We have been preparing for this morning’s Easter celebration with our Lenten observances, yet our time of preparation this year has been very different and very unexpected, hasn't it? Since March 15, our public liturgies and public church activities have been put on hold. We still don’t really know when our public masses are going to begin again and when we will be able to celebrate confirmation and first communion and the entrance of our RCIA candidates into the Church. We Catholics look forward to the joy of the resurrection on Easter morning after our days with Jesus in the desert. But perhaps we are not sure about the Easter joy we are feeling this year. Christ is risen! Christ has brought us new life! That is the Good News of our Mass this morning. It is declared to us in the psalm today. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad! But what exactly does that mean in the reality of our lives today?
Today, in the resurrection of our Savior, we celebrate Jesus Christ, true God and true man, who came into the world that we might have new life, that might have life to the fullest. In his life and ministry, Jesus preached the reality of the Kingdom of God. He reached out to the poor and the marginalized. He healed the sick and the broken as a sign of the Kingdom that is yet to come. But, in his ministry and in his proclamation of the Kingdom, he did not heal all the world’s illnesses. He did not raise up all who were dying back to their earthly life. While we place our hope in God’s kingdom that is to come, we too can foster hope in the struggles and the brokenness of the world by being signs of hope and new life ourselves.
In the midst of difficult human circumstances, we can find life and hope. We can be signs of life and hope. In the midst of war, there is a lot of human tragedy and suffering. I remember when I lived in Winnipeg, the churches would often have plaques on the walls commemorating their many parishioners who had been lost in WWI. The list of names was staggering. There is a wonderful French movie called JOYEUX NOEL that takes place on Christmas eve in the year 1914 in the midst of the trenches of WWI. Scottish, French and German forces are all holding their position in the trenches with a lull in the fighting. They are all tense and on-edge, wondering what might happen next or if there enemy would attack them. Suddenly, one group of soldiers starts singing Christmas carols. Soldiers from all the sides join in. Their leaders make a truce and suspend fighting for the night. The enemies come together. They exchange Christmas gifts, wish each other well, and even play a soccer game together. An act of hope and kindness occurs in the midst of the terrible tragedy, suffering, and death of war. In the midst of war, violence and death, these soldiers were able to focus message of the birth of Christ and the hope that this message brings to the world. So, too, in the midst of what our world is going through in the shadow of the COVID-19 virus, we can focus of the message of Christ and the resurrection.
We see the message of Christ’s resurrection alive in our world in different ways. We see people reaching out to others in many amazing ways. We see children and youth finding creative ways to learn. We see families praying together and celebrating Lent and Holy week in creative ways. We have people from all over attending Masses and liturgies on the internet and coming together in a special way to celebrate their faith. Families praying together and coming together, breathing new energy into the domestic church, also is an important way we have seen the spirit of Christ’s resurrection alive in our world during these challenging times. Times of challenge and hardship can bring people closer to our faith and may push us away from our faith. As the resurrection of the Lord calls out to us to day in the midst our challenges, let us feel the real presence of the risen Lord with us. Let us have the light of the resurrection lead us and guide us today and every day.
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