This year’s Easter Gospel

Every year we hear the Easter story a little differently. Where we are on our own journeys to Jerusalem and Calvary affects what we hear and how we hear it.

If you are celebrating the safe return of a lost son or daughter, the empty tomb is the assurance of God’s protection during the darkest nights and along the most dangerous roads.

If you are mourning the loss of a family member or friend, the angel’s news may be the first light of hope to illuminate your broken heart: the promise that the Risen Christ has taken your loved one to God’s dwelling place.

If you and your family are going through a difficult time, the moving of the immovable rock is a sign of God’s grace, enabling you to realize what is truly dear and important to you and the abilities and gifts you possess to regain your footing and continue on to the next chapter of your life.

The compassionate women who come to anoint the body of their beloved rabbi, who are the first to hear the good news and then become the first messengers of the resurrection, are God’s exaltation of loving humility and selfless compassion over the certitude of wealth and power.

And in the midst of all of us is the Risen One himself, who takes up our crosses with us, who opens up the tombs that entrap us, who walks among us in every expression of compassion, in every act of generosity, in every experience of reconciliation and peace.

Whatever road you are traveling this Easter morning, whatever burial clothes you are struggling to free yourself from, whatever cross you are struggling to carry, may the hope of this day free you to recreate your life in Easter joy, peace — and amazement.

Deacon Jay Cormier