When it's Easter but you're stuck in Lent
Happy Easter! He is truly Risen indeed!
But... what if it dosen't feel like Easter?
I'm with you there this year my friend. So first, know that you aren't alone.
And it's not easy. Maybe you're facing a crisis, maybe you have a lot of stress at home, school or work, maybe your just in a low place in life right now.
Maybe, like me, you feel like you're still stuck in the death of Good Friday or the tomb of Holy Saturday while the rest of the world has moved on to the Resurrection of Easter Sunday.
That's okay.
Christ sees you. He is with you there too.
That's how I'm feeling this year. I had a beautiful long weekend off work for Easter, I was blessed to celebrate the whole Triduum at my Newman Center. But going back to work this morning felt like the worst thing ever. "What do you mean I have to get up and go teach non-religious people and not get to spend 4+ hours in church today??"
The emotional stress of everything piling up left me in tears more times than I wish to admit to today. I found myself begging God to raise me up too, and in a way, not wanting to leave the season of Lent, since it matched so well with my interior state (and my mind cannot comprehend how to experience the joy of Easter yet).
As I was thinking upon this this morning, a few things came to mind. If you too are in a "stuck" state this Easter, I hope God may work through these humble words in your heart too. I'm still very much stuck, but this is what I heard stirring inside.
--> "Easter should feel happy, right?" Don't beat yourself up over how you should or shouldn't feel. Christ felt it all, remember? You can't force yourself to feel one way or another I've learned.
--> Ask Him to show you the wounds.
Christ's Risen body still bears the marks of the nails and the lance. Ask Him to show you the wounds of the nails, ask Him to let you put your hand into His side. Let Him show you how these wounds have now been glorified.
Show Him your wounds, give Him your hurting, broken heart. Let Him bring them all to glory too.
--> Plead with Him
"Protect me from the sin of Judas, save me from despair!" (From the Stations of the Cross guide for station 9, The Third Fall). This line has been running through my head all morning. It is from a particular version of the Stations of the Cross I have known since childhood (https://blessedsacramentdc.org/everyones-way-of-the-cross).
There is a line in the closing prayer of the Divine Mercy Chaplet as well: "...increase Your Mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair, nor become despondent, but with great confidence, submit ourselves to Your Holy Will, which is Love and Mercy itself."
--> Read His promises
The whole Bible is full of God's Word to His people, both in times of joy and in times of despair. Even Christ plays words from the Psalmist from His cross. Remind yourself. Speak these promises over your own life and take refuge in the Word. This morning I fled to Psalm 23, but there are so many good ones.
It's okay if you're still stuck at the foot of the Cross, dear heart.
But Christ wants to raise you too.
Give us courage Lord! Teach us how to rise with You!
And if you haven't read the reading for Tenebrae for Holy Saturday, check this out too! https://www.vatican.va/spirit/documents/spirit_20010414_omelia-sabato-santo_en.html
Christ returns to save even Adam and Eve from their graves. He tenderly calls us forth in the same way. The painting image above is called the "Harrowing of Hell" and is a call back to that homily.