A New Day

04-17-2022Weekly Reflection© J. S. Paluch Company

The story of Easter reveals that the world has begun a new day. The darkness of the Crucifixion has opened into the light of Easter. Like the dawn that gradually opened to the disciples on the first Easter morning, we slowly begin to see what the light of faith reveals. Death will not have the final word, because Christ is risen and we will share in his resurrection. Injustice and suffering will not continue forever, because God’s victory over sin has begun, and will be completed when Christ returns.

Evil has met its match, because through Jesus, God hasbrought a new energy into the world. This energy can be found in followers of Christ who arefree to love, empowered by the Spirit to embrace everyone, without exception. May we bearthe light of Christ, with humility and courage, into our troubled world.

Reinterpreting our World

Our Gospel reading from John captures the initial confusion of Jesus’ followers on Eastermorning. Mary thinks the body has been stolen, and the two disciples see an empty tomb, butdo not understand. We can sympathize with their initial misreading, as they are interpretingwhat happened within how they understand the way the world works: Jesus was crushed bythe authorities—end of story. Jesus’ later appearances to them will dramatically shift theirperception of God, the world, and themselves.

This work of re-interpreting the world in light of the death and resurrection of Jesus continues today. In his passion and death, Jesus showed that true power, God’s power, emergesthrough humility and forgiveness. We join in the death and resurrection of Jesus when we surrender the attractions of power, status, and comfort, and embrace non-violence, service, andcare for the suffering. The path to bringing peace and goodness to the world is not throughseeking control, but through sacrificial love.

Both Peter and Cornelius

Peter's speech in today’s passage from Acts summarizes the ministry, death, and resurrectionof Jesus. The speech occurs within his encounter with Cornelius, a Roman centurion and hishousehold. We can perhaps imagine being Cornelius, led by God to hear the story of Jesus.Or we can imagine being Peter, led by the Spirit to share the Good News of Jesus. As followers of Christ, we are called to embrace both, in our imaginations and our lives.

We are continually called to hear the story of Jesus. We know that God’s Good News hasentered us, but also know that it has not. There is much in our hearts that needs conversion and begs for God’s mercy, so we alwaysseek God’s challenging and healing word. We are also continually called to share the story of Jesus, sometimes directly but more oftenin our actions. Our lives can speak of God's Acts 10:34a, 37-43love, healing and encouraging others. We are both Peter and Cornelius.