Another Lent has come and gone already.  Did your Lent prepare for this beautiful Easter morning or was yours spotty like mine?  Our parish started Lent by focusing on abstaining and fasting from the things that separate us from God such as judging others or being “too busy.”  The theory was that if we could abstain from those activities, we could better see the hurt in people’s lives and have more energy to step up and help out our neighbors in need.
We were asked each Sunday, “What choices did we make for God this week?”  As each week went by, it got less uncomfortable because we knew that question was coming.  I was sometimes able to make myself stop in the midst of a hectic week and remind myself to choose a child of God over efficiency and convenience.  While I certainly didn’t get any gold stars this Lent, I was able to be more mindful of what was really important some days as I rushed from one project to another.

As I sat with these Easter reading, a favorite poster from my past kept surfacing:  Women are as common… As a common loaf of bread..… and, will rise. (Judy Grahn) 
And I thought of all the people in our world who desperately need to rise: 

• The parents grieving for their kidnapped daughters in Nigeria
• People trapped in human trafficking
• Families whose loved ones have mental illness or substance abuse issues
• The students who lived or didn’t live through school shootings and their devastated families

But these distraught and wounded families will rise only if we follow in Jesus’ footsteps.  This is our calling and our mission as Easter People. 

As in Nazi Germany or Rwanda or Syria, the unthinkable happened and continues to happen today.  But then the yeast starts to bubble and high school students across the country demand that adults start doing their jobs which is to protect them.  These kids, these brave kids, are shaking us out of our resignation and fatigue from such a long, losing battle.  They insist they we do something to end this avoidable violence in their places of learning. Maybe this generation will get it right.  They will throw out the old “yeast of malice and wickedness,”  and replace it with the new yeast “of sincerity and truth.”

As Easter people we are called to be the yeast that can help others rise.   Not an easy or clear-cut task … but our world badly needs the hope that Easter brings. So, bring in the new yeast and maybe by remembering we are all God’s children, we will be able to help our broken brothers and sisters who have given up hope.  Now that would be another Easter miracle!