A living hope in a troubled world
It is understandable that we are tempted to despair when confronted with the complexities of life, the worrying situation the world is in right now, and, of course, our own personal anxieties and fears. We are tempted to lose heart, to cry out “my God, my God, why have you forsaken us”. We wonder if God is real or whether we have just lost touch with him. It is certainly not easy at times to find him in the confused cynicism of the modern world.
But as Christians, we are called to be people of hope and to reclaim Easter for what it is, a declaration of hope in the midst of turmoil.
Easter is about a living hope, a hope that is contemporary and real for the present moment, whatever the circumstances of our lives. When we look upon Christ crucified, we only see failure. We see Jesus exposed to public ridicule on the cross. Yet what we thought to be a failure is in fact a triumph, the triumph of Christ’s resurrection.
In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, St Paul asserts: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”
The main message of Easter is love. A love so great that the creator of heaven and earth poured his power into flesh, bled, and died, to reconcile us to him, even with all our imperfections.
As Christians we hold in our hearts and hands the story of a fallen humanity which has been redeemed by the blood of the lamb. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”(John 3:16)
In his 2023 Easter message Pope Francis said “this day we proclaim that he, the Lord of our life, is ‘the resurrection and the life” of the world (cf. Jn 11:25). Today is Easter, the Pasch, a word that means ‘passage’, for in
Jesus the decisive passage of humanity has been made: the passage from death to life, from sin to grace, from fear to confidence, from desolation to communion in him.”
The words ‘truly risen’ remind us that our hope is not an illusion, but the truth!
The pope continued: “May we too make haste to progress on a journey of reciprocal trust: trust among individuals, peoples, and nations. May we allow ourselves to experience amazement at the joyful proclamation of Easter, at the light that illumines the darkness and the gloom in which, all too often, our world finds itself enveloped. Let us make haste to surmount our conflicts and divisions, and to open our hearts to those in greatest need. Let us hasten to pursue paths of peace and fraternity. Let us rejoice at the concrete signs of hope that reach us from so many countries, beginning with those that help and welcome to all fleeing from war and poverty.”
GORDON@ATOMSERVE.NET