes, “but Him they did not see.” Then they gathered (like we do on Easter and every Sunday) to celebrate all that God had done through His Son Jesus for us. The height of their celebration was when Jesus Himself appeared – wounds intact, but fully alive, and truly present to them. The proof of God’s existence is in His love poured out in Jesus, and that’s why that Resurrection Sunday is so life-giving and life-changing. The reality of every Sunday is a loving encounter with the Risen Christ. Don’t miss that life-giving and life-changing gift ever!
Happy Easter!
Welcome to the Saint Aloysius! Our parish was founded in 1896 to serve the Catholic families that were settling in the greater New Canaan area.