“Awake O Sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light” (Ephesians 5:14). For Catholics, Easter is not just one day, but a season of new life. How can we wake up to the reality that the battle is already won? The Lord has resurrected and we are truly an Easter people, but if we don’t ‘wake up’ or realize the truth, we can’t truly live in the light of Christ. What are practical ways to live into the resurrection and open our eyes to the truth that Christ is risen from the dead. What does it mean to live our lives as if we are resurrected people? We are told to ‘arise from the dead’ but how should we do this?
- Every time you sin, begin again! Make it a resurrection moment, knowing that you can rise from your sinfulness at each moment of each day because Jesus rose from the dead, took the power of sin away, and gave to each of us the power of the resurrection.
- Offer to pray with those you know who need to experience the power of the resurrection. Pray a blessing over them, pray for healing in them, and speak truth into their life.
- Go to adoration and let the Holy Spirit breathe new life on you, just like Jesus breathed on the Apostles after he rose from the dead and appeared to them.
- Go to confession and experience the grace of reconciliation. Just as Jesus appeared to the Apostles who turned against him during his death, let him appear to you and set you free from the shame of abandoning him, so that you may live in the new life of the resurrection.
- Imaginatively in prayer, let Jesus take your hand and place it in His wounds like he did with Thomas when he was doubting, so that you may believe that the power of the resurrection can heal all wounds; that the blood and water poured out from the cross washes away all sins; and that His mercy can turn all evil into good.
-Sr. Rita Clare Yoches, T.O.R.
