As we come together today to celebrate the great Feast of the Resurrection….. Wait a minute. That’s how I began my Easter letter to you last year…..
Let me try this again: As we stay at home today to celebrate the great Feast of the Resurrection…. How very strange that sounds. Not to be able to be at Mass today…..not able to travel or be with other family members for Easter dinner. Will we remember April 12, 2020 as the Easter that wasn’t?
Last week I was talking with a father in our parish who has two small children. He told me that the day before he had taken his two-year old daughter out for a ride in the car. They stopped at the store to pick up some milk and then to the post office to mail a few cards. On the way back home this young Dad asked: “So, Beatrice, is there anywhere else you would like to go?” She responded right away, “Yes, I want to go to church.” With only two weeks into following the State of MA “stay at home advisory”, this young disciple was already missing her weekly trip to St. Mary’s Church for Sunday Mass. How her words echo the sentiment of so many of us today on Easter Sunday, for we, too, want to go to church.
Nevertheless, it is Easter Sunday! And even alone in our homes or with our families there with us, we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!! Although we are suffering in varying degrees during this time of our confinement, we still have much for which we are grateful. Today’s gospel story of the Resurrection reminds us that God never abandons us, even in our darkest hour. Sickness and death are still powerful forces in our modern world, but they cannot defeat God’s love for us. Though perhaps fearful and trying so hard to be careful, we can have hope and confidence that we will endure and get through the crisis that the coronavirus pandemic has brought to our community, state, nation and world. We remain ever grateful to our doctors and nurses, other health care providers, first responders and volunteers for the sacrifices they are making for us each and every day. Although it is quiet in our church today, may the words of the Easter Responsorial Psalm echo in our minds and hearts throughout the day – “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.” And after your Easter dinner sing out from your own home “Jesus Christ is Risen today. Alleluia!”
I join Fr. Javier and all the parish staff in wishing all of you a blessed and happy Easter.