We shall rise with them! (Rory Cooney)

Up from the earth, and surging like a wave…
Rise up, O Christ! Your God defies the grave!
Up from the earth push blade and leaf and stem
They rise for Christ and we shall rise with them!

Up from the cross, a billion voices strain
Cry for a hand to lift them from their pain
Up from the cross, but scarred in limbs and side,
A wounded Church brings healing far and wide.

Up from the night, Christ Morning Star awakes,
Oh what a light upon earth’s darkness breaks!
Up from the night, Christ sows his life like wheat
And death itself lies fallow at his feet! 

Up from the tomb of all the past conceals!
See how our God a brighter day reveals.
Up from the tomb! Though death had bound us tight,
Like Lazarus we stumble into light! 

Cry to the cross, where tyrants work their dread!
Shout to the tombs where parents mourn their dead!
Sing to the earth, for God all newness gives!
Alleluia! Christ Liberator lives!
Alleluia! Christ Liberator lives! 

To hear Up from the Earth from Rory Cooney’s Change Our Hearts collection, click on the video below: 

Image source: Tintoretto, Paradise (1588), http://art-now-and-then.blogspot.com/2014/06/art-and-jesus-second-coming.html  

Video source