He is Truly Risen!

When the economy has unusual ups and downs, when politics are uncertain, when society is divided, to whom do you turn? When the talking heads on the news programs are all yelling at each other, when the influencers are being arrested for the crazy things they do to get attention, and when you’re uncertain about both political party leaders’ decisions, where do you find truth?
For people of faith, there can be only one answer: “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

True, we learn from Him that there will be hard times, betrayals, false judgments and condemnations, followed by genuine, great suffering. We will all have times when it is important to provide ourselves confidence and hope, in spite of the news, the politics, the economy...whatever. But the difficulties are certainly not the only message we learn from the dying and rising of Jesus. After struggle and death comes renewed life. It might be very important this year to take this faith of ours as our frame of reference to live well in these times, since when all else can seem dark, our faith remains a springboard for hope.

We don’t take this approach with foolish optimism. We are intimately joined to the world’s problems by our commitment to the Lord who created it. And because of that deep connection, we are forced to confront the world’s reality, and where possible, to do the good within our arms reach to address the world’s wounds.

But even as we do so, we remember the primordial stories of the creation, where God saw that what he made was good, and that those made in his image and likeness are capable of being very good. We recall God’s original intent, of placing us in a beautiful and productive garden, with worthy companionship, a sense of purpose in caring for that garden, where, in the cool breeze of the evening, God would walk among us and call us by name. God intended us to know our purpose and be happy. How good it would be to surrender to God’s original plan.
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With this as our goal, we remain people of gratitude and hope, with confidence in our own renewal, as well as the world’s. We recognize the grace operating in our lives, and that alongside struggle is triumph, that wounds can be healed and cancer cured, wars are not forever, and that as spring follows winter, struggling adolescents become loving and confident young adults. Renewal happens. 

         Our world is full of hope for better things.
         On this Easter Sunday, in particular, we celebrate that for Jesus, and for us,
​death is not the end.
         He is risen...truly risen. Alleluia.

May you be surprised by happiness this Easter,
Fr. Patrick Mullen
Pastor 

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