Reflection for April 3, 2018: Tuesday in the Octave of Easter.

Abstract

The Easter season has arrived once again. It is a very uplifting season. But I am not so ready to forget about Lent. It leaves an imprint on us, or at least it should. It should all be connected. There are three main themes in the lessons today that I think sum up Lent, Easter, and the days that follow in a coherent faith response. They are "repent, rejoice, and report." So, let's go back to the Lenten theme of repentance. We know that we need to repent of our sins every day. If we don't, we deny the promises of God to assure our redemption. Peter reminded the Apostles on the day of Pentecost that it was necessary to repent to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and for the promise that was made to us to be real in our lives. Yes, Easter is here, but we still have work to do! If we live in those promises, then, we will rejoice in the kindness of the Lord. Just like we need to repent every day, we need to rejoice every day also by focusing our hope in the Lord. The lessons today remind us that the earth is indeed full of the goodness of the Lord. It is good to rise every day proclaiming, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it!" On a very practical level, we are no good to ourselves or anyone else if we cannot rejoice every day! Our rejoicing practice is not motivated by how well things go for us, however, but by how certain we are that the Lord loves us. And now for the third response to God's love that is expected of us. Like Mary, we are to report what Jesus has told us. There is no need to weep! We have not been abandoned! God is with us! Easter is indeed about sharing that good news with all the world. We don't have to go around reciting Bible verses to do that. It should be evident in the way we live our lives, that we are authentically real about our human shortcomings, but ever confident in our efforts to live loving good lives. I will add one more term, "repeat." If every day, we repent, rejoice, and report, it seems to me that we will keep ourselves living in the promise of the resurrection.