Rejoice, rejoice
and sing, rejoice and be glad... for earth and heaven are joined and
humanity is reconciled to God! (From the Exsultet, BCP, p. 286-287)
As the Lenten
season ends in Easter rejoicing, note what has been wrought in you this
year. A remarkable cross-section of America has been practicing Lenten
disciplines, even some who are not active Christians. There
is a deep hunger in our collective psyche to re-orient our lives toward
life and light, healing and peace. We share a holy hunger for clarity
about what is good and life-giving, and we yearn to re-focus on what is
most central and important in life.
Easter celebrates
the victory of light and life over darkness and death. God re-creates
and redeems all life from dead, dry, and destroyed bones. We are
released from the bonds of self-obsession, addiction, and whatever would
steal away the radical freedom of God-with-us. Our lives re-center in
what is most holy and creative, the new thing God is continually doing
in our midst. Practicing vulnerability toward the need and hunger of
others around us, we have cultivated compassionate hearts. We join in
baptismal rebirth in the midst of Jesus' own passing-over.
The wonder of the
resurrection is upon us once more. May we embrace God's ever-new life
with every cell of our being, every yearning of our soul, and every
muscle of our will. Christ is risen, death is vanquished, humanity is
restored to holy and creative relationship with God's ongoing and
eternal liveliness. Praise God who brings light out of darkness, life
out of death, and newness out of the stale and moribund. Alleluia!
Christ is risen!
The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Message available on the web here.
