Challenges and Grace of the Easter Season

Easter has been my favorite holiday since I was a child. Initially Easter was about the pretty dresses and Easter baskets. As I moved through high school and into adulthood it is not only Easter that I loved, but the whole journey of Holy Week. My emotions run the gamut including awe, sadness, anger, emptiness, excitement, gratitude and joy. In the days of Holy Week the paschal mystery unfolds in the washing of feet, the Passion, veneration of the cross, the stories we hear at the vigil of God’s continued love and patience with us throughout history, the people received into the Church and the Alleluias of Easter.   

As the paschal mystery unfolded these past few days I find myself challenged to respond with love, obedience and humility as Christ did. I am challenged to respond with faith, strength and hope.We are a people who live the paschal mystery.We experience both the agony of the cross and the joy of Easter.  Maybe this year more than most, I am aware of how closely agony and joy live with one another and in these holy days I have found solace and hope.I am grateful for both the challenge and the solace of these past few days.

     I pray that we each may be open to the graces and challenges of this Easter season. 

Sr. Kimberly Porter, OSB