Happy Easter! Alleluia! He is Risen!

  Our Lenten journey of working with the expert, the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, to reshape & renew us has concluded & now we rejoice in the new life & the transformation that we have found! Rather than a time to go back to the way we were before Ash Wednesday, Easter is a time to embrace the empty tomb & walk forward a new creation.

  The Easter story always begins by first encountering the emptiness, the emptiness of the tomb. When those first witnesses to the resurrection go out, they don’t find the risen Lord sitting there, they find nothing, they find emptiness. It’s only after they first encounter that emptiness that they come to encounter the presence of the risen Lord.

  So too, us. As we rejoice on this Easter Day, we too are invited to first encounter our emptiness. To encounter the ways that, through prayer, fasting, & almsgiving we’ve emptied ourselves of whatever has blocked God’s life and love from truly being made visible in & through us. We first empty ourselves of pride, anger, resentment, greed, so that we have the room to hear & to accept the new life that Jesus offers to us. It’s only when we first acknowledge our emptiness, our own dependence on God, that we can fully open the door to the transforming power & love of the risen Christ.

  Today, this Easter season, don’t run from the empty tomb right away. But first, allow the risen Lord to fill the emptiness of your life. Invite Him to see where you need to let go, to empty yourself, and to allow Him to enter in.

  A special welcome & congratulations to Brad as he celebrates the Easter Sacraments at the Easter Vigil & is welcomed into the full communion of our faith! Brad has spent many months learning about & growing in his faith & now he stands before us as one in faith.

Welcome! Happy Easter! Alleluia!