On behalf of all of us at St. Paul’s Commons, Echo Park, I extend greetings and blessings as we prepare ourselves for the 50 days of Eastertide. This year, please join me in thinking of Easter Day as the first step of our journey. Hope came alive at the empty tomb. But Resurrection power revealed itself gradually and still does, the unquenchable light in a darkening world.
In Matthew’s account, Resurrection authority flows not from the power seat of Jerusalem but from among Jesus’s friends in their comfort zone. An angel tells Mary Magdalene and her companion that the Lord has been raised and has gone ahead to Galilee and will see them and the disciples there. He lived in Galilee as a boy, worked there an artisan, called the first disciples by the Sea of Galilee, and conducted most of his public ministry nearby. When they meet him there again, he gives them the Great Commission, to baptize the world in the name of the Holy Trinity, and promises to be with them to the end of the ages.
Asking a lot of his disciples, Jesus evinces his characteristic empathy by meeting them in a safe space. Imagine hearing Jesus whisper on Easter Day that he would meet us where we feel most comfortable and confident in our baptismal authority. In that especially welcoming group of family or friends. That community of coworkers or justice seekers. That place we were best known and appreciated.
The Paschal promise is that we will find our Lord waiting. If we can’t make the journey in person, we can go in our hearts. It is a blessing that we have 50 days to ponder and set out. Our Lord is waiting for us. And our Lord is counting on us.
[Members of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles received this letter today in English and Spanish. If you would to be on the email list, let me know in Messenger. The photo shows pilgrim Jane Peterson of Fullerton’s St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem in 2017.]