Deacon Tom Writes,
“Rise and Shine”
One of my lingering childhood memories is that of my
mother calling from the bottom of the stairs, “Tommy Joe, rise and shine! It’s
time to get ready for school.” It’s a pleasant memory. To this day there
are times when I can still hear those words echo in my mind, especially on
those rainy days when I just want to roll over and go back to sleep…. and then,
softly in the back of my head, I hear these words, “Tommy Joe, rise and shine! It’s time to get ready..”.
As people who profess Christ’s Resurrection, we
realize that we who have been baptized with Christ into His death will also
rise with Him to eternal life. There will come a day when we all will “rise and shine” forever; a day when we
will possess the fullness of life that Christ has promised to all who believe
in Him and follow His ways.
Yet, I do not think that the promise of rising to
new life is one that is entirely
reserved for the next life. We are meant to “rise and shine” today because we participate in the Mystical body of
Christ. We “rise and shine” today
because God has chosen us to be the stewards of all of creation and we have
said “yes” to that call. We “rise and shine” today because we have
committed ourselves to follow Our Lord in the ways of peace.
We “rise and
shine” every time we chose to imitate Christ by forgiving others who hurt
us; when we offer up our sufferings to be a part of His suffering; when we
embrace others’ sorrows as if they were our own; when we persevere to the end
as He did.
On this most wonderful day, may we, like Christ,
awaken to God’s call to “rise and shine.”
Happy and Blessed Easter to you and your loved ones!
Deacon Tom
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