“But when Christ is revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with him.” – Col 3.4

Living the Paschal Mystery

Holy Week has been different this year. At a time when we couldn’t celebrate the Triduum, the experiences of our community have brought the mystery of the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus into our lives. It has been a week of sadness mixed with joy; of heartache and relief; of death and new life.

On Thursday morning, our community celebrated the life of Ray Mulhearn, a man who has poured out his life for his family, his friends and this community.

At the same time, we have a couple of families waiting for the arrival of new life.

In both these experiences, there is suffering that ends in joy.

There is pain and struggle mixed with moments of happiness.

There is a dying that ends in new life.

If someone asked me to give a theological explanation of the mystery that we celebrate on Easter Sunday morning, I wouldn’t know where to start. Yet, the transformation from the cross to Easter Sunday joy is one that we live through every day, in our families, in our work places and in the ordinariness of life. We feel it played out in our friendships – the moments when we say good bye and look forward to seeing one another again. We long for it in our darker moments when we hope against hope that there are brighter days ahead. Our hope is in Jesus Christ. And whether or not we can put that into words, it is the reality that we live. We believe that God is able to transform our lives for good.

We are Easter people.