Pope John Paul II is credited with the quote “Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song.” A veteran priest at my parish used to remind us often to be “Easter People”. It’s kind of funny to be thinking of ourselves this way. Easter….it’s a holiday, not a person, right?
Maybe not. When I look up the etymology of the Easter it stems from the word Eoster, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn. The word derives from “aus” meaning “to shine”. In other languages, the word for Easter stems from the word “Pascha” which literally means “Passover” the Jewish feast that coincides with Easter.
So maybe when JPII said this, he was referring to being a people of light, of hope, and of a new dawn. When the pope said this phrase to the people of Australia in 1986, he followed it with:
“We do not pretend that life is all beauty. We are aware of darkness and sin, of poverty, and pain. But,” proclaimed the Pope, “we know Jesus has conquered sin and passed through His own pain to the glory of the Resurrection.” (http://www.cam.org.au/hartbeat-2006/if-christ-be-not-raised.html)
I liked the idea of not pretending things are all peachy keen and rosy when they can sometimes be challenging and difficult. Easter isn’t about singing Alleluia with our head in the sand. Jesus faced a horrible and difficult death while everyone he loved (and everyone that despised him) looked on. The word, “difficult” doesn’t even seem adequate!
At Easter, we also focus on this unbelievable love story’s purpose; eternal life. Knowing there is no resurrection without the crucifixion is what it means to be Easter People. We can boldly face of our challenges giving them an “alleluia attitude” because we know we have Jesus. Recognizing the difficulty and putting it squarely on the shoulders of a God that can conquer anything…..even death.
I have had a couple of challenging and overwhelming weeks. I have been struggling with feeling unappreciated and unrecognized. When I don’t receive outside validation on something I’ve worked hard on or put a lot of passion into it feels very personal and deeply painful. I desperately wish to be healed of this. When I had a moment earlier in the week, I spent some time in quiet and asked God to meet me there, in the pain. I asked, maybe even begged, God to help me turn self pity, anger, resentment, and exhaustion into an alleluia attitude. I heard these words, so clearly,
“What validation are you looking for? You have Jesus!”
I don’t need to pretend that these past couple of weeks have been all beauty. Indeed, they haven’t been. The blessing of Easter is knowing we have Jesus. We can be an Easter People; Alleluia is our song.
Comments