April 17, 2022 - Easter Sunday | St. Paul Catholic Church

April 13, 2022

There are many stones in our paths that keep us from truly living and being free. Some of these boulders have been there for a very long time. They have been there so long that they have even settled into the soil of our lives with other weeds, vines, and compacted soil keeping them firmly in place. We find them hard to move and trying to do so can be exhausting. What are these suffocating albatrosses that keep us so tethered and immobile? They are many things.
They are past childhood wounds and hurts that stem from disappointment, rejection, or abuse. People may have told us we were unwanted, that the world is frightening, that there are only some acceptable feelings you can have and others you cannot. We may have tried to love someone or struggled to figure out how and were met with rejection. Maybe we trusted someone completely and were betrayed. We come to life collecting barnacles that begin to attach to other barnacles and before you know it, we have a mass of solid matter blocking our vision and keeping us from moving. We live in fear. We are afraid of losing what we have, afraid that the future will be empty, afraid that we won’t succeed and even more afraid that we will not be loved. There is so much fear. Didn’t Jesus tell us not to worry and to not be afraid? Either we believe in the message of Easter, or we don’t!
Go confidently into the night. Walking with God you will find the light and strength you need. Often without even knowing, God will move those boulders and stumbling blocks that bind us and, with putting one foot in front of the other and looking forward, we will move. The resurrection of Christ is really all about receiving the gifts of trust and faith and doing new things. The rocks that bind us keep us spinning the same wheels and doing the same things. When was the last time you threw caution to the wind and actually did something totally out of character and different? This is where we find God, in the spontaneous, the adventurous, the fun, and the creative choices we make! God is not boring and stuck. God is exciting and engaging. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead! Find a way to trust that this is true and live. ©LPi