The Great Easter Season

Its almost like God perfectly planned when the world would celebrate the Easter season. Actually, he did plan it perfectly. Lent is always strategically placed at the end of winter, its the final death blow to a cold and dark season. Athletes know this as the time in the game when you need to dig in, get in your stance more, fight through the pain and discomfort. Then the victory comes and its time to celebrate. Only difference is that the victory is not ours, but in the magnimitity of God, we get to celebrate like it is. Even if you failed in your lenten journey, celebration is still required during Easter. Because again, its not about us, Thanksgiving is about looking outward, at what God has done and is doing, and at others. Celebration and Thanksgiving is a powerful tool in the world. The Church offers 40 days for penance and renewal, but they offer 50 days for celebration. When ever I hear that the Church is not balanced, I always respond your right, the Church faults mightily on the side of Mercy, Joy and Thanksgiving. But most people don't focus on what the church actually teaches, they get their doctrine from the New York Times, Boston Globe, and Wall Street Journal.

This upcoming Sunday proves my point. Divine Mercy Sunday is always the Sunday after Easter. The perfect time for Confession. God is ready to wipe the slate clean for you, I mean completely clean. Think about this for a second about "balance". The alcoholic drives his car into a tree, injuring himself, and having to spend the next 2 years in prison. He apologizes to the Court and the world, they both decide to forgive him. But that apology does not take away the temporal effects of what he did, he will still spend 2 years in jail, and have permanent injuries from the Crash. In God's Court its much different, when we sin, there are temporal punishments and long term punishments, but during Divine Mercy Sunday, God not only forgives us, but He takes away all the temporal effects of our sin on our soul. Its literally as if you never sinned. Talk about balance. All we have to do is run to that merciful Father. There is no better week!