Easter is over, or is it just beginning? For many of us, Holy Week, the week leading up to the Resurrection, was full of busyness and activity as friends and family gather to eat and drink and catch up. I must confess that I ate more than I needed, especially sweets and desserts. Yet, I had a great time! It was really good to have family and friends around me. Who could ask for more? I really enjoyed the Easter liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil. For me it is the highlight of my knowing Jesus.
Now that activity has settled and I’m back to work, the question is how do I respond to all that Jesus went through and all that He has done for me? Mary Magdaline went to the tomb early in the morning and became the first person to announce that Jesus has risen. Interesting that God chose a woman, Mary, to bring Jesus into the world and also a woman to first announce his rising. These women are bookends for a wonderful mystery!
The apostles hid in the Upper Room. Two of the disciples headed to Eumaeus, perhaps trying to escape. Judas killed himself. Peter and John ran to the tomb. Thomas continued to doubt until he put his fingers into Jesus’ wounds. One of my friends at Our Lady of Hope Parish wrote a prayer. “Father, I am sorry, and I love you. I am sorry for all the ways I neglected you, for all the ways I used you, for all the ways I abandoned you. I am unworthy of all the love and faith you have shown me. I should be condemned for how I treated you. And yet, you take on my sins and continue to love and forgive me. How can I ever be worthy of you? How can I ever begin to make up for all of my failings? I guess all l can do is try.”
How about you? What is your response to the holy days that we just celebrated? I fear that for most of us, not much will be different. It’s back to the old grind. We are in the Easter Season and until Pentecost, fifty days from now, I hope you take some time to ponder the happenings of Easter and find an appropriate response to all that God has done for you. “Thank you, Jesus!”
“May the Lord bless and keep you. May He let his face shine upon you, be gracious to you and give you His peace.”
