We gather once again for Easter Sunday, and look for signs of the power of the Resurrection among us. This year, divine providence has given us an example of the Resurrection at work, tied in with Our Lady - Notre Dame.
When the images of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, enveloped in flames, circled the globe on Monday of Passion Week, it seemed that the Catholic world would lose this treasure of faith, history and religion. People gasped when the steeple collapsed, all enveloped in fire. As darkness fell, and flames shot into the sky, they had a surreal effect. It was as if the fires of inferno itself wanted to destroy the cathedral and its precious relics, including Christ’s crown of thorns. It was as if if these flames wanted to erase, from the heart of Paris, thissymbol of faith – and the Catholic faith in particular. Despite modern systems of protection, the cathedral looked so very helpless as it burned.
If you have never been to Notre Dame and are wondering what all the fuss is about, think of it this way – imagine the mother church of the Valley - St. Mary’s church in Wilno – on fire, the beautiful wooden altar, the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa all being consumed by flames, the steeples collapsing, the bells falling silent. Imagine that every time you would drive to Pembroke or Renfrew, you would pass the charred remains of a church that stood so beautifully on top of the hill. Speaking of Notre Dame, it’s not only that a church burned – this is bad enough – but that a very beautiful, very central, very symbolic church burned. Moreover, this all happened on Monday of Holy Week, the holiest week of the Catholic calendar. Like Mary Magdalene, who stood weeping outside of the tomb, people wept over this destruction.
Yes, we are not to put our faith in buildings. We are the living stones that make up the Church. Still, when something of this magnitude happens, even to a building, it hurts the soul.
Divine providence moves in mysterious ways. The first thing that we did last night, during the Easter vigil, was to bless a fire – claim it for God - tame it, so to speak. And so, the flames enveloping Notre Dame cathedral were tamed, brought under control – relics were moved to safety – and the building was saved, by firemen doing their job well, by people of good will. As one of my Oblate brothers commented, in the end, Paris and France, did not decide to bulldoze down the cathedral, so as to make room for condominiums, or for a city park, or for a shopping center. Through painstaking work and great effort, that will take many, many years, the cathedral will be rebuilt. It seems that even secular, post-Christian France still needs a mother – Notre Dame, Our Lady.
My brothers and sisters, at Easter, we are reminded that we are sons and daughters of a resurrected, of a glorious King. It is true that Jesus Christ had to go through his passion and death, that he was the suffering servant, being hung on a tree. But God “raised him on the third day”, as the Acts of the Apostles remind us, he was not defeated. We might not be successful in the way that the world measures success. We might not have access to money, power, prestige or influence. Our life is “hidden with Christ, in God” as St. Paul says. The good you and I do is often hidden, out of sight, discrete – it does not make the news, it does not trend on social media. And yet, it is a powerful force, a force that can tame even the infernal flames. We are daughters and sons of a resurrected, a victorious King. In a similar way, we are sons and daughters of his Mother – Our Lady – Notre Dame.
As we take heart that one day too, we will be revealed in glory; as we put our faith in Christ, who “went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil”; as we “receive forgiveness of sins through his name”; we confess and announce to others around us, that we “have seen the Lord”, and that we have seen the signs of his resurrection. Jesus Christ indeed is alive, alleluia.
(Fr. Pawel Ratajczak, OMI, April 21, 2019)
