Welcome and happy easter!
My parents believed Easter was the most important and joyful holiday of the year, next to Christmas. As a kid, I thought it was the greatest excuse ever devised for an all-you-can-eat chocolate bunny dinner (next to Mother's Day). Today, young people, think it is Spring break on the beaches of sunny Florida. For others it's just another day.
However, there is more meaning behind Easter than just the colored eggs, chocolate bunnies, Spring break and the fact that white is back in season again. It's really about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The late J.R.R. Tolkien (author of The Lord of the Rings ) explains it best, he coined the term "eucatastrophe" in his essay entitled On Fairy-Stories (this essay can be found in his book, The Tolkien Reader) to refer to the sudden, happy turn in a story that brings about a joy and gives hope to hopeless. It is where the light invades the darkness, not unmixed with sorrow (the two always seem intertwined). In our modern usage “catastrophe” has come to mean a large-scale calamity or horror (Hurricane Katrina comes to mind); thus Tolkien’s word means almost the opposite: a large-scale turn toward the good from an originally dire situation.
“strophe” = turn
“cata” = down, against, back
“eu” = good (good Catastrophe)
For him, the "eucastrophe" of the Human Story was the birth of Christ. But the "eucastrophe" of the Christian Story was the Resurrection of Christ. At a time in history when the worst moment had come, when the promised Messiah had been slain at the hands of mortal men, the Story suddenly turned. Christ rose from the Dead. He fled the Grave. Death was no longer the end. It became the glorious beginning of Hope for everyone. Christ conquered Death forever and made it a portal to eternity for those who trust in Him. The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man's history. Tolkien believed that the Gospels themselves contained "the greatest and most complete conceivable eucatastrophe (good Catastrophe).
“The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy." J.R.R. Tolkien
The remembrance of the Resurrection should bring a feeling of boundless joy and hope for the hopeless, mixed with tears of blessing on us all. Mom and dad were right, Easter, Christ's resurrection is the single most important and joyful event in human history!
“He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said." Mt.28:6
