Spring seems late in coming this year. Perhaps nature is mirroring our messy world. Christians worldwide celebrated the rising of Christ from the dead with shocking images of death on the streets of Ukraine and frightened people held captive by an invading army. We celebrate the rising of Christ, aware the fullness of Christ's reign continues to be beyond the grasp and even the imagination of many. We may find this frustrating, sad, and even depressing.
In the face of this, we are the ones commissioned by Christ to proclaim a message of victory and hope. In the scriptures, between Easter and Pentecost, we hear the last will and testament of Christ. He gives us his word that he will remain with us and in us. He promises that we are one with the Father in our union with him.
Christ leaves us the mission to live out hope, joy, and faith. We are to image the lives of those men and women who left that upper room and dared to speak something essential and life-giving to non-believers, those who scoffed and persecuted, and those who believed without seeing. Finally, Christ left us his own Spirit to guide and inspire us in this mission.
Spring is taking its time here in my part of the Northern Hemisphere, and our world is tragically worse than just messy. Regardless, we can take to heart the wisdom of St. Francis de Sales: "Let the world turn upside down, let everything be in darkness, in smoke, in uproar - God is with us."
We take our cue from the Risen Christ and become a word of hope, faith, and love. Listen carefully to God's word proclaimed each Sunday and pray you may be inspired and courageously respond to the command of Jesus to "go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature." The first disciples did this; we can do it too. We can build the Reign of God with the Easter faith we share. Christ reigns in us. Live Jesus!
Fr. Jack Loughran, OSFS
Provincial
Toledo-Detroit Province
