Our Hope

Yesterday evening, I was helping lead a Life Teen social event at my parish, celebrating the beatification of (now) Blessed Pope John Paul II. At one point during the night, a youth received a text. And then another youth received a text. And the exclamation from both was the same: "Hey guys! Osama Bin Laden is dead!" Immediately there was an eruption of discussion: Did he get shot? Who shot him? Did they simply find his body? Was the US involved? The announcement of the death of a guy who many presume to be behind so much of the pain and heartache in recent history was jarring. I for one, was shocked that people were already sending texts about it. But one of the youth cut to the heart of the matter. When someone again declared, "It's true! He's dead!" this youth meekly asked,

"...Should we...be happy about this?"

Rising

Happy Easter everyone! For 40 days we have tried dying to self, identifying ourselves with the suffering servant of God, ridding ourselves of sin and darkness. We watched him die on Good Friday, and we waited anxiously, nervously, on Holy Saturday. Today, we celebrate His glorious Resurrection, which broke the bonds of sin and death and opened the gates of heaven. Jesus Christ called all of us to crucify ourselves with Him, letting all of our sins be nailed to the Cross. We were called to die with Him. Now, on this Easter Sunday, we are called to rise with Him. And as we approached the tomb and realized that it was empty, one of the greatest truths was revealed to us: death can't hold Him.

Spiritual Makeover

Today is Ash Wednesday, which means that the 40 days of Lent have begun. A time to rethink our ways, a time to rid ourselves of all of the excess, a time to truly repent, and a time to reflect on what it means to be saved through Christ, as day after day, we get closer to the focal point of our faith - the Resurrection on Easter Sunday.