Christ is Risen! Will You?

A Reflection on the Second Reading for April 12th, 2020:
​The Solemnity of Easter Sunday

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1 Corinthians 5.6-8

Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

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Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

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Is there anything more comforting than the smell of baking bread? There’s something calming about  the aroma — even if carbs or gluten are not your friends. Warm, freshly baked bread is like a hug! We turn to bread when we want or need comfort. In my humble opinion, that is why there seems to be a sudden rise in people baking bread (and thus hoarding flour and yeast) during this COVID-19 pandemic. The uncertainty of our new reality has us looking for activities that occupy our time and ease our minds. There is nothing more satisfying than making, baking, and especially eating bread you’ve made yourself!


On Easter Sunday, we are given two choices for the second reading. This passage from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is the lesser chosen of the two, but I chose it because, well, it alludes to the image of bread. More particularly, it speaks of the importance of the yeast. Yeast is what will make or break your bread. I have used old yeast before and it wasn’t pretty. Instead of light, airy, swishy bread, I ended up with a heavy, dense loaf that could have been used as a door stop.

Good yeast, on the other hand, accomplishes three important things:

1. It gives rise to the dough
2. Strengthens or gives structure and texture to the bread, and
3. Brings out flavour

 

Bakers know that the act of bread rising is also called “proofing”. And was not Christ’s rising proof to all non-believers in His time, that indeed He was the Son of God? That by His sacrifice we were, are, and forever, saved? What further proof do we need? The Risen Christ is our leavening agent!


Saint Paul uses the comforting and familiar image of bread to challenge the people of Corinth. The Corinthians needed to rise up from their old lives. They also needed to be strengthened as a community so to recognize the flavour — the God given gifts — that they could bring to their world. And ultimately, this challenge is also put to us. Over 2000 years has passed and Christ continues to be the leavening agent that gives rise to new life in us. He strengthens us, and calls us to bring the unique flavour of who we are, with the gifts God gave us, to a world that needs us.


Right now, every single aspect of life — economics, politics, religion, family life, the environment, healthcare, human interaction, has been impacted by this new strain of the coronavirus. But what happens after this unexpected reset to our “normal” way of life? Right now, in the midst of a crazy, world wide pandemic, we have the same choice Saint Paul presented to the Corinthians: will we allow ourselves to be leavened by old yeast or new yeast? Right now, Christ is Risen! Will you?




Aurea Sadi

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

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