Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.
NRSV Lk 24:10.
The season of Lent is like a train gaining momentum over time. Suddenly, the three days are upon us and it is Easter all over again. The harsh reality is that we see the passion of Christ all around us in the suffering of humanity. Some suffering comes to us by natural means of disease or accident, some comes by way of other people through cruelty, violence, and ignorance, while still other suffering is self inflicted by way of a vast assortment of self sabotage, misinformation, and/or harsh critique. In the end, suffering is painful physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Beginning with Ash Wednesday, we are confronted with our mortality and with all sorts of human frailty that often causes us to feel powerless. We often forget that Easter is coming.
Easter includes the full story of how Christ’s saving passion holds us in the future in all of our dying and living. The full mystery of our faith; Christ’s living, dying, rising, and ascension, is continuously bringing life out of death, fulfilling the baptismal promises of new life for each one of us, and for our whole community. Together, we have been claimed, cleansed, and renewed in the death and resurrection of Christ along with all of the saints of every time and place. There is a reason that the “Alleluias” resurface during this holy season of hope and renewal. Because the Lord has triumphed, his strength becomes our strength as we face our days together in hope and anticipation. Paul affirms that the last enemy to be destroyed is death, and while that is good news, many of us need to learn to live our new lives on this side of the grave.
In Luke’s gospel account of the resurrection, the women were the first to proclaim the amazing news of the resurrection. For centuries, women have been central to the story of our new life in Christ beginning with Mary, the mother of our Lord. Along with Mary, most of the apostles were obscure people from unexpected backgrounds who found themselves, as many of the prophets before them, in the unfamiliar territory of “mattering.” They mattered to Jesus, each one of them. They were entrusted with the simple message that God loved them and all people and went to great lengths to reveal how much that was true. We, all of us, are now those apostles, sent out with the same message because we too, matter. People need to hear your story, the story of God loving you, and the story of God loving all of us. The time has come for us to be Easter people, in the midst of great suffering to be sure, but with a message of hope and truth. Let us be Easter people.
Peace to you all,
Pr. Ernie +