He is risen

Easter cannot be explained or understood.
What we have are biblical testimonies.
The experience of people that Jesus lives.

On Easter morning the women go to the grave.
The stone is gone, the grave is open,
they go inside and face the emptiness of the grave.
All graves are empty because we do not find life in them.
Life is elsewhere!
But where do we find life? 

Perhaps we will discover the answer in what the angel says.
He tells the women
Go to the disciples.
Tell them that Jesus rose from the dead.
He goes before you into Galilee.
You'll see Him there. 

Turn away from the grave and leave it behind you.
You'll find life if you look in another direction.
When you set out on a journey.
The way will lead you into Galilee.   
Jesus will go there before you.
Follow Him, even if you do not know the way. 
Galilee is the place where the Risen One will meet us.
It is the everyday place of the women and disciples.
It is not a place above the clouds in heaven.
It is our everyday place.
In everyday life we meet the living Jesus,
in the broken bread,
in grief,
when in doubt,
in times of Covid-19 with all the fears and uncertainties.

In these difficult times, it is not easy for us to sing a liberated Hallelujah.
Isn't it comforting to know that it also wasn’t easy for the Easter witnesses in the Bible. 
Easter can be experienced,
when Christ is present in our daily lives,
when He transforms our lives,
when we show others Christ through our lives
and our hallelujah is a keynote of trust.
Trust that no matter what comes next
and how it will continue,
life is indestructible.

Sr. M. Dorothea