That Easter Sunday evening at Westminster Abbey...

"The Crucifixion," by Enrico Manfrini,
Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption,
San Francisco, Calif.

That Easter Sunday evening at Westminster Abbey, 

Sister Judith CSC, then eighty-nine, conducted;

sunlight streamed down through windows high above.

“It's a big space to fill,” she said, 

her stoop barely allowing her to see over the podium, 

“so have a good yell.”

The hymn began, 

“Jesus Christ is risen to-day, Alleluia!...”

In the gospel reading from Luke 24, 

Jesus' disciples seemed not to expect a crucifixion: 

“...But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel....'”

They also seem not to expect a resurrection: 

“'...Moreover, some women of our group astounded us.... 

they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels 

who said that he was alive....'” 

Later in the gospel reading: 

“...When he was at the table with them, 

he took bread, blessed and broke it, 

and gave it to them. 

Then their eyes were opened, 

and they recognized him; 

and he vanished from their sight....” 

It's a strange kind of victory 

that breaks the back of death and then disappears

except for the witnesses it leaves behind. 

Writing to churches in Corinth, saint Paul held first 

“Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 

and that he was buried, 

and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, 

and that he appeared....”

What is the meaning of this 

apparent hiddenness? 

Why did Jesus ascend to heaven 

instead of sacking Rome? 

Or abolishing mental illness?

What does it mean if cruciform 

is the only shape relationship can take 

without becoming acquisition?

Previous §