God’s song of salvation is on everyone’s lips as we celebrate Easter, fifty days of
rejoicing. We are saved in so many ways by God’s love in deliverance or preservation. Lent
gave us a greater awareness of our dependence on God because we only exist in God.
Dependence on God means trying to be in touch with the God within who leads us through the
wilderness and is somehow still there when there are storms of doubt and guilt. As we know,
being a caretaker, guilt is often an overwhelming emotion.
In my Care for the Caregiver Program, I quote Ronald Rolheiser in his book The Holy
Longing, as he writes, “The Paschal mystery is a process of transformation within which we are
given both new life and new spirit. It begins with suffering and death, moves on to reception of
new life, spends some time grieving the old and adjusting to the new, and finally, only after the
old life has been truly let go of, is new spirit given for the life we are already living. We see this
in the great mystery of Jesus’ own Passover from death to life. There are five clear, distinct
moments within the Paschal Mystery: Good Friday – the loss of life – real death; Easter Sunday -
reception of new life; The Forty Days – a time for readjustment to the new and for grieving the
old; Ascension – letting go of the old and letting it bless you, the refusal to cling;
Pentecost – the reception of new spirit for the new life that one is already living.”
“Stated as a personal challenge for each of us: “Name your deaths” “Claim your births”
“Grieve what you have lost and adjust to the new reality” “Do not cling to the old, let it ascend
and give you its blessing” “Accept the spirit of the life that you are in fact living.” This cycle is
something we must undergo daily, in every aspect of our lives. Realistically, without a
crucifixion, there would be no resurrection. Daily we must undergo the Paschal Mystery. For
example, the death of our youth, the death of our wholeness, the death of our dreams and
many more that you can name. Let us never doubt God’s love and care, no matter what we
face.”
I take inspiration with the words of Father Robert Lauder, “God will never love us more
than He does at this moment because He can’t love us more. God is totally in love with us. He
loves each of us passionately, infinitely. God’s love for each of us is total. If we could believe in
God’s total love for us, we would be profoundly free. Even disappointment and suffering would
be viewed differently.”
The question for each of us is, How, in our daily lives, should we be living out the Paschal
Mystery, which is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus?
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