Christ brings light to all
Letter from Bishop DiNardo
Posted March 28, 2002

Dear friends in Christ,

"We give glory to you, Lord, who raised up your cross to span
the jaws of death like a bridge by which souls might pass from
the region of the dead to the land of the living. We give glory
to you who put on the body of a single mortal man and made
it the source of life for every other mortal." 
      (Sermon "On our Lord," St. Ephrem, Deacon, 4th Century, Edessa in Syria)

The Easter of 2002 in the Diocese of Sioux City is the Easter of our Centennial Year. We are indeed joyful for the gifts of the Risen Christ that have been showered upon this local church for the past 100 years. When we say this year, "Christ is risen!" we need to remember his all embracing mercy towards the 24 counties of Iowa since 1902. That mercy has enabled us to proclaim, celebrate and live the good news of his kingdom in good times and in bad, in times of prosperity and in times of want, in our successes and in our failures.

His cross has indeed been a bridge spanning death and darkness that has allowed us to "Pass-over" from death to life. For outsiders, the history of our local Church may seem relatively ordinary and prosaic. But for those of us committed to our Catholic faith and to this diocese, it is a story of much heroism and achievement, made possible by the One who put on the body of a single mortal, who "married" our flesh, and thus has enabled each one of us mortal ones to touch the source of life.

Easter, in fact, is the celebration of "touching the source of life" and being renewed. What does this mean? The four Gospels, each in its distinctive idiom of expression, manifest a central concern. God, the father of all, wants to give himself completely to human beings by sending His well-beloved Son; this is done beyond measure and without reservation. At the same time, Jesus gives himself completely to his father. "Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit." (Luke 23:46).

At this moment of the cross, when the "hour" of Jesus is the most intense, the source of life, a gift of the obedience of the Lord Jesus to God, now begins to flow out for us. ¹ In the Gospel of Saint John, this reality is beautifully yet mysteriously expressed in the wounding of the side of Christ by the centurion. Immediately blood and water flow out from the side of Jesus and fall upon the Mother of God and the beloved disciple, two real figures yet signs of what it is to belong to Jesus Christ.

The blood and water are the Holy Spirit and the activities of the Spirit that give us Jesus' life, namely baptism and the Eucharist. What seems to be the darkest moment, and it is a dark moment, the crucifixion and death of our Savior, is simultaneously the opening of a new movement and a new power of life that is freely bestowed upon those who come to Christ emptied of self and full of faith. In the event of Jesus' death never has silence been so full and rich, so saturated with God's presence.

The resurrection of Christ occurs after the Sabbath, or the reckoning of earthly time. On Easter morning, human beings begin to realize a new kind of event. Jesus now radiates the glory of the father in his human body. And though the resurrection can be said to have happened at one point of historical time, it is incorrectly understood if it is limited to the past as past. The resurrection means that Jesus now and forever simply "is."

His risen body is now the source of all life, and we, as human beings can indeed "touch" it by faith, sacrament and action, for it has first touched us. Without the renewal of our frame of mind, our way of thinking and acting, our very bodily way of being, our appreciation of the resurrection is minimal. It has been reduced to an idea, and not been touched as the reality that it is. Perhaps the best way to renew our insight into the Risen Christ would be to talk to one of our newly baptized Catholic Christians at Easter. They would let us know what "putting on Christ" means and has meant for them in their journey to faith and life.

Because Easter is so profound and mysterious and "gets to the heart of things," our relatively superficial culture tends to be embarrassed by it. Easter is either ignored or reduced to the renewal of nature in spring. I do hope that our Centennial Year will make us more mindful, more alert to the inexhaustible riches that are available to us in the simple words: "Christ is risen! Truly he is risen!"

A blessed Easter to all the priests, deacons, religious, and faithful of the diocese, especially to those newly received into the church this year.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Rev. Daniel N. DiNardo
Bishop of Sioux City

¹ For further reflection on this issue, see Jean Corbon, The Wellspring of Worship (New York, Paulist Press, 1988), pp 30-34.