Victory and Redemption

My Dear Parish Family,

When you think of victory, what comes to mind? The 2025 Super Bowl Champions’ Eagles Parade is one recent memory, for us a sure sign of victory. Confetti and congratulations! As we celebrate the victory, we might be reminded of the words of the great coach Vince Lombardi: “Winning isn’t everything, it is the only thing.” Everybody loves a winner!

During Jesus’ day, the people of Israel were expecting a messiah (anointed one of God) who would set the people free from their oppression. For the majority, that meant being freed from earthly overlords of Rome and establishing a new kingdom. The messiah would be a new King David, an earthly winner. Temporal prosperity and freedom are what the messiah would bring.

Yet today, Easter Sunday, we celebrate a most unusual victory, from the cross to the crown, from Calvary to the empty tomb. The victory begins today, on Easter, with the empty tomb. The irony and challenge is that Jesus’ death does not at first look like a victory. On the contrary, utter defeat. Naked, bloody, beaten, humiliated and even dead - death the utter sign of defeat, the ultimate ending. And so different and puzzling is His Resurrection, that even the empty tomb is more mystery than victory.

Today, in almost every Catholic Church, our crucified Lord hangs prominently, but for many centuries the cross was not part of church decor, and certainly not a sign of victory. The story is complex, but in the early Church, much of the art took the form of mosaics, often laid in the floors or on the walls of houses of worship. Frequently, these locations were not actually churches in the proper sense, but the main room or courtyard in homes of wealthier Christians who would host those first gatherings of early Christians on the Lord’s Day. Some decorated their great rooms to honor the gathering.

Two early images used to remind the Church assembled of Christ and His victory were that of the Good Shepherd with lamb on His shoulders, and Jesus depicted as a fisherman, casting or gathering a net. The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes was also depicted, which gives beautiful meaning to the abundance of the Lord’s blessing in the breaking and sharing of the eucharistic bread. These were the images the early church used to remind herself of victory. What do they have in common?

For me, two things stand out. First, these images speak of belonging to the Church through Christ. The collective, the church gathered, can be observed in the flock of sheep or fish gathered in the net. 

Second, the action of Christ is paramount in these moments. Jesus goes out to seek and save the lost. Jesus casts the net into the sea. Let us recall for a moment that Jesus, in the Scriptures, is not portrayed as fishing or casting a net, so the artists were really developing a tradition and image. The closest we might have is the parable of the dragnet (Mt 13:47-50).

This second aspect speaks to the beauty of redemption. Through the action of our Lord, through His passion, death, and resurrection (what we call collectively the paschal mystery) we, in fact, all of humanity, are invited to share in His victory. Jesus is the actor, and we are the participants or the beneficiaries. Jesus wins back what was lost and places us in the safety of the flock. Jesus gathers up the fish from the sea, a place of darkness and chaos, danger and even monsters; the sea was always seen as a dark and unsavory realm.

Jesus, through His passion, death, and resurrection, overcomes our waywardness and restores humanity to a place of safety and true freedom. Jesus compensates for our faults, an action that we could not accomplish on our own. He regains what was lost. Literally, redeem means to buy back. Jesus pays the price we cannot pay to redeem us.

So it is only in Christ that we have victory and redemption. We participate - that is probably the best word - in His victory and that in turn redeems us. He redeems us and invites us to share in His victory. Victory and redemption go hand-in-hand. Christ is the actor, and we are the participants. Christ is the savior, and we are the saved. Christ is the victor and as the church gathered and assembled, we share in that victory.

So, this Easter, we stare with great love and appreciation into the empty tomb and hear the Angel’s question: “Why do you search for the Living One among the dead? He is not here. He has been raised up” (Luke 24: 6-7). And we welcome with boundless joy the gift of redemption that is also offered to us. We, as the church gathered, are invited to celebrate His victory!

Happy Easter!
Fr. Joel