Seasonal Reflection

Seasonal Reflection: Easter Season, 2017

Reflecting on Peace

They did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

- John 20:9

Easter is such an amazing miracle, can any of us understand it? Yet it is something I know I long to appreciate in its fullness of meaning. How to do that? I want to feel what Mary Magdalene and the Apostles must have felt when they realized Jesus was back after such a horrific death. I think about people I’ve loved and lost. How would it feel to have them back in the flesh with me again? Is that how Jesus’s friends and family felt? I know initially they were afraid, then dubious. Would I also feel that way? Ultimately, they must have been ecstatic. I want to appreciate the Resurrection to that depth of my being, but I know I don’t. Have I heard the story too often for it to have that kind of impact on me? Is my faith lacking? Is it just such a foreign and extraordinary experience that I/we can’t fully comprehend it no matter how hard we try? Is it a matter of trust until we, ourselves, die and enter into eternal life? How does that affect us here and now?

Easter is such a beautiful feast. It is the most fundamental to our faith, more important than Christmas or any other holy day; yet, in many ways we miss its magnificence. Bunnies and colored eggs may have their symbolism, but they just don’t cut it. Flowers blooming and trees budding are beautiful signs of new life after winter barrenness, and longer periods of daylight after winter darkness reflect the Light of Christ. It seems to me we try so hard to capture some of the grandness of Easter, but it is still so much more.

Perhaps the longing I feel is exactly the right feeling. It indicates how spectacular Easter is, so spectacular that we humans can’t grasp it. Perhaps it is time to accept the longing, to appreciate knowing that there is still more to come. Perhaps it is enough for now to say, “Thank you, God” and to go forth in that same spirit of thanksgiving, bringing peace as Jesus did with each Easter greeting.

Happy Easter!

Prayer: Easter Morning

As the world sings triumphant cries to heaven over death that you conquered, help us, Lord, tomorrow as well, when the dresses are put away and the candy is all eaten and on with life we go. Let us not forget.

The celebration of your resurrection over death is a celebration of life that should continue well beyond the sunrise service and the music, rehearsed for days prior; it is beyond the sign of spring, beyond the lily, beyond new lambs grazing in open fields.

Resurrection is a daily celebration over fear; man's greatest and most powerful enemy. Fear of tomorrow, fear of our yesterdays, fear of what shall become of our young, our old, our unborn. Resurrection is replacing fear with physical action.

This alone, the most touching and profound of your signs that fear is dead and belief in you brings, not just hope, but life.

What better living parable could You have brought? All fear death. All. Even in the garden, You took on our fear if for only moments; it was as real as our fears can be real and You knew then that this single enemy must be destroyed.

And, You sacrificed your life, leaving those who had been comfort, and follower; You left them behind, to conquer fear.

I shall cling to this now and the tomorrows given me.

Peace and thanksgiving lifted unto you.

Amen.

from http://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/online-resources/Lent,-Easter,-and-Spring-Prayers.cfm

Suggested Actions

- Reflect on the Easter mystery, yourself, and share your reflection with a friend or family member.

- For what do you long? How can you embrace the longing and find blessing in it?

- For what does a friend or family member long? How can you help him or her satisfy the longing or accept it as blessing?

- We live in a time of great fear, whether it emanates from threats of terrorism, war, nuclear disaster, global climate change, economic crises, or political upheaval. How does Jesus’s Resurrection reassure you that there is cause to hope? How does it embolden you to take action to counter the fear?

- In the midst of such heaviness, take time to celebrate the miracle of Easter and the beauty of the season.

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Reflection Archives

2017: Lent Ordinary Time 2016: Christmas Advent Fall Summer Easter Lent Ordinary Time 2015: Christmas Advent Ordinary Time