Readings:
Acts 10:34, 37-43
Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23
Colossians 3:1-4
John 20:1-9
Today the Church celebrates our Lord and Savior’s rising from the dead, and our hearts are filled with gratitude and joy at what God has done for us in paying the price of our salvation. At no point in this most solemn week of the church’s liturgical year are we unaware of what God has done on this day. The drama of these days – the triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem, the betrayal of one of Jesus’ closest associates, the bold example of the Lord becoming a slave to wash the feet of his disciples, the agony of inner turmoil in a beautiful garden, the denial of the chief of the apostles, the scourging, the crowning with thorns, the insults, the impossible carrying of a cross too heavy to bear, the cruel nailing to that wooden instrument of torture – culminates in an empty tomb that proclaims that God has done great things, and “death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54).
As Peter reminds us in our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we “know what has happened… after the baptism that John preached.” Throughout the course of the year when the Scriptures are proclaimed we have come to see “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power,” and He “went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil.” We have come to recognize that Jesus is the “Way, the Truth, and the Life,” and when we bend with the disciples to peer into the empty tomb, we see not emptiness, but rather the fullness of all that Jesus taught us, the triumph over sin and death. This marvelous feast of Easter is cause for us “to rejoice and be glad,” and it reminds us that for the Christian there is no day that should not be filled with gratitude and joy for all that God has done for us.
parishionersforjustice.com 
THE BEST Easter i EVER HAD WAS THE ONE WHEN AFTER MONTHS OF PRAYING FOR A SICK NEIGHBOR TO RECOVER FROM A BRAIN CANCER AND SURGERY–AND ASKING GOD TO LET HIM LIVE AND BE HEALED—TO BE ALLOWED TO LIVE———— AND WORKING AS HARD AS WE COULD -ASKING NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND STRANGERS TOO— TO GET OTHERS INVOLVED IN PRAYING FOR THAT AND WORKING TO HELP THIS FAMILY THROUGH THE SICKNESS—BABYSITTING AND MAKING MEALS WHILE THE WIFE TOOK HER HUSBAND FOR DOCTOR APPOINTMENTS ETC- ASKING GOD TO HEAL HIM – AND BELIEVING GOD WOULD SEE US WORK AND PRAY FOR THIS AND KNOW OUR HEARTS —-OUR FRIEND AND NEIGHBOR DIED DESPITE OUR EFFORTS AT PRAYER AND GOOD WORKS.
I WAS SO DISAPPOINTED….I WONDERED WHY GOD WOULD NOT GIVE US WHAT WE ASKED FOR! NOT KNOWING WHAT TO DO —
I TURNED TO SCRIPTURES THAT WERE ONLY ABOUT THE RESURRECTION— AFTER READING EVERYONE OF THOSE AND THINKING ABOUT THEM – I CAME TO SEE THAT THIS MAN’S DYING – HIS NAME WAS DOUG- WAS A BETTER GIFT FROM GOD TO HIM THEN WHAT WE HAD ASKED FOR———– AND WHAT WE HAD WORKED TO HOPEFULLY OBTAIN AS A FAVOR FROM GOD—
AS SAD AS IT WAS TO LOSE THIS YOUNG MAN – 39 YEARS OLD– A HUSBAND AND FATHER OF TWO LITTLE CHILDREN— i CAME TO BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION AS GOD’S FINAL GIFT TO DOUG AND GOD’S BEST GIFT FOR HIM —
AND TO EACH OF US WHEN WE ALSO LEAVE THIS WORLD ONE DAY—LIFE WITH HIS/OUR CREATOR FOREVER—AT PEACE AND NO SUFFERING——-AND FOR ALL OF US ONE DAY TOO! THAT EASTER WAS THE FIRST TIME I HAD UNDERSTOOD THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS BETTER THEN I HAD EVER DONE BEFORE–
I LOVE EASTER AND ALL THAT JESUS LEFT US IN HIS RESURRECTION STORY.
THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS TODAY REMINDED ME OF ALL THOSE WE HAVE KNOWN IN LIFE WHO HAVE HAD TO WALK THAT DIFFICULT JOURNEY AT THE END OF THEIR LIVES TOO – OR EVEN THOSE WHO HAVE DIFFICULT THINGS TO GO THROUGH DURING LIFE– MUCH OF THE PASSION OF JESUS REMINDED ME OF FR SENK’S SAD AND DIFFICULT STORY THAT HE HAS WALKED THROUGH —I COULDN’T HELP BUT THINK OF HIM AND HOW HE TOO HAS SUFFERED – ACCUSED AND JUDGED WRONGLY AND UNJUSTLY AND TREATED BADLY—THE HOMILY THAT OUR PRIEST TALKED ABOUT WAS ABOUT ” HANDS ” SO THAT REMINDED ME OF FR SENK AND HIS SURGERY AND HOW HE SUFFERED THAT ALSO EVEN NOW—–
AND THE PRIESTS HOMILY TALKED ABOUT THE HANDS OF JESUS…… FROM A LITTLE BABY PUFFY HANDS TO A CHILD WHO GETS STRONGER AND WHO CAN WRITE
— THEY GREW TO CARPENTER HANDS —-AND THEN HOW NAILS WERE DRIVEN INTO HIS HANDS ON THE CROSS—
JESUS DIED FOR US AND IS ALWAYS THERE WITH US AS WE GO THROUGH OUR LIFE——
I WISH I COULD REPEAT IT AS HE SAID IT SO BEAUTIFULLY–
WE GIVE THANKS FOR JESUS’ LIFE AND DEATH ON THIS GOOD FRIDAY- 2019!
SORRY SO LONG- I LOVE EASTER AND I LOVE THE RESURRECTION STORY!
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