Fr Ben Garren

Good Friday and Easter free us to think about other things beyond our own personal fate, about ultimate meaning of all life, suffering, and events; and we lay hold of a great hope. —Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dear Siblings in Christ,

The American and Soviet forces would meet at the Elbe River by the end of the month. The military defeat of Nazi Germany was, by April 9, a certainty. In Flossenbürg Concentration Camp, to the south of the lines, SS Judges are holding trials without witnesses, evidence, or jurors. Amidst this Dietrich Bonhoeffer is sentenced to death.

He is brought to the gallows naked, yet brave, composed, and in prayer. He is there not in submission to the Nazi Regime… but by all accounts, he died entirely submissive to the Will of God. He was meeting Christ upon the Cross as he, too, was put to death amidst injustice.

Bonhoeffer preached that Good Friday and Easter free the Christian to lay hold of a great hope. This hope is so much more than just a belief that we will go to heaven when we die. It is a belief that can draw us to something more than any plan or goal we can have for our lives and into the place of Christ.

When we believe in the resurrection, we can risk all we have as we confront injustice in the world without fear of death, without fear of loss, for we know that even at the gallows we will meet Christ.

Pax,

—Ben