“May we all leave behind a string of empty tombs.” – Ronald Rolheiser
I was reminded of this quote during our virtual Rest Stop last week. In case you are not familiar with the Rest Stops, they are periodic check-ins as a part of our Adventures in Grace year-long spiritual pilgrimage. The pilgrimage has been so enriching for me, for many and, I hope, for you as well. If you have not yet participated, simply go to our website and familiarize yourself with the many resources that are available to enrich and renew your spiritual journey. The best way to familiarize yourself with this innovative endeavor is to talk to someone who has participated.
Ronald Rolheiser is a priest with the religious order of The Oblates of Mary Immaculate (O.M.I.). He is an author of several books and articles, and I find his statement about leaving tombs behind to be perfectly in line with the spirituality of our pilgrimage and adds to the language that articulates that spirituality.
Rolheiser’s statement encourages us not only to focus our prayer and our faith on the new life that Easter Day brings, but the ongoing sacred experiences of new life that we all experience. I also believe that we do not consistently, significantly, reverently – and thus properly – acknowledge the many new lives of life itself. His statement expands Easter from something that happened to Jesus to something that happens to us over and over again.
During the Rest Stop, our soulmate and partner Dr. Terry Nelson-Johnson led us through a powerful reflection on many of the key dynamics of the sacred series of Triduum, summed up in a big Church term – The Paschal Mystery. I articulate the Paschal Mystery as four days and three transitions. We transition from the meal of Thursday to the suffering of Friday, a day that also holds the next moment which is death, and we make our third (Triduum means three) transition from death to new life on Saturday into Sunday.
During the Rest Stop, four parishioners and colleagues shared their very moving and poignant reflections on the hunger and feeding that is so essential to Holy Thursday. They also shared the pain and surrendering of Good Friday, the anticipation and waiting of Holy Saturday, and the significant companion that the Eucharist is for true, deep and eternal new life, the most powerful new life celebrated in Easter.
I want to strongly urge you to identify these sacred elements in your own life. The last Base Camp of our Pilgrimage in March had us handing our burdens to special representatives of our community. It also had us touch, embrace and connect with crosses of our own suffering.
This Easter I urge you to not only experience the powerful events of your life but to hand them off to others, and to hold them for others. By this I mean to hold the cross of another and at the same time hold our own. Share the weight of the cross or suffering of another as Simon the Cyrene did for Jesus on the way to Calvary. Tell others of the new things you have found or experienced in life or faith, and seek to tenderly hold theirs, thus acknowledging their sacredness. In doing both of these we will leave behind a string of empty tombs.
Easter Thanks
There are literally too many people to thank individually for their extra effort, time, creativity and dedication in making the many Masses, services and activities of Holy Week so prayerful and available. We reached into the hearts of many both live and virtually. Thanks to ALL of you.
Gala Next Saturday
Next Saturday, April 23 is our annual Gala. It is our yearly opportunity to gather as ONE Community, Academy and Parish, to catch and share our vibrant spirit, to celebrate, and to support significant endeavors that enable us to carry out our very ambitious mission.
This year will be truly unique as we will hold the entire event here on our beautiful and large campus. Tickets are still available as are envelopes with designated dollar amounts between $1 and $500 that you can contribute if you can’t attend. This gives literally EVERYONE an opportunity to support the cause. You can choose multiple envelopes to create a sizable donation or just one within your price range.