“STAY WITH GOD” - AN EASTER MEDITATION
I read this sentence – I’m not sure when, but it has stayed with me: The world has made terrible mistakes and is making them still. It is true. However, it is Easter and on this glorious feast we must say that despite all the mistakes, past and present, a light is shining and in that shining light there is hope. That is precisely what the Easter Candle, and the Gospel and the Mass proclaim to us. There is hope. For fifty days we are going to celebrate Easter at St. Catharine’s. It is going to be a lovely spring — with God.
It is hard though not to be conscious right now of the darkness that still envelopes so much of the world and so many in the world. And I also know that even here in Pelham there is hurt and the light has to shine.
At Eastertime we want everyone to hear the Gospel. We want the whole world to hear it. We want to hear it ourselves. We want to hear the Word of Christ because we know, because we believe that he is that Brilliant Light. We believe that his word is not just a word, but the word and that what he says is not just something — it is everything.
“I was there.” That is what Christ says to everyone. “I was there in the darkness. I know what it is. I was there in the Garden of Gethsemane when I prayed to the Father to take away my suffering and my suffering remained. I was there in the darkness when I stood before Herod and Pilot and they judged me guilty and I was not guilty. I was there when the soldiers scourged me at the pillar and crowned me with thorns. I was there on the road to Golgotha where I fell under the weight of the Cross. I was there in my crucifixion and death.” The Word of Christ! “I was there and through it all I stayed with God. I stayed with God and now I am here — in the light. Stay with God. Don’t be afraid. Come to me. I am with you always — in the light. Believe and trust. One thing matters. You will see it. One day you will all see that only one thing matters: that you stay with God. I did it. I stayed with God through all my terrible darkness and now I am risen from the dead. I am alive and you can be alive in me and with me!”
What I have just said about the Word of Christ, I call the core, the center, the very heart and soul of the Gospel. It is what each of us has to hear on Easter Day and everyday: Stay with God. Stay with Christ who is risen from the dead. Be alive with him and do not be afraid. It is the END that matters and the END is the resurrection and eternal life. Stay with God.
