Apr 12 - Easter

Easter Vigil and Sunday 2020

+ Perhaps no other time in human history, has the entire human race, in the global circumstances and situations that we find ourselves in been called to immediate and almost mandatory participation by everyone.

The effects of the Coronavirus 2019 is “boggling the mind of many,” stretching the limits of the giving heart” for many more, and wrenching the guts of most of us.

Across the board, the one topic that is searing the psyches of men, women and children is this: when will it end, when will it be over, when will things return to normal, when will people stop becoming infected, when will people stop dying, when will the sun come out again – the blunt answer is simply no one knows, no one knows how long our world will be upside down! And so we are faced with a choice, give up, give in, give over control to anyone who even sounds like they might have a solution, or to simply learn how to live upside down, learn how to reach deep inside and find the source of something that has always been there, that will always be there: our connection to the Divine Workings of the Blessed Trinity in our souls!

Yeah, right! now YOU are upside down, many might say! Well, yes, yes I am, yes, I know it, yes, it’s where I want to be, it’s the only way through the maze of ever changing realities and decisions that just don’t seem to stick!

The bottom line we are told, is to do everything contrary to what is an internal instinct, what is a normal inclination, what is a normal response to a stressful situation: and that is: we must stay put, and apart from one another, and wear protective gear when we do go outside for essential outings, and to wash our hands, wash our surfaces, and wash our clothes – over and over again.

The top line is that we are totally equipped to do these things: for as long as temporarily is determined, why? because of LOVE. Love of our families, and pets who are hold up with us, love of family and friends from whom we are separated by distance, any distance at all, love of our fellow citizens in our cities and states and nation, and our world.

We truly are in this “thing” together! but, tonight, we remind ourselves of the Principal Person that we need to remember who is deeply concerned about, and doing everything possible to let us know he is there, and to layout for us an array of tools to use – to make this probably the “best adventure of our lives.” And that Person is the Divine Person of Jesus Christ, Crucified, Buried and now celebrated as Risen from the dead and modeling the brand new kind of glorifed human life that is his to model first – so that we can see what awaits all of us, when we instantly pass from this mortal human existence, and step into the Reality of realities and begin to exist as he does with unimagined new abilities, capabilities and functions: all in a multidimensional experience that will “boggle our minds, and hearts and guts, forever and ever!”

This is what happened to Jesus in that tomb, the Holy Spirit at the quest of His Father, jettisoned Jesus into this fullness and abundance that simply is off the charts. Jesus was not simply resuscitated, he was TRANSFORMED and leapt quantumly beyond the sun, beyond the stars, beyond the universe – and into His Father’s outstretched arms, as they ran towards each other, powered by their own Spirit of relationship, Spirit of Love, Spirit of Light – where they will remain entwined forever!

And all this we are already participating in! THAT’S THE GOOD NEWS OF EASTER! no matter who we are on the planet, we are already participating in the Easter Dance, the Easter Song, the Easter Embrace of Love – and no matter what we do or don’t do – nothing will change the Love for us that the infinitely dynamic source of that Love can give. GOD DOESN’T MAKE JUNK! GOD LOVES US JUST EXACTLY THE WAY WE ARE! and so, there is every reason to have ABSOLUTE HOPE and TRUST in HIM who sees our current impatience, our current cabin fever, our current need to reorganize our entire exterior lives, our deep sorrow watching so many die as a result of the virus, and so many yet to be infected and made sick, and so many out of work, and who may be so indefinitely!

HE GETS OUR LOT – but he cannot correct the situation without us: without asking for the grace flowing from the Risen Jesus, the grace that cools, and heals, and comforts, the grace that inspires us to keep going, to rearrange what needs rearranging, and to discover things about ourselves that we never knew – both the good and the bad.

Let us then listen to the medical experts at the helm and only them – because God (the Triune Lover of us) is working directly through them. And he is not pleased at all with those who are using any single part of this situation for their own self-importance, profit, or congratulations.

REJOICE! THE LORD HAS DIED, THE LORD HAS RISEN! WE HAVE DIED, AND WE HAVE RISEN WITH HIM – and so all is well, ALL IS WELL, and ALL MANNER OF THING IS WELL!

God bless you!