Over the last few weeks as I have been preparing to write the Easter reflection, the grim reality of COVID-19 has happened. On typically the most joyous day in the Christian tradition and in a season of springtime newness, we are not gathering together in churches or outside. We as a people all around the world are self-quarantined and collectively grieving the loss of life, lifestyle, work, and the way things were. Each new day brings new challenges both globally and at home as we face the unexpected and unfamiliar, a great unknown.
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb, where Jesus had been laid, and saw that the stone covering the tomb had been removed.* So begins today’s gospel reading. Mary’s world and the hope that she and the disciples and many people had in the life of Jesus had been shattered, crucified. Yet the story continues. Death, as real as it is, is not the last word. Resurrection happens.
I still have a vivid memory of reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans at my father’s funeral mass over seven years ago. It was the part in chapter 8 that included:
“What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution… No… For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creatures will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
As I looked out into the faces of loved ones and spoke those words, I knew beyond reason and in every cell of my body that my dad was still “alive.” Love is and always will be, and that is the stuff of who we are and what matters.
The weight of these times is as heavy as the stone I imagine covering Jesus’ grave. The scope of suffering and instability is overwhelming. Like a heartbroken Mary or the confused and fearful disciples, we may not recognize yet the blessing in the face of such disorientation and change. What Easter invites is deep, profound trust in an abiding Presence who calls us, each by name, to liberation and reconciliation and new levels of creativity, connection, compassion, and unity – and joy.
For reflection:
- What strengthens your spirit and makes you come alive?
- How can you tend your loving heart and that of others during this difficult time?
- Where do you see new life emerging?
*John 20:1-18 (see also Matthew 28:1-10)
–Trish Stefanik, Overlook Retreat House at Dayspring
