Faith, Hope & Love

Happy Easter!

Most of us won’t celebrate Easter today the way we have done all of our lives.

Telling a Christian, you can’t go to church, the doors are locked, is unheard of… it leaves me speechless and sad.

I get all the reasons why. I really, really, really get it. But what happened to choice? When in fact, what will get us through a global health crisis like this is… Faith, Hope & Love.

On this most sacred and blessed church day, we are testing that Faith, that right to celebrate and worship, whatever our beliefs are openly and publicly having been ‘temporarily’ suspended.

I believe the faith community is stronger than ever. People are praying and practicing their faith in different and probably stronger ways during this time than we have, well maybe since 9/11.

But the faith community that we have come to rely on is missing. When someone tells you, no you can’t go to your house of worship, it hits you at a visceral level with anger, rebellion, and longing.

Hope bounces around our minds on a brisk, Spring, Easter morning. We are proud, determined, creative people united, not necessarily by choice, in the belief that ‘this to shall pass’ and our lives, our communities, our country, and the world will return to normal. If we just keep doing the right thing for a little longer, our hope is that this will work out, lives will be saved, our health care system won’t be overrun, we will all get through this.

If we keep helping each other. If we love each other and can focus on more than just ourselves, we can continue to be the shining example and beacon of Faith, Hope & Love for the world. All those small acts of love and gratitude you see popping up are just scratching the surface of what’s going on outside of the headlines.

So, on this most unusual Easter Day, I’m still going to fill the Easter baskets, cook Easter dinner, attend mass remotely – spending this day being faithful and rejoicing, filling my Hope in mankind cup back up and loving on my family and friends both near and far.

God Bless!