The Easter SEASON

Have you ever experienced a day when God gives you a glimpse of the big picture? Well, maybe not the BIG picture, but a big enough piece that you can sit back and go, "Oh, I think I understand this now." God did that for me today in regards to my Good Friday experience.

It begins at the beginning of Lent. This year, instead of watching The Passion at the end of Lent like I would normally do, I watched it at the beginning. The movie is a vivid picture of Jesus' suffering and death. It stayed with me. Those images were in the forefront of my mind throughout all of Lent. I really wanted to walk that walk with Jesus.

Last Tuesday, as Nelson and I were cleaning up at the "house site", some friends walked by and commented on how they would be sad to see our dirt hill go. Nelson jokingly said that we might put up three crosses on Good Friday to really use the hill one last time before the builder started on Saturday. I added that I was sure that the Lord would resurrect a house in its place.

On Holy Thursday the steel beams were delivered and everything was in place for work to begin Saturday. That is, until we discovered that our builder had to back out. It was a huge blow.

I tried to get worked up about it, but I had just come out of Holy Thursday mass and Adoration. I was focused on Christ's suffering. Try as I may, I just couldn't pity myself. Instead, I focused on the darkness of Good Friday and the Passion and death of Jesus. In light of that our situation seemed pretty insignificant.

What I know is that Jesus died. And on that day, it was very dark. However, I also know that on the third day He rose from the dead. I know that even if I was the only person on earth, He still would have done that just for me. When you know that someone loves you that much, it's hard to lose faith. It doesn't make sense to doubt that He has a better plan than we do.

In the Catholic Church, Easter is not just one day, it's a season. It's a Resurrection. It's hope. It's a new beginning. It's all we really need. If tomorrow we found out that there would never be a new house, I would be disappointed, but I would not lose faith. How could I?

This reaction is not me. It's grace. It's a lifetime of faith and answered prayers to fall back on. It's a God who loves me enough to do what's best for me even if it hurts. What happens with the house doesn't matter. What happens with my soul does. And, because of Jesus, I have hope that one day I will spend eternity with Him in Heaven.

Alleluia! He is Risen!