Stability in a World of Change
Christ is risen! Alleluia! Easter is the greatest celebration in our liturgical calendar. The first Easter was the day when the Lord rose triumphantly from the grave. It was the day when hope was restored, faith was renewed, and charity prevailed. The tomb was empty, and death lost her age-old sting. This year, we celebrate that miraculous event on April 5.
I remember the Easter when I was baptized. I was not baptized in a Catholic Church. I was baptized in the First Christian Church Disciples of Christ, where my grandmother took me to church. That weekend a terrible ice storm hit the Midwest. I was reared on a farm, and the ice storm was so bad that we had to stay in my great-grandmother’s apartment. On the way to church, the sky was a dull grey and it was very cold, icy, and windy. However, as I left the church, I was amazed to see the sun—it was a beautiful seventy degrees, no clouds were above, and the light of the sun blazed off of the ice that still covered everything. It was like walking through a field of diamonds bathed with light.
I felt like the whole of creation was made new for me. That day, I saw the world in a new light. That same light was given to each of us when we were baptized. We were told to keep that light of faith burning brightly. At our baptism, we were reborn into a new life. We died to the life of selfishness and sin, and we were reborn into the life of Christ. And since we are raised with him, we need to be concerned with the things that pertain to God.
We cannot live as if the resurrection did not occur. No one except the Son of God has ever been resurrected from the dead. This event enlightens us and changes how we see the world and one another.
On Easter, we remember that the new life of Christ is everlasting. Death has no power over Christ. Therefore, let us celebrate Easter with joy. Each of us can be a new person. Each of us can become more like Christ. Each of us has the promise of eternal life in heaven if we chose to follow Christ. We have stability in an ever-changing world. We have nothing to fear, for we belong to Christ and Christ lives in us, because Christ has truly risen.
