Easter

Easter 2018:

Alleluia, Christ is Risen.  Alleluia is a word that means “praise be to God.”  Indeed, we say “Alleluia” tonight (today) and every day.  Praise be to God, Christ is risen from the dead. February 14^th2018 we gathered in this church.  Some of us very early in the morning.  We gathered in prayer, we received ashes on our foreheads, we celebrated the Holy Eucharist.  We ended that Mass, and every Mass during Lent, by singing Jesus remember me.  As we have been reflecting on these words of the good thief during these days of Lent and especially during this Sacred Triduum, these words always look to the future.  When the good thief uttered them, he was hanging next to Jesus on the cross.  Christ had not yet died, he had not yet risen.  So, these words looked forward to the glory of the risen Christ.  Today we celebrate that glory.  Today we celebrate the kingdom of Christ.  Today we proclaim the reality behind these words: remember me when you come into your kingdom.  Indeed, Jesus reigns in that kingdom now.

We proclaim that Christ has already conquered sin and death, but we do not yet experience that kingdom in its fullness.  We profess our faith that the Good Thief and all the saints already live in the paradise that Christ promised from the cross.  And yet, we are still on our journey of faith, we still await the kingdom, we do not experience it in its fullness right now.

Our lives are a strange tension.  We live in this present moment, but yet we long for something more. We live this human life full of pain, suffering, even death.  And yet, in the hearts of every human being we long for more.  We long for a life of peace, an eternal life of love and happiness. Every human heart longs for that. This is why we all find the message of the resurrection of Christ to be so powerful.  Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.  This is what we all long for in our hearts.  We want to be a part of that kingdom.  We profess that the kingdom already exists; but, we do not yet experience ourselves.  It’s a real tension.

I’m sure we have all experienced this tension sometimes. We believe in the resurrection. We sometimes struggle with our beliefs. We know that God is there. Sometimes God feels far away.  We know that God loves us.  We sometimes suffer and are in pain.  

So, if you have this tension in your life, welcome to the club. We all have this tension.  You know what?  That’s ok.  It’s part of life.  I see it all the time in my own life and in the lives of people I meet.  Sometimes people come to me broken down and feeling quite distant from God.  Sometimes people come to me full of joy and feeling like God is everywhere.  Some people are in between.  So, where are you?  It’s ok.  The ups and downs are part of life.

This is one of the reasons why I love Lent and Easter. These two seasons represent both sides of the tension.  During the season of Lent we focus on our own wandering in the desert.  Lent symbolizes our life here on earth.  Our time in this desert is a time of testing.  In this life we experience pain, grief, loss, mourning, death, etc.  Lent is a time that always looks forward to the celebration of Easter.  Our life is a time that always looks forward to the new life in Christ’s kingdom.

Yet, today we celebrate Easter, which proclaims the other side of the tension.  Christ has already won.  The kingdom already exists.  Christ is risen.  We might be journeying in the desert.  We might experience trials and tribulations.  But, Christ has already won.  We experience glimpses of this in our lives.  It’s true we experience difficulties in life.  But, don’t we also experience joys?  There might be pain; but, there’s also love.  There might be dark, but there’s also light.  

Lent teaches us to sing: “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom” as a way to anticipate our full participation in the kingdom in the future.  But, Easter teaches us to sing that song as a proclamation of faith.  Jesus is already in his kingdom, even if we do not yet experience ourselves in its fullness.

Human life is a life of tension.  We live with this tension every day.  We experience the darkness of sin and suffering; but we also experience the light of love, joy, and peace.  Lent and Easter are two seasons that go together as a way to represent this fundamental human tension.  

So, my friends, do not be afraid of this tension.  It is a part of our lives.  When we experience the darkness, make it a chance to call out to Christ and ask him to be our savior.  When we experience the light, make it a chance to proclaim our faith in the resurrection.  No matter what side of the tension you find yourself on any given day, “Jesus remember me” is a wonderful prayer.

Today we proclaim an important truth: Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.  Alleluia, Praise be to God.  Alleluia in good times, and in bad times.  Alleluia in the darkness, alleluia in the light.  “Jesus remember me” during Lent and during Easter; during the good times and the bad.  We proclaim today and always: Alleluia, Christ is risen: Alleluia.