Happy Easter!
Have you had enough and already packed away your Easter decor and your Lenten sacrifices? I hope not! Easter has just begun -- we celebrate Easter and the glorious, life-changing Resurrection of our Lord for 7 weeks, not just one day.
So, keep your Easter light shining and live the change that Lent is meant to bring about in us.
Retail stores barely let us make it through one holiday before they move on to the next one. It exhausts me. I love to relish and live in the present moment with the graces and joy of special seasons, not push through them already thinking of what's next on the calendar. I mean, enough is enough! Stop rushing us through life. Let us slow down and savor our days, please.
My pastor hit on a theme this Holy Week that resonated and inspired me. He asked:
When will we say ENOUGH?
Fr. Gerry first mentioned this on Good Friday stating:
"What does it mean to enter into the Passion? How does it make you feel?"
He recounted the truth that Jesus was murdered under the watchful eye of the authorities and religious leadership. Then he probed us, "Could such a thing happen today?" We all know the horrid truth that it can, and does, happen today -- even in our "safe" suburban communities.
He continued the thought by taking us to a space that is very uncomfortable by asking,
"When does the violence and torture end? Who is going to stand up and say, ENOUGH.....ENOUGH!!!"
Sitting in the pew, I imagined everyone present (nearly 300 people) standing and shouting, "ENOUGH!" But, no one moved. No one responded. Then, I justified our silence by thinking, what good would it do for us to say it anyway? But, it wasn't a rhetorical question. Father mentioned it again at the joyous celebration of the Resurrection asking once more, "When will we say enough?"
Wasn't Jesus' death and resurrection supposed to put an end to the violence, torture, righteousness, scapegoating, and divisiveness done in the name of leadership? Who out there thinks our world, our government, Christians are doing the best we can? Who feels things have ventured too far and digressed too severely? Who wants to stand up and say, ENOUGH!!! Why don't we? What good will it do?
I wonder if we can even appropriately gauge what is enough, not enough, more than enough, or too much? Or have we become complacent? We live in an age of accessibility and convenience. It is so easy to get more. Most of us have plenty of food, clothing, gadgets, toys, yet we continue to accumulate more. We don't say, "No, I have enough," especially if it is on sale!
We all have the same number of hours available in each day, yet we feel like there's never enough time to do all the things we think we should do. As a result, we raise our level of tolerance and tune out or ignore when things become too much. But, all the problems 'out there' are our problems. We all suffer when violence goes unchecked.
We settle in so many areas of our life -- high prices, substandard products and service, co-workers who don't carry their weight of the work, children who continue to be disobedient, grumpy neighbors, demanding bosses, absent partners, indifferent spouses, bullying, judgmental remarks, public condemnation, gossip, hijacking conversations, skirting responsibilities, over drinking, numbing with drugs, cheating, lying, laziness, ignoring, indifference, rude behaviors, world hunger, poverty, domestic violence, war. It depletes us and robs us of joy but we allow it to continue.
When will we say ENOUGH?
God gave His only begotten Son that we may have life. He endured a violent death so that our sins are forgiven. Wasn't that enough? Because of the first Easter, we have access to His precious Body and Blood 7 days a week, year after year. Where we live, there's always enough for all to receive Holy Communion. We are blessed to have daily access to worship. But, the majority of Catholics say once a week is enough. Some say once or twice a year is enough. Technically, I believe receiving the Eucharist once in my lifetime is enough. But, why settle for just enough when we can receive Him regularly? It costs us nothing and gives us everything.
How do we measure enough these days? Is our food healthy enough despite some harmful additives? Is our water healthy enough despite some added chemicals? Are our bodies strong enough to fight illness without medications despite us not tending to our best care? Are our streets safe enough despite all the risky driving habits? Are our neighborhoods safe enough although we need personal security cameras and tamper-proof locks? Is the internet safe enough despite all the tracking and hacking? Is our freedom secure enough despite all the bickering and deceit at the highest levels of government?
When will we say ENOUGH?
How will our ENOUGH make a difference?
We can say enough by making better choices for ourselves, our friends, and our families.
We can say enough by supporting companies that offer good, clean products at a fair and honest price -- not supporting companies that cut corners to gain more profit and make their products barely safe and pure enough to pass low, minimal standards.
We can say enough by supporting leaders who serve with compassion, kindness, and honesty -- not leaders who are self-serving, conniving, dishonest, greedy, and unkind.
Who will stand and say ENOUGH?
As Christians, we are the ones who need to declare ENOUGH!
Enough physical, verbal, and social violence! Enough using our words and gifts as weapons of destruction. Tell one person and invite them into the conversation. Then tell another and they will tell another. If we keep saying it, eventually, it will ring out around the world -- ENOUGH! If we don't say it, we are giving up. Together we can turn things around. Together we can make our homes, churches, communities, nation, world what God intends us to be. He has given us everything we need to make this happen.
We have a Savior and we know Him intimately. He told us what to do. Jesus loved every person He encountered and He showed us that sometimes great love means saying ENOUGH!
Will you join me? To what do you want to say, ENOUGH?
Ponder this over the 7 weeks of Easter and invite the Holy Spirit to take control at Pentecost. Share this post or write your own. Begin with your own story by saying enough complacency and settling and ignoring. Say it in the mirror, at the dinner table, in your relationships, and workplace. Others will be inspired by your courage and truth. Others will be encouraged to do the same.
Change is what brings Change ~ for good and for bad.
(Where have I heard that before?)
see August 2023 post