Encounter the Risen Christ

OPENING REFLECTION:

Think of a time when you had failed, when you’d thought all was lost. Where was God in that moment? Did hope and faith win out? How might this Easter perspective influence our work for peace and justice?

 

REFLECTIONS FROM POPE FRANCIS:

“Christ’s resurrection is not an event of the past; it contains a vital power which has permeated this world. Where all seems to be dead, signs of the resurrection suddenly spring up. It is an irresistible force. Often it seems that God does not exist: all around us we see persistent injustice, evil, indifference and cruelty. But it is also true that in the midst of darkness something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit. On razed land life breaks through, stubbornly yet invincibly. However dark things are, goodness always re-emerges and spreads. Each day in our world beauty is born anew, it rises transformed through the storms of history. Values always tend to reappear under new guises, and human beings have arisen time after time from situations that seemed doomed. Such is the power of the resurrection, and all who evangelize are instruments of that power.” (The Joy of the Gospel, 276)

 

FOR PRAYERFUL CONSIDERATION:

How has your journey of Lent prepared you to become an instrument that brings forth “the power of the resurrection?” How will this mindset influence your work for, and with, those who are most in need? How can the hope of Easter permeate even the most desperate of situations?

 

PROCESS: Commit to Encounter

Throughout the 40 days of Lent, we have reflected on what it means to encounter ourselves, our neighbors and our God. Now, as we look ahead to Easter, spend time in prayerful discernment considering the individuals and communities you would like to make a special effort to encounter this Easter season. How will you continue your commitment to enacting God’s vision as the person you are called to be?

 

CLOSING PRAYER: God of all people, awaken in us a passion for justice.

 

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