Did you know that Easter, the season of celebration from Easter Sunday (April 12) until Pentecost (May 31), is longer than Lent? Easter is a season where we contemplate and celebrate the Mystery of Christ’s Resurrection and His victory over sin and death. When Jesus first visited His disciples as they were sheltering in place, he said to them, “Peace be with you”. Let us experience Easter together as a season of Sheltering in Peace. He is Risen indeed!

With this in mind, Cwow Spiritual Director, Sharon Henthorn-Iwane, has put together an Easter 2020 daily devotional based on the liturgical readings of the day. The devotional will follow the structure of the Living Gospel devotional series with the daily reflection provided by Father Laurent Okitakatshi*. The daily reflection will be focused on a particular Scriptural word, phrase or character from the liturgical readings of the day. Check out a sample below!

There are 2 ways to access this daily devotional:

  1. Email Sharon@nowalls.org to sign up to receive the devotional every morning via email.
  2. Click the link below to access the current devotional along with the full archive of previous reflections.

*Father Laurent is a Congolese priest in residence at St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Berkeley, CA. He is working on completing his PhD in Scripture at the Jesuit School of Theology.

Living Word- Easter 2020 Daily Devotional

Easter Sunday, April 12

BEGIN

Be silent. Be still. Pray, “I shall not die, but live”

PRAY

I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.  Psalm 118:17

LISTEN

Read John 20:1-9

For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

Easter is New Creation*

St. John says that on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalen went to the tomb. The fact that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day says all about Easter as a new creation. In Genesis 1, God begins the work of creation on the first day of the week. The same God who created the world and arranged everything in great harmony is the same God who recreates the world by raising Jesus. Jesus’ resurrection restores the original harmony of God’s creation and brings reconciliation between God and humanity.

Easter is also a new creation in that the Risen Lord comes to meet us in our atmosphere of Good Friday. Mary Magdalen could not remember that the empty tomb meant Jesus’ resurrection. She was so deeply in sorrow and in tears that she could not recognize the Risen Christ standing right next to her. She thought it was the gardener. It’s only when Jesus called her by name that her eyes were opened. That’s when she moved from the atmosphere of Good Friday to an atmosphere of Easter Sunday. Jesus meets us in our sorrows, in our doubts, in our suffering. He comes to tell us that because He endured all kinds of sufferings and ultimately triumphed over them all, we too can be victorious with Him. There is no Good Friday without an Easter Sunday. No situation is more hopeless than Jesus’ passion and death. Yet, the resurrection is a sign that God is more powerful than any crisis, than any misfortune. Let us allow Christ to find us. Let us hear Him calling us like Mary to recreate us. Let’s allow Christ into our vulnerability. May the grace of Easter never leave us unchanged. The old has passed away, all things are new. May Christ roll away the stones of our false securities; may Christ take us from our tombs of sinful inclinations; may the light of Christ fill us with hope and life.

ACT

Take a step toward spiritual life

I will spend time in prayer today and ask Jesus to speak a word that will help me recognize Him in a circumstance of sorrow, pain or suffering where it has been hard to experience His life-giving presence and new creation.

PRAY

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Today, help me to celebrate Your love, the life You give me and Your new creation. May I feel Your presence as You breathe on my mind and open my heart to see You risen indeed.

*Reflection written by Father Laurent Okitakatshi

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