Happy Easter!
March 27, 2016 ~ Easter Sunday
We will celebrate Easter Mass tonight our usual 7:00PM time.
"Let us not stay imprisoned within ourselves, but let us break open our sealed tombs to the Lord so that he may enter and grant us life. Let us give him the stones of our rancour and the boulders of our past, those heavy burdens of our weaknesses and falls. Christ wants to come and take us by the hand to bring us out of our anguish. This is the first stone to be moved aside this night: the lack of hope which imprisons us within ourselves. May the Lord free us from this trap, from being Christians without hope, who live as if the Lord were not risen, as if our problems were the centre of our lives." ~ Pope Francis, Easter Vigil Homily 2016
Easter Greetings!
The stone that was rolled away is a powerful Easter image of hope and inspiration. In a world that at times we feel entombed: entombed by personal struggles of depression, illness, and loss; by stresses of school and future decisions; by a world filled with violence and terror; by a country at war; by a city plagued by violence. At times the stones of our lives feel more like boulders that entomb us - too big to be rolled away.
As Pope Francis reminds us, today is a day of HOPE! As Easter people we take hope in the simple image of the rolled away stone that the resurrection means that Jesus’ message of peace, freedom, justice and service will overcome any and all obstacles in our way no matter how large they appear.
What are the “boulders” in your life keeping you entombed?
How does Jesus’ resurrection give you hope with these life challenges today?
Easter Hope!
~ Jamie