Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
We say that every year on Easter, in fact, almost every Sunday of the Church Year, and some years it is easy to see and say, some years not so much. This last year has been hard—I know you don’t need me to tell you that. We have all suffered so much—death, grief, isolation, loneliness, depression, despair, political upheaval, and the “background” noise of the usual aches and pains of life.
And yet, here we are, proclaiming “Alleluia!” Proclaiming life in the midst of death. Proclaiming triumph in the midst of what looks like defeat and despair. To an observer, it could seem like we have lost our collective mind. But I don’t think so.
Because the story of death and new life, the story that Jesus lived and lives, is God’s story—it is ingrained, built right into the world. The pattern of suffering and dying, yet being reborn is one that the trees know, the birds and squirrels know, and one that we know too. It is a story that acknowledges the distorted and broken world in which we live and the violence we do to each other, and yet states loudly, clearly, and unequivocally that the end of the story is always new life in God. That nothing is more powerful than God’s love, not even death. That resurrection, both in this life and in the life to come is God’s way. It is a story that we walk in our own lives, and that in the next week we will walk with Jesus. Come join us at St. Peter’s during Holy Week as we wait with Jesus and bear witness to the end of his life, then joyfully shout “Alleluia!” with us on Easter as God puts an eternal exclamation point on God’s YES to life.
Peace,
Claire