Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Do you ever skip ahead to the end of a book to find the ending? Some do it all the time; I tell them they are missing the best part. We all know the excitement of enjoying a great book and reading just one more chapter. I don’t skip to the end of books, but I do reread my favorite books; I watch my favorite films repeatedly. Some will say, aren’t you sick of it? You know the ending, what is the point?

I still enjoy it; knowing the ending gives you great moral authority. You’re smiling to yourself with the interior dialogue “now buddy but just wait,” or “hang in there it’s going to get better.”

As a kid, I felt the same about the gospel story of Jesus, especially the story of Christ’s suffering and death. I enjoyed the Hollywood version too. The Pharisees were definitely the baddies because the goodies, the Christians, looked good, had a nice voice, and were going to win!

The Easter story was one of those where I said, “just you wait… you’ll see,” and I was thrilled to see the depiction of the risen Christ. He won, he told the truth, it’s all true, he is victorious. Here is the thing even after all these years, I still feel the same, I know the ending, and it’s a good one.

There are so many times in life that we wish we knew the ending and how all this is going to work out. With the story of Jesus, we do; we know how it all ends!

Resurrection is the ending. We rejoice not only for Jesus but also for ourselves because resurrection, we believe, trust, and hope is our ending, our destiny; we were created for eternal life. Christ is the firstborn from the dead, that is the first to rise from the dead but not the last. He promises resurrection, not resuscitation. He promises the fullness of life that we have dreamed of and yearned for.

Over the next few weeks, we are going to hear many accounts of the resurrection appearances of Jesus. Enjoy them, for they describe our future, the future of our loved ones. Christ keeps his promises; he offers eternal life to all who will accept it. He offers it today and every day. But this Easter, as we renew our baptismal promises with our brothers and sisters, we accept it with renewed vigor, enthusiasm, and grace.

As we stand here together, we gather with heaven and earth, with all those on this earthly pilgrimage, and with all those who have gone ahead of us, we gather with Christ around his table. We have a foretaste of that heavenly banquet, of that life, promised to us, and we cry out with joy, alleluia, alleluia.

With Love and Blessings,

Fr Damian

St. Margaret Church           https://venue.streamspot.com/85b923a3  

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