imageYannick Clément sent this to me and I meant to post it yesterday. Thing just got very busy this Easter weekend and I didn’t get around to it until this morning. Enjoy, this is something to think about:

Mainly because many of the readers and writers of this blog seem to always seek some kind of proof of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the Shroud of Turin, I thought it would be a very good idea to share with all of you a great meditation for Easter that was written recently by a Priest from my province of Quebec named Jean-Yves Garneau. Right off the bat, I must say that I fully agree with everything contained in this short meditation. Note that even if I tried to translate it the best I could, it is possible that there are still some minor errors in the text.

Here it is:

STONE REMOVED, CHRIST ALIVE

If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile. (ref. : 1 Corinthian 15,17). If he is resurrected, everything changes. Already, we can live of his life, and we can hope to resurrect one day.

Sometimes, we would love that someone proves us that Jesus is really resurrected. One single proof would be enough. Even a little one. BUT THIS PROOF WON’T BE GIVEN TO US. God DON’T WANT and SHOULD NOT give it to us. Simply because the Resurrection of Jesus is a FACT TO BELIEVE, NOT TO DEMONSTRATE. It was true for the first disciples. It is true for us. And it will be that way till the end of times.

THERE IS NO PROOFS THAT EXIST that could render obvious the Resurrection of Jesus, BUT THERE ARE SIGNS that invite us to believe it. The Gospels reports many of these, which were given to the first disciples. The one we found in today’s evangelical reading challenges us.

Mary Magdalen comes to the tomb in which the body of Jesus had been placed. Coming closer to it, she ask herself how the heavy stone that block the entrance could be removed. What was her surprise! The stone had been rolled. When? By whom? What happened?

It is a SIGN OF GOD. At that moment, she didn’t understand it. A bit later, she will understand all the sense: Jesus is again and forever alive!

Jean-Yves Garneau, Priest, Quebec.

I hope you liked this short meditation! Personally, I think we can consider the “empty Shroud of Turin” exactly in the same manner than the rolled stone and the empty tomb discovered by Mary Magdalen on Easter morning, i.e. as a great SIGN of the Resurrection of Christ, but never as some kind of physical proof of that singular event in the history of mankind. Why? Simply because Jesus love us so much that he will never force anyone of his children to believe in him! He respect way too much our liberty (which is one of the greatest gift he ever give us) to left some kind of noticeable and unquestionable proof of his Resurrection on his burial cloth! It would be great if people like Giulio Fanti or John Jackson could understand that important truth regarding God and us. The only things given by him to fortify our faith in his Resurrection (and, at the same time, in our own resurrection and salvation) are SIGNS. And some of these signs can be seen on the Shroud for someone who knows how to look at this piece of cloth with the eyes of FAITH. The most obvious of these signs being the simple fact that such a gruesome and bloodstained burial cloth (which would automatically gives a legal impurity for any Jew who would touch it) had been removed from the tomb, kept and conserved with great care until this day. Also, along with the Shroud, it’s important to note that there are many others signs of the Resurrection of Christ out there, including the numerous miracles recognized by the Church, the apparitions of Mary recognized by the Church, the life of many Saints, etc.

Since the Resurrection of Christ is the greatest sign that we will all resurrect some day to enter into God’s Kingdom, I think we have the right, as believers, to celebrate on this day! And not only for those who believe in Christ but for all mankind, because we’re all God’s children and, for the Father, every one is precious, no one is disposable! Isn’t the profound meaning of the Passion, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ? Because it’s true, let me conclude by saying Happy Easter to everyone, including those who understand the Shroud differently than I, like Daveb, Ron, Giulio Fanti, Paolo DiLazzaro, Ian Wilson and, of course, Colin Berry (who is the last but not least)! One day in God’s Kingdom, we’ll all know the complete truth regarding this cloth and I seriously doubt that, at that moment, we will still consider it as something of great importance! On the contrary, when this day will come, I believe the man of the Shroud will be much more important for any of us, while his burial cloth will become obsolete! Finally, note that such a shift is truly possible while we’re still here on Earth waiting patiently to enter into God’s Kingdom!!! Personally, that’s what I try to do more and more everyday.

P.S.: In a one section of an issue of Shroud Spectrum International that has recently been published on Shroud.com, we found a little summary of a lecture that was given by the Jesuit Priest, Rev. Pierre Mourlon-Beernaert in Belgium. Here’s what Father Mourlon-Beernaert had to say about the Shroud: “For our faith, the Shroud CANNOT BE CONSIDERED AS A PROOF, but rather AS A SIGN (AND WHAT A SIGN!) for out time.” I thought it was a good idea to quote this because that fits perfectly well with the meditation of Jean-Yves Garneau, as well as mine.