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April 04, 2010 - Easter Whether We Like It Or Not

by Father Edward L. Beck, C.P.

Easter is once again here. The Egg Hunts will ensue. Chocolate bunnies will be consumed. And colored hats will be worn to church services and parades. Certainly everyone is ready for springtime after this long hard winter. And yet in some ways we may find ourselves stuck in Good Friday. Unable to embrace the promise of hope and new life that Easter brings. Sex scandals in the Church once again headlining the news, just when we thought it couldn't get any worse. Record numbers of people still unemployed, foreclosures on houses, and a mid-East situation with Israel and her neighbors seemingly at a standstill. Even something like landmark Health Care Reform dividing the country more than uniting it. We have our opposing camps and we don't want to budge. It all seems more bleak than promising. And yet maybe this is the precise moment to change our perspective. The Dalia Lama says that if you're not finding hope and new life, you need to look elsewhere If you are looking there and not finding it, turn around and look over here. And it's not a suggestion for denying reality but rather to see the reality beyond the confines of our limited vision. There's a great adage in spirituality that says we don't see things as they are. We see things as we are. And it simply means that we're so limited by our own experience and perspective that it blinds us to other views and possibilities. Spring is happening, even if not for us. The crocuses are pushing through a rain softened earth and color and life will spring forth whether we're ready for them or not. So why not ride that refreshing wave if we can? Yes, life is not perfect and much in our world is in a sorry state. But we can't stay in the tomb forever. Easter says that the possibility of a new beginning always looms. What we thought was dead has the possibility to have new life breathed into it. And that means a marriage, a relationship with an alienated child, a grief or loss that has been paralyzing. And maybe even a divided and partisan country. Greater miracles than that have happened. And right now, whether we can see it or not, we're in the midst of celebrating one. He is Risen! Alleluia! Happy Easter.

To watch Father Beck give the above Reflection, click here.