resurrection

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Patrick and I found this mosaic hidden in a closet at St.Mark's not long after I joined the staff here. It is a beautiful piece of art, and that year we  used it as the image for our Women at the Tomb, our Good Friday liturgy. That liturgy juxtaposes the Stations of the Cross with musical reflections. The liturgy juxtaposes Christ's journey to the cross and grave, even while celebrating the life-giving creativity of music.

The mosaic is an appropriate image for that service, because the cross frames the picture, but we are looking past the cross to something else. It's a mysterious image of a figure walking away from the cross, but the shadow of the cross stretches far off into the distance. If it is a post-crucifixion, resurrection image, the cross it still present.

With Easter's arrival the church universal celebrates the mystery of Christ's Resurrection. As we, the church, move past the lenten journey and Holy Week into the greatest season of the year, the shadow of the cross is still a reality, but it is now part of the past. The reminder of that event is there, but it is not to be relived.

In the celebration of Christ's Resurrection, we have a new story to live: it is one of new life. The new life is our transformed self. The new story we are called to live is the one of our transformed self.

The story of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection are not just some historical accounts that took place 2,000 years ago. This is our story of right now. Journeying with Christ, we remember our own baptism, our own crucifixion. The life we live after baptism, after we have been dunked into the waters and raised up, that is a resurrected life. Not bound by death, but defined by living our God given life, and helping others to do the same.

So as we begin to celebrate Easter at sundown of Holy Saturday, we are called to remember to live our resurrected lives. We are called to be conscious of our own journeys of transformation. The shadow of the cross will always be present, but we are called to move forward and live the resurrected life of Christians. Happy Easter!

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