Do you breathe a sigh of relief when you enter your hotel room after a hurried journey of Ubers and flights? You drop your luggage, then your body, laying on a bed perhaps for the first time in 24 hours. Or, if you’re traveling for vacation, maybe you wait until you make it to the pool and lay back on the recliner – or sink your toes into the sand of the beach.
It’s a great feeling to release the tension that comes from travel, to escape the workaday world, and to allow ourselves to relax, free of worry for at least a little while.
I have that feeling every year on Easter Sunday. In a practical way, I have survived Holy Week. I picked up the sacramental oils newly blessed by the bishop at the Chrism Mass, I washed feet on Holy Thursday, I held the cross high on Good Friday, and I baptized the catechumens at the Easter Vigil. Easter Sunday Masses, though crowded, are a walk in the park.
In a theological way, though, I feel what I know intellectually: that if Christ can come back from the dead, I can come back from anything life throws at me. I feel it in the renewal of baptismal promises and the sprinkling of holy water, I hear it in the triumphant classics of Easter music, I see it in the first signs of spring outside.
The historical truth of Jesus’ Resurrection and its personal meaning ring true in my mind and heart especially on Easter Sunday – but only because my whole life, year-round, is marked with regular prayer, Bible study, and spiritual conversation with friends.
Let me know if I can help you live the truth of Jesus’ Resurrection. You can schedule a meeting with me on our parish website, ctkhaddonfield.org. Click on Leadership, then Clergy.
Happy Easter!