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We may at some point look at ourselves aghast, weep like Peter after he heard the rooster crow the second time and ask ourselves, "Lord, is this really me?" But Jesus is not amazed. He knew from the beginning that this was always part of us, just as He knew it about Peter. He called and accepted us anyway.
On Good Friday, we take a communion meal and remember Jesus' sacrifice for us. On Easter we celebrate His victory over death. But then the Easter season is over. Likely we quickly go back to our work, our homes and families, our usual routine and activities, and soon we forget it was Easter. Easter, like Christmas, is often a one-day event. Forty days later comes Pentecost and the reminder that the power of Christ, the Holy Spirit, has been given to us and indwells us, empowering us to serve Christ with the various gifts He has given us. But we may never realize how much we are quenching the Holy Spirit in our lives and may be puzzled about the zeal of the early church and some of our contemporary brothers and sister in the faith.
There is a time between the resurrection and Pentecost when all seems ordinary and mundane, when the brightness of Easter morning has been dimmed and we return to our self-centred lives. The Easter we have celebrated has been a ritual, not without meaning, but leaving us largely unchanged. We can, of course, not undergo radical change every year. But we can continuously grow. Christ may be talking to us, as He did, when we were first baptized and were called to serve Him. He may be reminding us of our first love and how to restore it.
This one is by Walfried Goossen of Dundas, Ont.
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