April 21, 2019
Lectionary: 42
Adults: What change could the hope of the Resurrection of Christ inspire you to make?
Children: What bad habit would you like to “clear out” during the hopeful time of this Easter season?
by Thomas Gette
The fire that engulfed the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris on Monday of Holy Week will forever be imprinted on our minds. The world watched in disbelief as this magnificent house of God that took nearly 200 years to build was being destroyed in a single day.
Believer and non-believer alike were struck speechless. Many expressed feelings as if the fire ominously symbolized that the Church and the world were on the eve of apocalyptic destruction. There was darkness, despair, fear, anger, and concern. The sight may have brought to mind the words from John 2:19: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
Now that we are on the other side of Holy Week, with the Alleluias of Easter echoing once again in the Church, we have entered the liturgical season that gives meaning to all the darkness: Jesus, the Light of the World, conquered death and darkness and is risen from the dead!
It was faith in the Resurrection of Christ that inspired the construction of Notre-Dame, and it is that same faith, strengthened and purified by the fire of the Holy Spirit, that will pull us through this dark moment in history.
Even more importantly, it is that same faith that can pull us through the dark moments of our daily lives. Christ’s victory over death stands for us as the sign of God’s power over everything in our lives. Jesus is not just an inspirational historical figure; Jesus is the Son of the Living God who can bring life and meaning to anything and everything we are experiencing.
Lent and Holy Week are reminders that we will often go through times of struggle and suffering, but Easter gives us the hope that God will always overcome and always lead us to joy.
Let us surrender the struggles and suffering to God, and pray with hope that Jesus will bring new life to whatever it is we are facing and give us the strength to embrace a change we may need to make in our lives.
Thomas Gette is a family man with a passion for the domestic Church. He holds master’s degrees from both Franciscan University and the Catholic University in Leuven, Belgium.