A Song of victory

A Reflection on the Psalm for April 28, 2019:
​2nd Sunday of Easter: Divine Mercy

Psalm 118
verses 2-4,  22-27


R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever!
or Alleluia!

Let Israel say,
    ‘His steadfast love endures for ever.’
 Let the house of Aaron say,
    ‘His steadfast love endures for ever.’
Let those who fear the Lord say,
    ‘His steadfast love endures for ever.

R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever!
or Alleluia!

The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
    it is marvellous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it.

R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever!
or Alleluia!

Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
    O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
    We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God,
    and he has given us light.

R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever!
or Alleluia!

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It’s Easter!  Still!  One of the things I love about our Church is that we live, worship, and praise our God in seasons, and not simply on a special day here and there.  We prepare for 40 days through Lent. Then we celebrate the Resurrection for 50 days until the Feast of Pentecost when we recall the coming of the Holy Spirit and ultimately the sending out of the Apostles. There is a beginning and an end.  After all nothing lasts forever.  Or does it? 
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Several summers ago, I was in a museum and saw a painting by an artist named Eugène Burnand.  Don’t worry, prior to seeing this painting I didn’t know who Burnand was either. What’s more important is the painting itself and its title: The Disciples Peter and John on the Morning of the Resurrection.  The museum was the Musee D’Orsay in Paris — a world renowned museum that contains originals from Monet, Renoir, and Picasso.  Yet my attention and my heart were totally captured by this painting by a relatively unknown artist — at least to me with my very minimal knowledge of art history.  It felt like forever that I stood there just taking in the colours, the clarity, the expressions, and trying to read what the artist was trying to convey.

The first thing that struck me was the detail in the facial expressions of the Apostles.  Upon hearing from the women of Christ’s resurrection they went running to the now empty tomb because of… curiosity?  fear ? shock?  worry?  Burnand captures this mix of emotions so well.  I’m assuming the older looking gentlemen is Peter and in his face are all those emotions.  I can imagine the voice in Peter’s head saying, “Could it be?  Did Jesus do as he said he would and rise from the dead?  Is he still alive?”  I can only imagine the dark places the Apostles and other disciples went to after Jesus’ crucifixion.  Yet I see a sense of hope in Peter’s face, a hope in Jesus’ being forever present as he promised.  This is the sense of forever that the psalmist means when he writes, “His steadfast love endures forever!” 


Because we know how this “story” ends, we know Jesus DID rise from the darkness that is death.  On that third day, that first Easter Sunday, there was great Light. The lack of darkness, or rather the brightness of the morning light conveyed in the painting, is the second thing that intrigued me about this painting. There is a hopefulness in that light. Night has faded and as the sun has risen, the Son has risen — Alleluia!


In some Bible translations Psalm 118 is titled:  A Song of Victory.  And appropriately so, after all what greater victory is there than the victory over death that Jesus won for all — then, now, and forever. Whether it be that very first Easter Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday, any Sunday, or any day for that matter, let all the faithful say, “His steadfast love endures forever!”

Night has faded and as the sun has risen, the Son has risen — Alleluia!

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Aurea Sadi

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