A Basket of Hope for Easter

“All of you who feel heavily the weight of the cross, take courage. You are the preferred children of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of hope, happiness and life.” Blessed Paul VI

I am writing this meditation from Long Island, NY. We came to celebrate our grandson’s first Easter but as luck (or bad luck) would have it, we are spending it inside a hotel room in quarantine. 

It should not surprise me anymore that our plans have been disrupted. As my funny son pointed out: “Covid ruined the birth of Jesus and now it’s ruined the death of Jesus.” Yes, we had planned to celebrate Christmas with them and we had to cancel our plans last minute. This time we made it to New York but only got to spend a day and a half together. However, I don’t agree with him that Covid ruined the birth or the death of Jesus. It may have ruined our celebration but it did not ruin the gift of hope that Jesus left us with both His birth and His death. 

We all face sorrow from time to time. But God has given us the gift of hope through His Son. Jesus came to be born as a human person, He lived on earth for thirty-three years, He died and He resurrected. His resurrection is the biggest gift of hope that we have been granted. No matter what sorrow we are facing, we can pull out the gift of hope from our Easter basket, and take the necessary steps to strengthen and build up our faith. When we look at suffering from Jesus’ perspective, we see hope rather than hopelessness. 

Sorrow makes us understand what truly matters in life. God and faith top the list, followed closely by love, friendship and family. A support community is very important to have. And having hope is critical to keep going in the midst of a difficult situation because without it we wither and die.

This Easter my gift to all my friends and family is a basket of hope. Don’t let hope die because hope is like sunshine in the rain. When you feel that your hope is running out, reach inside the basket and grab it, because when something ends, something better begins. 

Have a Happy Easter filled with hope.