Easter morning we received the news of my aunt's passing in Italy. She had died that very morning, Easter morning. This Easter season is also Passover, both of which have Christ at their center, for it is Christ that redeems and brings us from the dark etc... What does this have to do with death and my not fearing it? Much.
Passover showed us that God, the Word of God, the Logos made flesh in and as Jesus, meant what he said and said what he meant, that he was and is ultimately in control, for the greater good of those who seek him, truly heart and soul, seeking to be and stay free of sin. He is their advocate, victor, and will part the waters to bring them out of the darkness, out of Egypt, slavery etc... when he determines it is time to do so. He will deliver them, and he does deliver them. Thus he will do the same for me, so long as my heart is true, truly seeks him, in Christ, by power of the Holy Spirit, and trusts his Word, what he inspired to be written, and when I fall get back up repentant. Until my time to leave this earth comes he will deliver me in any number of ways here on earth, through good friends, love of family, opportunities to share my gifts, abundance, any number of positive ways. That's where we have the hope given to us in the Resurrection. When it is time to leave this earth, he will set me free to a place of cleansing if I need that for a period of time, and in the Jewish tradition it is believed for a year after the person dies, in what they refer to as a place of truth, and what we Catholics might refer to as purgatory, with the difference that we don't put a set amount of time on it. I know by trusting in him, my soul will find its' light, its' peace when that time comes. Death is not death, but a different stage of being, one of being with the Trinity, with the Father, Son and Holy Ghost until we can be in our glorious body when Christ creates the new heaven and new earth. Meantime, I seek fellowship with those of my Catholic faith, and also with non-Catholics within my association in Catholic Societies, that I might share of myself and what Christ means to me, my life, even through the arts. Passover is as wonderful for Christians as Easter in my view because it is a glimpse of what was to come, the Resurrection, so death does not scare me and nothing in life can ever make me bitter, or angry towards God, or life or unforgiving, not possible, not when I have the Passover, Birth of Christ and the Resurrection to recall each year among other wonderful aspects of my Biblical faith.
Shalom and Amen.
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