CELEBRATION
Today’s Eastertide word is CELEBRATION. Eastertide is a long season. It’s easy to remember it’s a season of celebration at the start. Fresh from the joy and excitement of Easter vigil we know we have something to celebrate.
As time goes on it gets harder to remember that we are still in a season of celebration. As the concerns of our lives take over again it can be hard to find the space to reflect on the resurrection and the joy and hope it brings to our lives today.
It might be possible to keep some sense of the Celebration alive in good times. When our societies and countries feel stable and secure we might find the space to celebrate. But our times are challenging, fearful and uncertain.
The peace and stability that we’ve relied on for decades seems to be crumbling before our eyes. In such times CELEBRATION seems an impossible dream.
Today’s first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles celebrates the resurrection in the most challenging of circumstances. Paul and Silas, miraculously released from prison, convert their jailer and baptise his whole family. Luke tells us:
“He took them home and gave them a meal, and the whole family celebrated their conversion to belief in God.”
They were at risk of persecution and even death, yet they could still celebrate their belief in God. They remind me that however challenging our lives are we too can still celebrate the joy and hope of the resurrection in the midst of it.
How is the risen Christ calling you to celebrate his presence in your life this Eastertide?