Happy Easter!

Too many people will look at this post and say, "Happy Easter? You're 6 days late."

I would respond by saying, "Actually, I'm just getting started."

You see, Easter isn't just a day. Easter is a season which began on Easter Sunday and lasts until Pentecost. The season of Easter, which lasts 50 days, is longer than the season of Lent, which lasts 40 days. I don't think it's a mistake that we, as a Church, feast more than we fast.

We worship a God who does things big. If he's going to wash his apostles' feet, he's going to make sure they're polished to a shine when he's done. If he's going to give us water to drink, it will be everlasting water. If he's going to give us food to eat, it's going to be his own flesh that will bring us to everlasting life.

Yesterday I was reflecting on my Lenten season and rejoicing over this Easter season. This year was the first year that I went to the end of Adoration on Holy Thursday. I can only describe the action of Fr. Juan taking Jesus from the monstrance as "disturbing." There was no fanfare, no ceremony. He was just taken away, and those of us present were left looking at each other speechless. In that moment and on Good Friday, I felt the emptiness that the early disciples must have felt when the Lord as taken away. (If you ever want your faith to be shaken, go sit in front of an empty tabernacle.) During the Commemoration of the Lord's Passion, I remember hearing the words "Give us Barabbas," come out of my mouth and feeling the sting of the many times I have chosen other relationships, power, pleasure, honor, and wealth in place of my relationship with Christ himself. In pursuing these worldly things, I wasn't too different from that empty tomb: empty.

Artwork by Sr. Solanus Casey, SOLT

I was overcome with sorrow, but when I returned to the Church, that sorrow was overcome by the joy of the Resurrection. I listened to Fr. Dan say he had cried six times that day because he "finally got it." He understood the great love that God has for him, that he would conquer death through dying - and then offer us a life with him.

At the beginning of Lent, I clearly heard the voice of Jesus asking me to "walk with him to the end." I was flattered by the invitation, but I also realized what it meant: Walking with him meant accompanying him to the cross. It wouldn't be easy. I knew that. But where else would I go? There was nothing else. And so I went.

Since it's a common practice to give something up for Lent, I decided to take a different route than other years. I grayscaled my phone and gave up music and sweets. Now that I look back, I see that I had pretty much dulled three of my senses. How different things felt! Driving in a silent car and looking at a black and white phone screen made me realize just how much I don't need. Letting go of these worldly things drew me in deeper to what God is doing for me internally, and trivial things like colors on a screen, music in my ears, and sweets on my tongue are just bonuses to the work He does in my soul.

It's like what St. John of the Cross says, "(there is) a point of departure, because individuals must deprive themselves of their appetites for worldly possessions. This denial and privation is like a night for all one's senses...God is also a dark night to the soul in this life. These three nights pass through a soul, or better, the soul passes through them in order to reach union with God."

Or what St. Thomas Aquinas says,

"Praestet fides supplementum sensuum defectui"

"Faith for all defects supplying, Where the feeble senses fail."

This journey only matters because God is real. The Resurrection of Jesus is real, the centerpiece of all of history.

Recently, Fr. Dan sent me a message from Bishop Robert Barron's book And Now I See that said, "Heaven, accordingly, is a delightfully endless process of exploration into the infinite God" It was such a beautiful sentiment that I adopt as the mantra of my life. There's nothing better than walking with God, whether it's to the Cross or to eternity (or even better, IN it).

And so I say to you who think that Easter is just a day where you hide eggs and decorate cookies: Celebrate! Feast! And know that the God of the universe who died for you not only sees you but loves and desires you more than you can ever know!

PS: Aren't these cookies cute? I made them with the help of Marla's Cookie Co.