Franciscan Sisters of the Poor US Area

“He descended into hell, on the third day He arose again from the dead…” There is an ancient Christian homily (now part of the Office of Readings for Holy Saturday), which paints a picture of this as you might see depicted on an icon. In that ancient homily describing Jesus’ descent into hell, as Jesus wakes up Adam he says to him: “I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. . . . Arise, let us leave this place.” This is, no doubt, the most consoling doctrine in all of religion, Christian or otherwise. What it tells us is that Jesus goes into every dark, taboo place on this planet and takes God’s light and healing there.
One of our major beliefs about Jesus is that, by entering death, a place of separation and alienation, a “hell,” and, once there, breathed out God’s light and healing forgiveness. There are many forms of death, and many forms of  hell: depression, incurable bitterness, a wound so deep it can never heal, helplessness in the face of addiction, a beaten and crushed spirit, an alienation too deep and long-standing to be overcome — any of these can leave us huddled in a locked room, in some underworld, in some private hell, too weak to open the doors that lead to love and life.
Many people – perhaps each one of us – have spent some time in our own private hell. The message of Easter is that we don’t have to stay there. The hope of Easter is that we know we can reach out and Christ will be there, standing gently inside our private hell, breathing out love and peace. The joy of Easter is that Christ says to me: “I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. . . . Arise, let us leave this place.” And we breathe in His Light and Healing forgiveness, and we are whole again. Happy Easter!