After an epic Lent, Easter has finally come. The earth is teeming with the new life of Spring and we enter into the joyful season at the center of our Catholic faith. Unhappily, we must do so from the confines of our homes. While Christ has risen and left the tomb, many of us are sadly still left, dithering in darkness.
The opportunity of Lent has been recast as a penitential season of suffering and self-mortification. We focus on the justice of God when instead we should’ve spent these past forty days pondering His great love and mercy. The Church gives us that nudge next week on the Feast of Divine Mercy. Lent is an opportunity to start anew, to cast off our vices and poor decisions to better embrace the love and law of God. It’s an annual retreat that gives us a shot at living the live we were called to live and to enjoys its many fruits.
While the tomb may be empty, there are still many trapped, of their own choosing. Jesus stands at the threshold, calling to us, pursuing us in every way He can. Jesus so very deeply desires to see us come back to life, as He did of his friend Lazarus. Jesus wants to destroy death’s grip on us and vanquish the sin that keeps us bound, lying in the dirt, surrounded in the darkness.
Easter is our great wake-up call. This pandemic is our great chance to regain our focus. In a comfortable world with a strong economy, it’s too easy to become lukewarm. It’s too easy to put off the difficult work of constant renewal. It’s too easy to be comfortable with venial sin. It’s too easy to ignore the importance of the Sacraments for our spiritual health.
We must give sin no quarter in our life. In the brilliance of God’s light, there is no room for darkness. Light a candle at night and watch the darkness disappear. This is what God wants for us.
Lent is a time of preparation and now Easter is the great celebration. This is a glimpse into the life God has prepared for us: eternal adoration and praise of His greatness and love, forever united with our loving creator.
If you find yourself this Easter still trapped in sin, having failed to achieve any meaningful reform during our Lenten journey, take courage. God paid too great of a price to give up on us before the very last possible moment. He didn’t go through the agony and grisly torture that is scourging and crucifixion to let you slip out of His grasp.
Don’t waste another moment in the tomb, dead and decaying. Begin the work of renewal now. Return to the loving direction of God’s commandments. Let Him take up your yoke and give you true rest. All of the grace that you need is at your disposal, ready to go to work the moment you accept it.
Lazarus, come out!
Tags: Virtue
