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Happening ... in the Local Church
Alleluia, the strife is o’er.
On any given Easter, any given Sunday, people are experiencing strife. Unemployment, illness, estranged loved ones — they grieve deeply. They bring their strife to Mass with them. How can we declare the strife o’er?
Of course, that is just the first line. The next — “the battle is done“ — is followed by “the victory of life is won.”
When we hear the word strife we think of personal deep sorrow, deep hurts. When the song was written, strife meant war.
The strife referred to is the war between life and death. The war is over. Jesus has victory over death.
People in 2010 sometimes take that win for granted ...
The apostles and disciples believed that Jesus had succumbed to death, that death had conquered him.
They were frightened. They were inconsolable. They didn’t understand what Jesus had told them. He said he would be back. They didn’t understand.
Jesus had done a lot of wondrous things, but no one had ever come back from the grave without someone bringing them back. Even at that, it had happened very few times.
Today, we have lived with Jesus’ resurrection for so long, we may not think of it as wondrous. We take it for granted. Oh, we ponder it from time to time, but we accept that Jesus rose from the dead. After all, that’s one of the hallmarks of being Christian.
Sometimes we lose track of the awe and wonder of Jesus’ victory. We allow the day-to-day “strife” to override the wonder of the resurrection. It’s easier to concentrate on the strife in our lives than the war for our souls. Of course, that strife is the result of the war for our souls.
On Easter, we celebrate the victory of life over death. It’s good to remember that. Jesus won and we join in that victory when we follow him.
This guest editorial was written by Rosemary Halsema, a freelance writer and parishioner of St. Lawrence, Lafayette.