Easter: We are women who anticipate the dawn, facing the darkness
Let us contemplate that morning scene…
Mary Magdalene moves courageously through the night, defying darkness and fear … she daringly runs to the tomb of Jesus… fear is overcome by love…
This intrepid woman, this tireless seeker, does not surrender to the reality of the facts because all the words of hope spoken by her Master resonate in her and now in solitude and silence they echo in her heart as an unbreakable promise.
I see her as a symbol of our religious life: we are women who anticipate the dawn, facing the darkness that surrounds us today, the experiences of pain and death. Women who believe, who run with love and for love to let themselves be encountered and surprised by Him, who lives. Women who announce the Resurrection with their lives. Christ lives!
Dear sisters, in those moments in which we are greatly touched by the suffering of so many brothers and sisters in the world who are affected by the death and the illness caused by Covid 19; moments in which we are disconcerted by the uncertainties and the lack of protection for the poor; moments when it seems that the night is not over yet, let us go out with courage letting ourselves be guided by faith and love and by the certainty of the living presence of Jesus who precedes us. Let us live hope.
Let us cry out loudly: Christ is risen!
We must shout it loudly in our communities and congregations that are mourning the loss of their sisters and are concerned for those who are sick; we will repeat it in our ministries that have been restricted; we will share it by accompanying others. “Christ is risen”: a cry that will be heard, from the whole Church, on all continents, from the oratories and from rooms transformed into temples. Those we will encounter in the hospitals, while taking care of the most poor and vulnerable, will hear it. For those who are alone……every digital means of communication will transmit this joy. Wherever there is a sister, there will be a seed of hope. Even if we sow with tears, we know that with Him the seed that falls into the ground will bear much fruit.
Happy Easter!
Sr. Jolanta Kafka
President of UISG
Rosarii SMG says:
Thank you. We live in solidarity with each other and with those who find it difficult to believe and to trust.
Sr. Peg Bishop says:
Thank you for these inspired words highlighting why we are here, as religious women, to be Christ light in this darkness.
Rita Bujold says:
Beautiful message! Thank you so much
Suzanne Prows says:
I was struck in my prayer today with Mary Magdalene that she had the faithful hope to enter and search an empty tomb looking for the one she loved . How history and her life would have been different if she had lost all hope and left before looking inside the darkness for the light. She was a seeker , questioning the angels and the one she thought was a gardener until she discovered that Jesus had been there all along !
Brigid Gallagher says:
Truly inspirational in these dark days when we need all the courage Jesus gave to the holy women on Easter morning.