I love a happy ending whether it’s in a book or a film. I don’t mind if the characters go through all sorts challenges as the story unfolds, but by the end of the story I want everything neatly and happily resolved. This is a basic human desire that’s fuelled by our media.
In many ways it is tempting to see Easter as a “happy ending” for Christians. There’s just enough of a grain of truth in that to make it believable. But today’s first reading, the martyrdom of St Stephen calls us to look beyond that. I’m reflecting on this from today’s first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles:
“Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God…”
This wasn’t a “happy ending” in any human sense. It happened as Stephen faced a violent death. It reminds me that the Christian story that culminates in the resurrection is about about new life and hope. In one sense that is the ultimate “happy ending” although in our limited, human understanding it will not always look like that.
The resurrection speaks of a much deeper and truer reality, an ultimately “happy ending” that is beyond human imaginings. The resurrection is a constant reminder of God’s continuing and everlasting love for us even in the situations that seem most hopeless.
It’s an invitation to respond to that love and to allow it to shape everything about us, a call to constantly embrace new life and hope. Then, like Stephen, whatever sufferings we face, we will glimpse the glory of God.
Where are you finding glimpses of God’s glory this Eastertide?