By Father Coyne
On behalf of myself and the staff at Blessed Mother of the Morning Star Parish I wish you and those you love a Happy Easter. I hope the season of lent was a transformation 40 days for those who chose to attempt to become a better person(not necessarily in others eyes but in their own). If I believe I’m created in God’s image then I should want to feel good about myself. It is not a sin to like yourself. I feel badly for those I meet who have a poor self-image. I realize there are many childhood traumas that take their toll in some people’s lives and that can weigh heavily as they attempt to mature. We are all human which means each of us has our good days and bad days, our successes and defeats, our triumphs, and tragedies. The God that I believe in today, accompanies each of us on our journey and is very aware of how complicated life can be. That God doesn’t judge us but affirms us as we attempt to become all we are created to be.
As we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ I am blessed to believe life after this life. I may not know what is beyond the grave, but I do know who. We celebrate this weekend the Resurrection from life on earth to life in the presence of God. That is the ultimate concept of Resurrection. I was raised to believe it, I celebrate it with you every week and I know it will one day be my reality. Knowing this has to make a difference in my everyday life. But we also live on in this life which is another understanding of resurrection. All the good we do and the input we have in the lives of those we love surely means that I live on. The differences we make in the world around us as we support charities and champion causes will have lasting effects in our community long after I am physically gone. Sometimes our dreams are so real as we remember deceased loved ones that we actually reconnect them for periods of time and the reality of their death only is made real as we wake. How blessed are we as well to recount episodes in our deceased loved ones lives as we mention their name and tell their story. It’s as if we bring them back to life. Along these lines I’ve seen the expression that “we die twice; once when we take our last breath and once when the last person mentions our name”.
This weekend we celebrate the resurrection as the Christian community. Many will celebrate at Church with others who believe as we do. We say that faith is a gift. Today I thank God for the gift of being a believer. I am grateful to celebrate that faith among you as a Catholic. I thank you for your presence and inspiration.
May God bless you and those you love with peace, happiness, and good health. May you spend Easter surrounded by those you Love.
Enjoy life! Happy Easter!
Fr. Coyne is the pastor for the Blessed Mother of the Morning Star Parish, which includes St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Revere, and Our Lady of Grace in Chelsea.