An Easter message from our provincial director, Fr. Jeffrey Kirch, C.PP.S.
One of the things I miss about being a little kid is unalloyed feelings. For adults, our emotions are often mixed and therefore complicated.
On Easter, we try to imagine what the disciples were feeling. The women and men who were the first to see Jesus struggled to understand what it all meant. Whether they could grasp the reality of the resurrection or if it took a while to sink in, they had just been through a traumatic few days. Being human, they could not just stuff their fear and anxiety into the now-empty tomb and walk away from it. Their Easter joy and wonder was layered over their Holy Week memories as their minds struggled to absorb what was going on.
They had been on a journey, and so have we. We have spent 40 days in a spiritual retreat, moving through Lent as a Church. All that we have pondered and prayed over, all that God has revealed to us, we take with us into Easter and beyond. We do not just put it away in a box and move on to Easter season.
The struggles of our lives, the fear and the failure, are a part of who we are. So too are those moments of revelation and joy, when we get a glimpse of the divine and see where we fit in God’s kingdom. Today we are given a great gift, a burst of light from an empty tomb. Our God is with us, and has always been with us. In times of trial and on bright Sunday mornings in spring, God is with us, and we are with God. Resting in the arms of the Risen Lord, we are healed and redeemed. Our hope has been restored. We walk into a new day, singing alleluia.