Happy Easter

Easter always brings a renewed sense of hope. For me, there always seems to be lots of challenges related to the period leading up to Easter; Lent always presents with particular struggles that stretch me and grow me and make me more dependent on Him. Not to say that Easter relieves me of my need to rely on Christ but it gives me a new view of how possible it is to rely on Him and to know that He is taking care of me even when I cannot take care of myself. The walk towards Easter is a time for me to remember what the whole point is, what the GOAL is and how much has already been sacrificed with me in mind. With that being said, Easter Sunday is always a time of peace for me. One thing that I can compare it to (in a very rough, small way) is finishing a long run, completing a task that didn't seem possible, completing a tiring journey - and somehow owing all of these successes to Someone other than yourself.
This morning mass was a packed house. As I sat in church I looked around and wondered what brought each person there this morning. I wondered if it's allegiance to an elder in the family, the memory of a childhood tradition that has fallen victim to the busy schedules of today, guilt, reunification, need for forgiveness, gratitude, curiosity, habit. . . or was there Something more? Someone more? I hope that no matter what brought all of them in this morning, that for some, even if only one, a change was initiated, a fire lit, to continue the relationship that was started this morning. If someone were to come to your house and explain to you that their Son had just given up HIS life in order to save yours, wouldn't that gift have a completely and wholly life altering affect on your life? Would it change the way that you lived? Would it change your relationship with that man's Father?