The Great 50 Days of Easter
Divine Mercy Sunday
Dear Friends,
Praying you had a good and holy Easter celebration, these days are wonderful and so needed by a world shadowed over by so much struggle!
As I was reflecting on what Easter means, it is at one and the same time an affirmation and a challenge. From his very first appearances after the Resurrection, Jesus assures his followers that peace is possible, but always sends them forth to be that peace to those who have yet to experience it.
If I have said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times, I don’t know how I would face life without faith in Jesus Christ. He brings meaning and courage to me in my many struggles, and assures me that the process and promise of new Life will unfold if I just stay focused on the merciful love of my Savior.
That focus can become blurred as I get lost in my own ego and self-importance. It becomes blurred as I fret about what is going on in our crazy world. It becomes blurred as I worry about all the things I am responsible for, be it as mundane as paying the bills or profound as being a comforting presence to a family struggling with cancer. It becomes blurred as I see people divided and angry. It becomes blurred as I see so much poverty.
Easter reminds me to stay focused on Jesus and then bring that focus and love to anyone who needs it, especially those who might be part of all the blurriness of my life. In this year of Mercy, I want to be mercy more and more in the pattern of the Mercy that saves me.
We have a 50 day training period to live mercy. By the time Pentecost comes around, we can be merciful pros!
Sincerely, with love,
Fr. Tim
