The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
Hallelujah, He is Risen!
It’s the greatest news to ever hit the headlines of humanity - but the arrival of Easter comes with some surprising emotions.
Imagine you are the disciples, and you have just watched Jesus endure cruelty and pain beyond imagination. Easter Sunday comes just a few days later, but you haven’t even begun to sort through everything that has happened. There has been no healthy processing period. Only debilitating, traumatizing grief. I imagine that Easter Sunday comes when the Apostles are at their absolute lowest. Where they are most afraid, most doubtful, maybe even sinful as a response to their grief.
Jesus comes back at almost the most inconvenient time in terms of emotional health.
But maybe that’s the point. Many of us finish Lent feeling like we haven’t done enough. Haven’t sacrificed enough, haven’t fasted well, or “entered in” like we wanted. Maybe some are even ending Lent worse off spiritually than before. Jesus’ timing with rising in three days is not only theologically significant (with “three days” being repeated throughout the Old Testament), it is also emotionally significant. Jesus is telling us that He comes to save us when our prayer life is abysmal. He has defeated our sin when we’re overwhelmed with our job, when we feel doubtful and afraid for our health or finances, even when the night before was spent drinking to numb the pain of loss. When God feels the farthest; when He feels the deadest. He reveals His resurrected Self to his disciples - and to us - when the suggestion of hope is almost offensive.
In the deadest night and in our darkest hour, God-made-man reveals Himself in glory to rip the chains off our feet. No matter how hungover we might be. And here lies the Good News: the bigger sinner you’ve been, the more you have to gain from Easter Sunday. You are redeemed and set free.
No matter what your Lent- or your life- looks like now, don’t let Easter Sunday make you feel unworthy or defeated. It’s a day of victory! And if Easter isn’t a day for the Sinner, who is it for?"
Jennifer Stavinoha lives in Bryan, TX with her husband and three little girls. She loves reading, experimenting in the kitchen, and judging international figure skating from her couch. Jennifer is the Co-Director for Ablaze Ministries’ parent outreach ministry, Beyond the Pew. To find out more, check out the Beyond the Pew Facebook group, Instagram or website. Connect with Jennifer on Instagram.