Christ is Risen!

Christ is risen!  Alleluia!

We had a wonderful weekend, so full of the grace of God!  We had our last test before finals on the morning of Good Friday, making it easy to set aside studying for the rest of the day to focus on Christ's passion and death.  Holy Saturday began with the Scrub Run at school.  Julia and I came to cheer Aaron on as he ran a 5K.  He made us proud!

Top finisher from our school in the 5K!  Way to go, Aaron!

Easter Sunday was spent with family and friends, enjoying good food, conversation, and games.  The peak of the weekend, though, was definitely the Easter Vigil on Saturday evening.  The friend that I was sponsoring through RCIA came into full communion with the Catholic Church, and she was so filled with the joy of the Lord!  Many other people came into the Church as well, including another friend, who is a former professor of ours.  It was a beautiful night!

Our pastor is an amazing preacher, and his homily at mass really moved me.  I cannot do it justice here, but I will share the high points, because they are so worth being remembered!  It was a spectacular reminder of the meaning of Easter!

• The world changed at Easter.  The gospel reading from Matthew highlights this well.
• "After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning..." - Easter is the dawn of the new creation in Christ.
• "there was a great earthquake" - The very foundation of the earth was shifted.
• "The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men" - Guards were hired to maintain the status quo, but the status quo was shattered.
• What was this change?  Death is no longer permanent!  And we have nothing to fear!
• "Then the angel said to the women in reply, "Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified.  He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay."
• "Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid.'"
• What would happen if we lived our lives as if we truly believed that the world changed at Easter?  If we truly believed that death is not victorious and that we do no need to be afraid? 
• If someone needed a cloak, we would offer them our tunic as well.
• If someone slapped our cheek, we would offer them our other cheek.  
• If we lived our lives in this way, we would be saints!  That's the distinguishing feature of the saints - they realized that there is more to look forward to than this life, and that we have nothing to fear.
• St. Maximilian Kolbe - prayed for and led others to pray for the Nazis, offered his scarce food in the concentration camp to other prisoners, and ultimately, volunteered to take the place of a man sentenced to death, sacrificing his life. 
• Many others, like St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross and Pope John Paul II, lived their lives without fear, having confidence that death is but the entry way to eternal life.

 This homily really resonated with me.  How often do I live my life worrying about those things that are passing?  So often, I get angry about things that don't matter, hurt by things that should not bother me, preoccupied with things that will not last.  It's hard to give away my cloak or to turn the other cheek.  It's easy to have anxiety about the future.  But, if I truly live what I believe, what need do I have to cling tightly to my cloak?  What does it really matter if my cheek gets slapped?  My Savior lives and I have hope in him and eternal life to look forward to!  What have I to fear?  Nothing!

I am reminded of Romans 8, one of my favorite chapters in Scripture.  The whole chapter is worth a reread, but here are a few gems:

• "For those who live according to the flesh are concerned with the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit with the things of the spirit.  The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the spirit is life and peace" (5-6).
•  "For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, 'Abba, Father!'  The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, hears of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him that we may also be glorified with him.  I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us" (15-18). 
• If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him? (31b-32).
• What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?... No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (35, 37-39).

  Are we Christians living out the good news?  Have our lives really changed?  Has our paradigm shifted?  Can others see the reason for our hope?  

"'Death is swallowed up in victory.  Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?'  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my beloved brothers, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:54b-58) 

"Do not abandon yourselves to despair.  We are the Easter people, and hallelujah is our song." - Pope John Paul II

Happy Easter! Christ is risen!  Alleluia, alleluia!