I know, the title of this article may seem a little strange for an article to be written for and about the celebration of our Lord’s Resurrection. Yet, for me, it is not. Every year, whether it be during the celebration of The Great Vigil of Easter or anytime during the Easter Season, when I announce the hymn “The Strife Is O’er The Battle Done,” I always say to the congregation: “Sing it good now, because it is the first hymn at my funeral! I won’t hear it then because I will be dead.” I guess because I deal with death and funerals so often in my ministry, I do have my own funeral liturgy preparations made. When it arrives, in the fullness of time, the day of my burial is to be a celebration of the saving grace found in the Resurrection of our Lord. I want the readings of Easter Day to be proclaimed and the first hymn is to be “The Strife Is O’er The Battle Done.”
As parishioners both past and present are quite aware, I LOVE EASTER. I love Easter because of the fact that it is the day in which Jesus rose from the dead and because of that fact there is hope in life that is on the other side of this thing that we call death. Easter Day is the one day in the year, I do not even need coffee as a pick-me-up. I can literally bounce off the walls with excitement. I will admit there are times when life is a struggle, and sometimes there is strife and it can certainly feel like a battle. Then again, this are also my CLB roots showing (I was in the CLB in Upper Gullies Company No. 1004 from 1990-2002). Yet because of this, because I deal with death on a regular basis, and knowing how in the past that I have dealt with the processes of grief in my personal life, there is something just beautiful knowing that that bad has ended, and there is something good, hopefully, that is awaiting each and every single one of us.
There is much to celebrate in the life of the Church in the Easter Season. It is why Easter is celebrated for 50 days. 50 days to focus on the most excellent gift that God has given to creation and to people; the hope in that there is something more exciting, more wonderful, more hopeful in the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. In celebrating such an event in the history of our salvation, let us be exuberant, let us be joyful and let us celebrate it with every fibre of our being.
C.S. Lewis, in his book Miracles said it best: “A new Nature is being not merely made but made out of an old one. We live amid all the anomalies, inconveniences, hopes, and excitements of a house that is being rebuilt.” (Miracles, chapter 16, para. 21) The strife is indeed over, the battle is done and let us celebrate with joy the house that is being rebuilt, without human hands. The strife is over, the battle done: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
