Easter Monday

“You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’" Mt 28:13

Stubbornness hardly seems like a virtue, yet the Chief Priests, still trying to deny the experience of everyday people, do everything they can to undermine the power and influence of Jesus. Resistant to anyone who speaks powerfully about the Torah, and afraid of losing their stranglehold over the peasants following Jesus, they pay the Roman soldiers "a large sum of money," to lie about Jesus'reported resurrection. No surprise that the bible calls money the root of all evil. (1 Tim 6:10)

The lessons of the scripture are difficult to learn, however. Too many people in our society, simply because they are wealthy, seek to exert their influence over others, not for the common good, but to protect their own fragile power. At the same time, because we recognize the same yearning for security and power in our own shallow dreams, we can learn from the Chief Priests and all who cling to the empty promises of wealth and power over others.

Easter's primary message is basic and pure. We have been saved. We have nothing to fear. We have only to give ourselves over to the mysteries of faith without limitation to experience the fullness of God's love, but because this a very uncomfortable promise, Easter lasts fifty days, giving us the opportunity to learn its lessons a day at a time.

Today, let yourself have an Easter dream, one that frees you to live as God would have you live.

What does being free from fear mean to you?