The Irony of Easter Week

Alleluia. The Lord is risen. Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia.
Many churches, clergy,  and parishioners make a great effort at Lent and put even more into Holy Week. Many provide lovely Easter Vigils, moving early Easter services, enjoyable parish breakfasts or luncheons, and impressive music and flowers for the main Easter Sunday Service. Unfortunately, by midday on Easter Sunday, many church-goers are physically, mentally, and spiritually exhausted. So the rest of Easter week, we want to crash. Even if we have a few weekday services and take the Sacrament to some shut-ins, we seem to have run out of steam.

I understand the feeling, and even after decades in ministry, I have no easy or obvious solution. Yet, the fact is that Easter Week should be filled with spiritual rejoicing for individual believers and the localized body of believers. We should be inspired by our Lord's Resurrection. So even if the institutional church needs a little pause to catch its breath, let us remain personally focused on our risen Lord in our thoughts and prayers. Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!

Prayers for Life

On this anniversary of removing most restrictions on abortion in the U.S., let us continue to pray that the culture of life may triumph over the culture of death. We remember all threats to life. We pray for victims of senseless and selfish violence, the victims of murder, the victims of terrorism, the victims of religious persecution, the victims of euthanasia, and most of all, we remember the innocent victims of abortion. Let us pray.

Epiphany Journey

Epiphany is one of the oldest Christian observances along with Good Friday, Easter and Pentecost. The word “epiphany” means “appearance” or “manifestation.” The day and the season are associated with several manifestations of Jesus Christ. In particular, in the Western European Church tradition, we think of the manifestation of the Christ Child to the Gentile Wise Men in St. Matthew 2.

There are several ways to approach this account, but this year, I have been thinking about the story of the Magi as a journey of hope, faith, and love of God. It shows a faithful response to the Savior of the world, and there are three broad aspects to the journey of the Wise Men: 1) seeking a Savior, 2) learning the message of Scripture, and 3) meeting, worshipping, and serving Christ.

These aspects of their journey can also be applied to our journeys or pilgrimages of faith. First, like the Magi, most Christians are Gentiles who seek the Jewish Savior. God reaches out to us and gives us signs in creation that can help lead us. Our world is still filled with struggles between light and darkness, good and evil. And like the Magi, we still long to see goodness. Such a longing, such a hope, can start us on the way to see Jesus.

Secondly, although our natural human hopes can point us in the right general direction, we need more specific guidance. Like the Wise Men, we must also learn about God’s plans from Holy Scripture. The Savior is not a philosophical abstraction. He fulfills the message of the Hebrew prophets. He is the personal Incarnation of God’s eternal Word. He is the One who comes as the babe of Bethlehem, grows in wisdom and stature, and later is crucified and rises from the dead at Jerusalem.

Thirdly, like the Wise Men, we must come into Jesus’s presence in humble adoration and faith. We rejoice to find Him and worship Him. We offer Him our best, knowing that He offers us more than we can ever give Him.  We refuse to cooperate with evil forces that oppose Him. We seek to do His will in this world, and we follow our way in life, continuing to praise Him in faith.

Sometimes, our journeys for Christ may seem long or difficult. Just as the Magi faced hardships, trials, and threats from evil along the way, so do we. But like them, we have faith that every encounter with Christ- in Scripture, in daily experience, in the Sacrament- makes the journey worthwhile.