This Is Everything

Happy Easter! We made it through Lent, and He is risen! Alleluia!

Easter is the source of our joy and comfort as Christians. The Resurrection is everything– it’s the core of our faith. The fact that Jesus overcame sin and death is the reason why each of us can have joy despite circumstances. Only because of Jesus’ death and Resurrection do we have a chance at eternal life, and only because of Jesus’ Resurrection can our own suffering be redeemed. What an incredible gift the Resurrection is! It is our beautiful hope.

The cross was not the end of the story. Easter is the proof that in Him, suffering is not the end point. The point is glory and redemption. Even in our lives, suffering does not have to be for suffering’s sake. The beauty of redemptive suffering is that we can offer up our suffering, wounds, pains, heartaches, frustrations, and even minor annoyances to be used for good. The bad does not have to be wasted, because of Jesus’ sacrifice. God, who is all powerful, could hog all of the glory for Himself, but He doesn’t. He invites us to participate in redemption with Him. He wants us to be involved in bringing about the good, as His children! What amazing LOVE!

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.” 

-Romans 8:15-17 (RSVCE)

We suffer with Him so that we can be glorified with Him. Jesus’ cross wasn’t the end, and our crosses aren’t the end either. We get to participate in redemption by uniting our suffering to His cross. We are invited to be a part of something powerful and beautiful. Our wounds are filled with the love that pours out of His wounds, and then our wounds can be conduits of love for Him and others. He can do so much good with anything and everything we offer to Him, and this is not dependent on any circumstances- it’s only dependent on our willingness to participate. And this is possible because of Easter! It’s all about glory and redemption in the end. What great news.

The Resurrection is the joy that we can all carry with us each day. It’s everything! This joy is exactly what is getting me through my challenging circumstances, so I can testify to its power. There is a lot about my life that I’m still not happy about- the physical pain and limitations, the loneliness, the fact that I’m having another surgery this week, etc., and that’s all very difficult in the flesh. But Jesus overcame sin, death, and suffering, so I am relieved! I know that I was created for something even more than the here and now- I was created for eternal union with God in heaven, so it shifts my life focus to aiming for heaven instead of being as consumed by the things that aren’t going the way I’d like them to go right now. God overcame death and suffering, and that is a reason to always celebrate!

I can say that I am able to experience a joy that on paper I just “shouldn’t have” considering my current life circumstances. God’s goodness just makes you smile! Even though I’m still going through so much physically and have been enduring some deep heartache recently, I still was able to experience the joy of the Lord in a powerful way this Easter because that joy is rooted in Him alone. That’s the power of the Resurrection! I am in awe of it, and I am humbled to witness to it.

God wants this joy for all of us! The Easter season is far from over, so we get to keep celebrating Jesus’ triumph over sin and death! We have the opportunity to really soak up this joy in a deeper way this Easter season, which goes all the way through Pentecost on May 19. My prayer is that we can all enter into the joy and glory of this season in a deeper way as we reflect on the triumph of Easter and what that means for our lives!

P.S.- It was really neat that for my upcoming surgery, I received the anointing of the sick on Easter Sunday! It was very special to attend Mass and receive communion, go to confession (as part of the anointing of the sick), and be anointed all on Easter Sunday! His grace abounds and is sustaining me. Thank you for your prayers, and know that I am praying for you as well!

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