We are Resurrection People! Consumed by joy! Shouldn’t that be the theme of our lives, especially for those of us who are committed Christians? If you feel your life currently falls short, listen in as Felice Gerwitz explores ways to bring that joy back into your life.

As I share this podcast, we’ve completed our Lenten journey of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. This does not mean we should ever stop; it just means that during Lent, we seem to make a renewed effort to turn our hearts to God. It seems that when Easter Sunday finally comes, we are past ready to rejoice and sing Halleluiah! This is what we’ve been waiting for, and in a renewed way we see it in the lives of our family and extended family members when we gather to celebrate.

Easter is so much more than chocolate bunnies and overly commercialized merchandise. We are so blessed as Christians to see this and to bring this reality to our family celebrations. The focus is on the Resurrection, and as I prayed about this, I kept thinking the words, “Resurrection people—we are Resurrection people.” But, what does that mean? So, I prayed and I researched and I finally concluded it means different things to each one of us, depending on our journey toward the Lord.

I read a quote from John Paul II that said, “We are a Resurrection people and Alleluia is our song!” In other words, we rejoice in what the Lord has done for us, and we celebrate this in our hearts and minds. If we allow it to, this is transformative. We are no longer in the proverbial “ashes and sackcloth”. We are in celebratory mode.

We are consumed by grief as we read the scripture verses about the crucifixion and the Marys at the foot of the cross. John 19: 25-26 (read on air)

We know from scripture study that the disciple is John. They watched in horror, and we are often in horror as we read those verses. Most of the time, if you are like me, you want to skip the verse and go straight to the resurrection, the empty tomb, but I often remind myself that without the crucifixion, there is no resurrection. In this, we can be overcome and depressed and even despair, but we know the end of the story. We know that our despair as Jesus was taken to the tomb was short-lived. When we are discouraged, when we have doubts, when we are depressed or in desperate situations, we rely on the Lord because, by the very fact that we are Baptized Christians, we no longer belong in despair but should be reminded to rejoice!

We should bring the Lord all of the situations in our lives, our pain and suffering, our impatience and irritation with others, and ourselves… when we look at those things in light of the death and resurrection, we can see that our worries and our cares are fleeting in the grand scheme of things. Sure, we can acknowledge our pain and our suffering, but we also must put that in perspective. The evil one wants us to wallow in pain, in guilt, in self-recrimination, but Jesus, to a sinner, says, come.

We were blessed to attend the Easter Vigil, that is the service, the Mass that begins on the evening before Easter. It begins in some churches after sundown at 8 or 8:30. This service is beautiful in that the readings are from the Old Testament, beginning in Genesis 1:1-2:2, verses from the Psalms are read in between, and then verses from the Old Testament. Most notably as follows:

• Genesis 22:1-18
  
• Exodus 14:15-15:1
  
• Isaiah 54:5-14
  
• Isaiah 55:1-11
  
• Baruch 3:9-15, 32-4.4
  
• Ezekiel 36:16-17, 18-28
  

New Testament:

• Romans 6:3-11
  
• Mark 16:1-7
  

Some services select four from the Old Testament and Mark from the New Testament. This is so that salvation history is read and the fulfillment of the words is joyously proclaimed. Mark 16:5-7

Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went looking for the Messiah, but instead, they became disciples—they were the bearers of good news to tell Peter and the others! What an extraordinary grace! They were previously consumed by sorrow, and now they were consumed by joy! God, the creator of the universe, showed us that nothing is too small or too insignificant for Him. He showed us by his extreme sacrifice that our sins would be redeemed and that our sorrow was no longer necessary.

We are resurrection people. Please take some time to think about this and what it means to you. Just like you, I have problems, difficulties, and sorrows. Sometimes, the burden seems too big to carry, and I despair. Yet I know that the Holy Spirit dwells within me by virtue of my Baptism, by virtue of my yes to the Lord, and sometimes, it is a yes that happens multiple times a day. When we consider the resurrection, our hearts should be consumed by joy; it should convert us, and if not, think and pray about this if you can.

We have so many stumbling blocks we put up on our own and in the Name of Jesus, we pray they are removed! Our desire and longing should be for the Lord, for relationship with Him and our prayer is: “Dear Lord, please fan the flames of your love for us, within us, let it rage like a bonfire and ignite our hearts with love for You as you have love for us.” Amen!

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