Eucatastrophe

Bellarmine University
Our Lady of the Woods Chapel
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/033124.cfm

Good morning, Bellarmine. Happy Easter. The Lord is Risen, Alleluia!

In Jesus’ time, the most important and popular art form was the Greek tragedy. These plays originated in Athens in the 6th century B.C. and were performed in large amphitheaters built on the side of hills. They were originally religious in nature, honoring the god Dionysius. A small number of actors (with powerful voices) wearing masks acted on stage while a chorus sang a commentary on the action.


Tragedies tell the story of the downfall of a great hero. The noble protagonist of the story is virtuous yet imperfect in ways that make him sympathetic. He has a “tragic flaw” that lead to catastrophe. The most famous example is Oedipus Rex whose flaw is lack of knowledge about his family and his origins. The conclusion of the tragedy is called a catastrophe, a Greek word that means ‘sudden downturn.’ This may be the protagonist’s death or some other shocking disaster. [Oedipus learns that he has killed his father and married his mother. On learning the truth, he blinds himself.]

Tragedies continue to be a popular art form. MacBeth, The Great Gatsby, Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones all follow the basic form and structure of a Greek tragedy. There is something resonate in these stories that makes them timeless. They reflect a truth about the world. Within the Bible, we also see tragedy. Most importantly in the story of the Fall of Humanity, how we were cast out from Paradise because of our own disobedience, and how sin, death, and suffering entered the world. When we look at the world, it is easy to echo the song of the chorus in Oedipus, "not to be born is best."

At first glance, Jesus appears to be a tragic hero in the same mold as Oedipus and all the rest. A noble hero has come to save us all. And yet, he fails. Rather than a triumphant victory and a coronation, Jesus is arrested, tortured, and executed in an excruciating and humiliating way. Finally, his broken remains are walled up and sealed behind a boulder. This is the ultimate catastrophe, greater even than the primordial Fall.

And in this tragedy, it is not Jesus’ flaws that lead to his death, but ours—humanity’s. We are the tragic heroes, the ones who killed the savior the world. We have taken the author of life and given him death. In other worlds, we are not tragic heroes but the villains of the greatest story ever told and the catastrophic conclusion of this play is the death of God.

You know what happens next. This story is not a tragedy. Jesus’ life did not and does not end with a closed and sealed tomb. Something inconceivable happens next: the hero of our story is not defeated by death. No, it is death that is defeated by him. He is risen, the stone is rolled away, and the tomb is empty. The LORD lives.

J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings wrote that what happened on Easter Sunday almost two thousand years ago was not a catastrophe, but a “eucatastrophe.” A catastrophe with the prefix “E-U” (pronounced ‘you’), meaning good. He described it as “the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears… [I]t is a sudden and miraculous grace: never to be counted on to recur…. giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief.” It usually comes in a point in a story where all seems lost. And into that moment, God’s grace breaks into the world, and snatches victory from the jaws of defeat. You can see this device frequently in Tolkien’s own stories—an unlooked-for twist that brings about a happy ending.

In this way, the Gospel is not a tragedy but a redemption story, a story that ends with happy ending, despite the appearance of all being lost. This is the Good News, my friends, that the Beloved Disciple saw and believed when he looked into the Empty Tomb on Easter morning. This story that we desperately want to believe: that our lives mean something, that good ultimately triumphs over evil, and that death isn’t the end. All of it is true.

Tolkien described the resurrection of Jesus as the greatest imaginable eucatastrophe. At a time when all seemed lost, when humanity had literally killed God, we were surprised with the greatest possible news. That the love of God is stronger than death. That God, the true father of us all, has defeated death, not just for once for Jesus, but for all of us and for all time. This was the greatest redemption story possible, but it was ever more incredible because it is true. Let us go announce it to the world and live it in our lives. God bless you.