Easter Sunday

Christ has Risen!

Holy Week has always been a time of preparation for Christians. This period in the liturgical calendar is a pilgrimage through the passion, death of Jesus, culminating in the joy and glory of the resurrection on Easter Sunday. We ready ourselves in spiritual, symbolic, practical and festive ways. We clean, decorate, bake, dye eggs, and participate in liturgies, services and quiet contemplation. Many of these actions and rituals are reminders and invitations for us to be present to the solemnity of the hope, promise and joy of our faith.

Most of us are accustomed to spending time during these days in penance, fasting and prayer. We celebrate the Eucharist and receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We attend Holy Thursday services and pray the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. We kneel in vigil and reflect on the ultimate sacrifice Jesus offered of Himself for humanity.

To say that this year has been different does not address the depth of the fear and pain that our world is experiencing. This year we have not been able to gather together as a physical community to pray or to receive the sacraments. The rituals of Holy Week have unfolded, but in empty churches and sacred spaces with priests and the religious at safe, socially appropriate distances without the corporeal participation of the faithful. Our pilgrimage towards the celebration of the joy of Easter has been particularly sobering and heart wrenching.

We should remember that each of us, in our homes, with or without families and loved ones physically near, are CHURCH. Before the days of parishes and stand-alone churches and cathedrals, the early Christians worshiped and celebrated liturgy in their homes. While we are unable to be physically present with one another, we continue to be the Body of Christ for one another. Our personal spaces and sanctuaries are houses of worship, reflecting that it is indeed Easter Sunday.

Holy Week still happened and Easter has arrived.

I’ve been thinking a lot about a favorite book by Dr. Seuss: How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Despite his valiant plotting, scheming and ingenious efforts of removing every last bit of food and decoration with the intent of purging the joy of Christmas from all the Whos down in Whoville, the Grinch was unable to abscond with the fundamental essence, the crux of Christmas: LOVE. Despite the absence of the trimmings and all that symbolized Christmas, the Whos sang and rejoiced and celebrated in LOVE.

As we find ourselves overwhelmed and engulfed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Easter has still arrived. The joy of the Risen Christ is still with us. Easter has not been stolen. The central tenet and significance of this sacred day endures: LOVE. This is embodied in the worldwide gestures and expressions of compassion by our sisters and brothers who are in healthcare, as well as the essential personnel who work in grocery stores, delivery services, transportation, fire and police departments everywhere. Their sacrifice and offering of their own lives, their family time, their personal safety, well-being and health so that others may live is the meaning of Easter. Their offering is the meaning of Easter.

So like the Whos we celebrate. We renew our Baptismal vows and recollect the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We rejoice in the extravagant love He has for us. This abundance of love is being shared around our globe. We remember and pray for all who are “on the front lines” today and all who have lost their lives. We celebrate eternal life conquering physical death.

Easter never actually did or does happen in a church. Easter happens in our lives. It’s more than just reenacting or retelling the story of what transpired with Jesus. It’s about our thanksgiving and gratitude for the experience of Jesus walking with us each and every day of our lives. This virus is not an obstacle to our Easter celebrations. This pandemic has been our Lent and our Holy Week. We shouldn’t dwell on making things “normal.” This year, the Easter that we are experiencing and connecting with one another and with the Risen Christ, is occurring not in spite of all that is happening around us, but THROUGH what is happening in our lives.

On behalf of the members of the Office of Mission, Ministry & Interfaith Dialogue: Dillon D’Andrea and Maeve Conlon, our Student Assistants, Tim Nagy, Assistant Director and skilled “technician” of this Review, Joel Warden, Ph.D. our Catholic Scholar in Residence and Bro. Joseph Bach, OSF, Director of Vocations for the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn, I wish each of you and your loved ones a very Blessed, Happy and Holy Easter!

Christ has Risen!

Peace and all good,

Alexandria M. Egler, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Mission, Ministry & Interfaith Dialogue

Thank you all for your support and interest in the La Verna Review, especially at this very difficult time. We are pleased that these reflections have been a source of comfort and spiritual nourishment for all. It is our intent to post reflections for Passover, Ramadan and periodically throughout the Easter season. We hope you will continue to read and pray with us.