KNOWING THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION

I keep hearing about these warm, lit up places you can go and be lured into smoking a cigar, having a drink, and doing some conversing. Pretty costly, too! Plus you have to know how to smoke a cigar. Cigars gotta be savored. You gotta have some time to linger, hang around, blow circles and enjoy.

When Jesus died a criminal's death on the cross, his followers were devastated. They had wagered their lives on him. They had expected some kind of messianic deliverance for themselves and for Israel. They yearned for freedom from Roman oppression. What they testify happened was an empty tomb and a series of appearances of the risen Jesus in their midst. He was not a ghost. They ate and drank with him. Thomas placed his hands into the side of the Lord. He probed the nail marks. To their amazement he was alive! No one else had ever come back from the dead. He was alive. His circle of friends were called to confident, resurrection life.

To appreciate this mystery, the paschal mystery, requires that we take time, that we abide in mystery, that we dwell in the shade of his pierced side. For fifty days we linger, hang around, and enjoy. We delight in the new life of the newly baptized. We pay the new born attention so that they will grow and develop in the resurrection life.

"We should glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, for he is our salvation, our life, and our resurrection; through him we are saved and made free." Easter begins with vigil keeping and extends for fifty days. It is like one great Sunday, a time of rejoicing in which we savor the paschal mystery, the glorious cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to unpack some right on target questions over these fifty days.

Do you know what happened to you when you kept vigil on the great Paschal night? Were you drawn into the great stories of salvation? Did you find yourself feeling awe before God? Did you enter your heart in order to renew baptismal promises?

This is a night God sweeps us off our feet. God utterly surprises us with salvation. God engages us in watery womb and births us into a people wet with the name Christian. God boldly grabs us from the grip of death dealing leviathans and sea monsters and embraces us as new born babes suckling milk and honey of God's kingdom. This dizzies our heads and takes our breath away because it is the deepest mystery we shall ever ponder.

Do you know what happened to you when you received the body and blood of Christ at Easter? Did you savor the hearty bread which is delicious tasting of God's reign? Did you slowly imbibe the blessed cup which inebriates the spirit with dancing joy? Did this communion help you feel more closely bonded with those around you, the Church, the body of Christ for whom the Lord poured out his life?

It takes time to savor paschal mystery! Be patient. Put worry aside. Be glad. We are pentecosting, a church dancing fifty days. Don't count the cost or estimate the risk. Just let go and let Christ crucified come in glory to abide with you.