How do we remain Easter people amid global suffering?

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

Happy Easter! What a joy it is to celebrate this Easter season of peace, hope and joy after so many years of global suffering, anxiety, and economic hardship—made much worse by the horrors of war!

To be reminded that Christ is risen is to rediscover what we know, but can hardly believe, about Jesus’ victory over sin and evil: Our Redeemer lives! Death no longer has power over us!

How can we sustain this fundamental conviction about the liberating power of the Resurrection? How do we prevent the darkness that surrounds us here at home and throughout the world from shaking our faith and causing us to lose hope? How can we remain Easter people in the midst of worldwide suffering and despair?

The story in St. Luke’s Gospel about the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (cf. Lk 24:13–35) gives us a good insight into how we can sustain Easter joy. Recall that the two disciples were leaving Jerusalem deeply disappointed following Jesus’ brutal crucifixion—which they considered to be the bitter, negative ending of all their hope and dreams. When Jesus joins them on their sad journey, and they narrate, from their perspective, all the terrible things that he suffered at the hands of religious and secular authorities, a miracle of synodality occurs. The disciples listen to Jesus as he taught them: “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then they encounter him—recognizing him in the breaking of the bread. And, finally, they discern God’s will for them and return to Jerusalem “where they found gathered together the Eleven and those with them who were saying, The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”

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