Easter

It was beautiful this morning, watching the sun rise at the early mass at St. Elizabeth's.....
This is the day the Lord has made...

After mass, me, tina, greg, betsy, reza, eric and ernie went over to Betsy's for some good food and time together. Greg led a devotional that really struck me and brought home for all of us what i think is the paradox of celebrating Easter this side of eternity...

We watched Hotel Rwanda last night, which was a very sobering, intense film....a picture of something haunting that cannot be escaped. I went home thinking a lot about it. I did a little bit of research on the rwandan genocide after i came home (Human Rights Watch is an amazingly detailed and well-researched site that i would highly recommend- i put a link to it on my list to the right)
I remember when these events were going on- i was in middle school. I think that one of the characters in the film, an American photojournalist, put it best- "People (in the West) will look at their TVs and say 'Oh, that's terrible,' and then keep on eating their dinner."

Reading about the history of Rwanda since the 1994 events made me think seriously about something i dont want to think about. In 1994, the whole world watched and did nothing, as 800,000 people were slaughtered not in a war, not in a natural disaster, but becasue they existed. We watched and did nothing. This brought the frightening thought to mind: Jesus, please have mercy on us- please hold back your judgement....I was praying that we would be spared.
Did Jesus not warn us about interpreting the times? Is it not God's mercy on us that he gives us opportunities to be faithful, even after our history has shown that we have not been faithful?

And we just stood by and watched. What will God have to say to us about that? What will God have to say to us about Sudan? The AIDS epidemic?
We believe that the government of Pakistan needs F-16 fighter jets, but we harshly critizise and suspect the (progressive, popular) government of Venezuela when they buy Ak-47s from Russia.......

anyway....Greg read from the Gospel of John, about Mary Magdalene weeping at the tomb of Jesus, not kowing where he was, where he had gone to.
This is a tension. We weep, as we ought to, the depravity of our hearts, the terror that humans are capable of. We weep out of compassion, but we weep also knowing that if not for the mercy of God, we surely would destroy each other in myriad ways. As the scripture says, "there is no one who does not, not even one"
Yet, Jesus appeared and said "Why do you weep?" He is risen indeed....and Praise Him that this is true! For what else do we have? What other hope is there, when we read daily of God's creations destroying each other, blinded by hatred, greed, pride, malice...?

Easter ought to be a call to desperation. It ought to wake us up to thist, long, grasp for, strain our souls and bodies to the point of pain to take hold of that one, precious thing...the hope and the righteousness and the saving truth and power of the Living, Risen Anointed One !

Celebrate today what God has given. Celebrate today that we do not have to be consumed by our own evil or given over to God's righteous judgement of it.

Jesus is alive