Easter 2009

A TIME FOR NEW LIFE

We entered the season of Lent on the 25th of February, not long after the inauguration of a new American president. It was a time of much hope and promise even as we were warned things were going to get worse before they get better. Partisans and pundits will argue whether or not we had good reason to hope then, whether or not we have good reason to hope now. But God’s people always have reason to hope, because our salvation is not of our making. It is not something we work at, not something we earn. And we are not deprived of it by anything of our making. Rather, salvation is God’s free gift to us, by the passion, death and resurrection of one Jesus Christ, our Lord and God.

So we who have journeyed through the season of Lent now behold the glory of the Easter day! The darkness is past, we hear proclaimed in the liturgy, and we are no longer subject to evil and sin. Yet although the consequences of evil and sin are still painfully evident in the world around us – poverty, hunger, civil strife, war, greed, excess, arrogance, resentment – we also see much evidence of salvation and rebirth and new life that comes from God – hospitality, selfless service, forgiveness, outreach to the poor, education, shared ministry. The difference lies more in our willingness to see with new eyes what God continues to accomplish in our individual lives and in creation at large.

We rejoice that God continues to extend new life to us. And as we celebrate our salvation, we know others who might walk their journey of sorrow and pain yet a little longer – the families of earthquake victims in L’Aquila, Italy, the family of Capt. Richard Phillips kidnapped by pirates off the coast of Somalia, the continuing challenges that beset families affected by the global economic crisis … and closer to home, families affected by illness and death, Matthew Dullaghan who passed away Wednesday and his family, Fr. Bill O’Brien who is home recuperating from a heart attack, Fr. Lou Ruoff who is undergoing tests … while we are told to rejoice and be glad! Ironic in its mystery … that new life would spring from death, strength from weakness, joy from sorrow. We know not how, but the signs are there, evidence that God is still at work at creating and renewing the world.

May you possess eyes that see evidence of new life in your midst, calling you to receive it, calling you to rejoice in it, calling you to share it with all.

Peace in the Risen Lord!

Father Rolo B. Castillo