Easter Reflection - Father Robert Lupo

HAPPY EASTER!

Alleluia, He is Risen!!!  We have traveled through Lent together and we have reached this glorious celebration of Our Lord’s resurrection!! We are confronted with the empty tomb this morning – does it hold any significance for us? Our Lenten Journey has led us here to the tomb that signifies Jesus' resurrection – that demonstrate his victory over death! Does this empty space have any particular; personal meaning for us?Perhaps, for some of us, it represents a space inside of ourselves where we were held by sin in recurring patterns of questionable decisions. Now, Christ’s empty tomb lets us know that we are free as well – that his sacrifice has made it possible for us to walk out of our tombs – out of whatever behavior or attitude has separated us from God.

Another symbol turned on its head. The empty tomb is a symbol of victory over death and decay; it is also a reminder that God will renew this material world – he doesn’t just point to some ethereal after-life. We remember that we will be like Christ, as St. John tells us, though we don’t know exactly what that will be like we do believe "in the resurrection of the body...." We shall be come like the Risen Christ!

May we joyfully enter into our Easter season today as we look forward to the next seven weeks in which we will be treated to striking resurrection accounts and then the depictions of the building of the early Church as we continue to hear from the Gospel of John and begin to delve into the riches of the Acts of the Apostles. May we make these stories our own as we endeavor to live out our faith each day.              

Father Robert Lupo is pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Auburn