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The Blinding Glory!
Easter Morning Painting by Jen Norton
Easter is all about the blinding beauty of life eternal. We are blessed to see various spring
blossoms all around us. This fleeting but glorious floral explosion is nothing less than spectacular. The new life of the resurrection will be breathtakingly beautiful, and it is not just for a few days or weeks but for eternity.
St. Augustine eloquently refers to God as Beauty: “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you.”
It takes a quantum leap for our feeble mind to begin to fathom the blinding glory of the risen Christ. For our generation that refuses to acknowledge anything transcendent and eternal, the challenge is even more daunting. The Augustinian paradox is all the more pronounced to this generation: “You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you.”
The risen Christ intends to live in us always through his Holy Spirit. Prayers, especially our community and liturgical prayers, are privileged moments of acknowledging and encountering the risen Lord. The sacraments are the grace-filled events and celebrations of our encounter with the risen Lord. Meaningful relationships take time, reflection, and nurturing. The best response to love is loving back. We respond to God’s self-giving love by turning to Him and opening our minds and souls to Him in love. This is the fabulous journey of faith.
Nothing gives me more excitement and joy than welcoming new parishioners through baptism of both infants and adults who have begun this journey with us. We are most grateful to God because this Easter we have new members of the parish who were baptized, confirmed, received into full communion with the Catholic Church, and for the first time received the Eucharist. Their faith journey has been a response to the invitation to Life. The attraction of Beauty is found in the aroma of Christ, crucified but risen. Having been created anew, all of us are called to radiate the beauty and emanate the fragrance of Christ’s grace and love. We renew the promises of our own baptism today and recall what we have become through God’s splendid grace, namely, children of God, the Body of Christ, and the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. We are reminded to reclaim our God-given dignity with joy and conviction today.
Happy Easter, Everyone!
Fr. Paul D. Lee