During this Easter season, what is the resurrection of the Lord bringing to our lives? What good news do we carry in our hearts that we can communicate to others? How far have we grown in faith, hope and love? These are questions that measure the good that Easter has brought to our lives. The answer is to be found not only in what we say but also in what we do.
How Easter touches our lives
Setting out on the road
The Resurrection of Jesus did not change the disciples’ life circumstances, but it enabled them to overcome their fear and begin to transform their lives. In other words, their state of affairs remained the same, but the disciples were now enabled to live their lives from the perspective of faith, hope and love.
On a personal level, it is interesting to think about what we really hold within our deeper selves. When we cannot go out and look for external distractions, what really resonates within us? What are my thoughts, my concerns, my interests and my desires?
At the level of family and friends, we become more aware of genuine relationships. How much family dialogue is taking place? With which friends have we maintained close ongoing communication? Many of us are normally distracted by the number of people who cross our paths in life through work, study or simply when we go out into the street, but when there is social isolation, which attachments are the strongest? Which ones shape us? Who are the people who occupy our world of affections?
At the social level, this is an important issue because the consequences of the pandemic urge us to think about how to go forward, what alternative economy to establish, how basic goods should be the right of all in times of pandemic as well as in normal times. However, the immediacy of the times we are living through only makes us anxious to go out to work again so that everything can continue as before. Given the economic consequences that are obvious to us, is it not time for us to think of another kind of economy that would stimulate the communion of goods rather than the enrichment of a few?
At the religious level we are forced to examine our religious practices and beliefs. We reflect on what truly defines us and we distinguish it from all that is superfluous. Much has already been said about the domestic church and “liturgies of life” and not only about the rites. However, this is not easy in practice. It is always more comfortable to ask that the churches be opened so that we can continue to go to services and have a clear conscience.
It is not part of most Christian believers’ lives to pray in their room or to share their faith with those around them by expressing who God is for them and the part God plays in their lives. To find Jesus in people in need with the same power as in the sacramental Eucharist is more theory than reality. In other words, a deep spiritual life and a mature faith is a constant challenge for many.
May the Risen Lord bring out the best in us during these difficult times, and may we grow ever more in faith, hope and love.
Olga Consuelo Vélez Caro, Teóloga, Colombia.