April 4: Easter
Reflection by Thomas Merton (from He is Risen, Pp. 15-16 and pp. 42-43):
“True encounter with Christ liberates something in us, a power we did not know we had, a hope, a capacity for life, a resilience, an ability to bounce back when we thought we were completely defeated, a capacity to grow and change, a power of creative transformation. For the Christian there is no defeat, because Christ has risen and lives in us, and Christ has overcome all that seeks to destroy us or to block our human and spiritual growth. . . We have been called to share in the Resurrection of Christ not because we have fulfilled all the laws of God and [humans], not because we are religious heroes, but because we are suffering and struggling human beings, sinners fighting for our lives, prisoners fighting for freedom, rebels taking up spiritual weapons against the powers that degrade and insult our human dignity. If we had been able to win the battle without his help, Christ would not have come to fight for us and with us. But he has come to gather us around him in the battle for freedom. The fact that we have been wounded in the fight, or the fact that we may have spent most of the time, so far, running away from the battle makes no difference now. He is with us. He is risen.”
A Blessed Easter to you! I use that opening line from Merton over and over. Love it! Peace!
Joan