We have been through deaths

We have felt the loss of life and of meaning.

We have remembered the senseless suffering

Of the cross on Calvary.

All this is grist to God's mill

That makes the bread of our resurrection.

All our struggles with suffering,

All our searching for meaning,

Is caught up into a deeper wisdom,

Written into a longer story

Deepening trust in a loving God.

Nothing is wasted.

And so, we struggle and we search

Knowing that beneath the ashes

Of this COVID year

The ripples of resurrection

Are already breaking through.

Casting an eternal light

Into our darkened memories.

And into our so sad hearts.

But our memories of COVID will be Eastered

Into a new and deeper life.

Belonging: going deeper,

Compassion: growing stronger,

Our world: more united,

Our values: purged of greed.

Our horizon: widened to eternity.

The risen Jesus is already walking among us

Inviting us to trust his Father

As He did on the cross

And asking us to renew our Spirit

In a new Pentecost.

So, talk to Him.

by Fr David O'Malley SDB

Originally posted on Salesian Schools UK blog

Visit Fr David's blog

Image: The Light of the World, Holman Hunt (Manchester version) Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons