Reading
Be kind, compassionate, and forgiving to each other, in the same way God forgave you in Christ.
Therefore, imitate God like dearly loved children. Live your life with love, following the example of Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. He was a sacrificial offering that smelled sweet to God.
Ephesians 4:32-5:2 (CEB)
Reflection
Today is different.
It didn’t start out that way. Especially for Jesus’ followers the days after his death. It was full of grief, uncertainty, and lacking hope. But in one moment, everything changed.
Today is different because in one moment, Jesus became the victor.
In one moment, death lost its power.
In one moment, the world became different.
In one moment, all that was broken was made whole.
And humanity, since that day, has been different.
Today is different.
Because of Jesus, we are Easter people.
We are not people of despair, we are people of hope.
We are people who believe that death is not the end,
We are people who believe that that darkness doesn’t overpower out light
We are people who believe that resurrection is possible.
Today is different because Jesus showed us what love really looks like.
Love sacrifices, love gives, and love keeps showing up, even when it costs everything.
So, if today is different, then we are called to live differently.
To love more boldly,
To forgive more freely,
To serve more selflessly,
To live like resurrection is real, because it is.
Today is different.
And because of that, so are we.
Prayer
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
“Prayer for Peace,” St. Francis of Assisi
