This year I’m excited to see Lent come to an end, not just because of the Easter Alleluias and Cadbury dark chocolates.
It was a tough Friday. Part of it, of course, has nothing to do with Lent. The news is terrible, it’s a reminder, I think that’s why we need to care. This broken, broken, broken world needs a savior. I need a healer.
This may not be true for you, but my Lent was very difficult because I had trouble keeping my Lenten resolution. By the way, none of them are very difficult. But each of them required a lot of effort to sacrifice, and the effort was a struggle this year.
I won’t go into all the gory details, except to say that when “The Son of… ” flew from my lips, I’ll just remember that I decided to reject the word. “The Son of… ,” that’s right. Lent style.
One of my Easter thoughts from St. John Chrysostom. He is a saint revered by both Eastern and Western churches, and for many good reasons. But this quote from his Easter homily announcing the time to celebrate shows his Christ-like love for our poor humanity.
“The first and the last shall receive your reward; rich and poor, be happy together. Cool and lazy, celebrate the day! Those who keep the fast, and those who don’t, be happy today because the table is full! A royal feast, a fat cow. Don’t go hungry either. Let all of you partake of the cup of faith. Enjoy all the wealth of its goodness! Let no one mourn his poverty, for the kingdom has been revealed. Let no one mourn his fall again; because money has risen from the grave.
“The Lord has risen from the grave,” so “you who observe the fast, and you who do not,” come to celebrate together. All of us: We’re the ones who didn’t do well this Friday. We are the ones who guard our resolutions with gritted teeth and quiet grumbling. We are the ones who sacrifice with a spirit of prayer and a smile.
It reminds us that St. Chrysostom to us we are all invited to the feast: The lazy and the good, the wise and the lazy, the rich and the poor.
In another part of the same homily, he calls out that great parable that upsets Americans. It is about the laborers in the vineyard (Mt 20:1-16) who show different times of the day, but receive the same wages at the end of the day. Boy, is our puritan cup going to be happy.
Easter, says St. Chrysostom, it is the same reward for all of us. Lent is a good lesson, a way to remind us of the Lord’s suffering and sacrifice for us. But that sacrifice was already made for us, and this beautiful Easter season, we can celebrate his resurrection and death.
And if I can say a resolution for Easter: Don’t forget Easter in a flash. We spent 40 days in the desert of Lent. Now, as they did on St. Chrysostom, spend the 40 days with joy.
Open Cadbury eggs! Celebrate with special treats! Show thanks for blessing this, the biggest festival of the church calendar.
Other Lents will be available. There is only one Easter event. Let us remember that this sad old world has a happy ending.
Greg Erlandson is an award-winning Catholic publisher, editor and columnist whose column appears monthly in OSV News. Follow him on Twitter @GregErlandson.
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