Have you ever confided your problems to a friend, only to get the answer, “have you prayed about it as much as you’ve talked about it?”

Like all good advice, it can really irritate the recipient at first. Here I am, vulnerable and wounded, unloading my problems, and this joker tries to load them right back up and ship them off to Someone with a higher pay grade.

But again, like all good and irritating advice, it rings true if you sit and think about it.

The first three Sundays of Easter bring us back to the days after the resurrection and deepen our understanding of the meaning of the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb. What does it mean to us? The Gospel brings us back to the early days of the ministry of Jesus. John uses one of the common occupations to describe His mission. Jesus describes Himself as a Good Shepherd who lays down His life from His sheep. Such is the image we reflect on Good Shepherd Sunday. Our Easter journey continues knowing that we are in the watchful care of the Divine Shepherd.

Peter stood before the people and tried to convince them of the true identity and mission of Jesus. That Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah; that His Christ would suffer (Act. 3:18). He wanted to make them realize the wrong they have done to the Messiah and convert them for the forgiveness of their sins.

Jesus appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection. Not understanding His words about the Messiah, Jesus opened their mind, heart; and made them see the whole horizon. Initially, together with the Apostles, they all doubted the resurrection of Jesus. So, Jesus had to lead them out of their fears and doubts and gave them the faith, confidence, and courage to go out to be His witnesses. Jesus has set them to become Easter people. Let us be open to the way God sees and does things. Let us not allow our selfish, limited, and biased opinions to cloud our faith in the resurrection.

You know what are some of my favorite moments in Scripture? The little “Easter eggs” of Jesus’ humanity, things like Jesus falling asleep, Jesus drawing in the sand, Jesus playing with kids. And how about Jesus rising from the dead, appearing to his disciples and saying, “So, have you got anything to eat?” It’s right for us to always keep in mind that Jesus is God. But we also have to remember that he was man. He got hungry. He cried when he felt sad and laughed when he felt happy. He got tired. He got bored. Because he was God, none of those feelings ever led him into sin, like they do us. He never spent a car ride trying to pass the hours by seeing how annoyed he could make his older sister. He never smacked Peter over the head for saying something really stupid. But he did unleash some Biblically righteous anger on those traders in the temple, didn’t he? And he wasn’t shy about calling Peter “a Satan” when his friend tempted him to take the easy way out. It’s the tightrope walk we all try to balance every day, honoring our human emotions while still answering God’s call to be better. Being perfect isn’t the domain of the Christian that’s the domain of Christ only. Trying and failing, then trying again (and failing again) and again and again? That’s the domain of the Christian. - Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

They say seeing is believing. But if you’ve ever ordered a pair of pants online, you know that’s not always the case. Whatever the photos promise us, what looked like a perfectly nice shade of navy blue on our computer screens comes in the mail as an unusual shade of blue green that only appears in the giant box of Crayola crayons.

After the death of Jesus, his disciples scattered, afraid and unsure what their fate will be. But their faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ prevailed. It led to a profound sense of unity among His disciples. Easter faith has changed the way they lived their lives. When we accept Jesus in our midst, the risen Lord is with us, and that He is one with His Church, we can overcome our worries about our needs and fear of those who act against His Church. But like the first community of believers, with one heart and mind, we can freely and joyfully look after one another’s needs.

In a homily at the Cathedral of Hippo, St. Augustine said: You are an Easter people, and Alleluia is your song. A year into the pandemic, I joyfully greet everyone: A Blessed Easter, Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Be Easter people: we have survived the test of Covid-19 and the changes that it brought the whole world. The greeting of Alleluia means, Praise God. In ancient Hebrew, it means, Thanks be to God. To be an Easter person, therefore, is to be full of Praise and Thanksgiving to God. An invitation to have a disposition of gratitude or thanksgiving to God for everything. For this life, as we continue to live, thank God for every person in our life, for being part of our life. Remember: Some people are a blessing, and others are a lesson.

“Is there a happy ending?”

When my kids were young, we never made it past the first whiff of any narrative tension before I got this question. As soon as whatever princess or furry woodland animal who was the hero of the story got into any small scrape, they wanted that reassurance, “Is there a happy ending?”