Alleluia! Christ is Risen Indeed!

Alleluia! Christ is Risen Indeed!

Easter begins in darkness: the darkness of a pre-dawn morning as women walk through sleeping city streets to the tomb of their beloved rabbi. Grief-stricken and shocked, they are unaware of the glorious sunrise that awaits them, when they discover the empty tomb and hear the news that Christ is Risen.

There have been times this year when I have felt like I am waiting in the darkness of a pre-dawn morning. Like many of you, I am deeply concerned about events in the world and the suffering of many people. I am concerned about the fears of immigrants, refugees, and people who merely look like they might be immigrants or refugees. I am anxious along with LGBTQ people who fear the loss of long-awaited protections. I worry about the economic situation and the state of the markets. I wait for the sun to rise.

That’s when it helps to remember that Easter is not just about joy: Easter is about joy inexplicably arising out of sorrow. Easter is the shocking, world-upending news that a world that believes in a story that ends on a cross must adjust to a new story that begins in an empty tomb. Easter is the assurance, against all this world believes, that death is not the end: God’s life and God’s love triumph even over death. Easter is the profoundly good news that Jesus is alive and loose in God’s beloved creation, and that means that God’s New Creation can manifest itself anywhere, anytime.

Here in our diocese, some remarkable long-term dreams of God have come to fruition recently. On March 28, we broke ground on our first Mission Real Estate project at St. Luke’s in North Park, a project that will provide 78 affordable housing units for low-income people and will bring in long-term resources to sustain the ministry of St. Luke’s. Thanks to the leaders of St. Luke’s and the leaders of our diocese who labored for a long time to make this project possible. Then, on April 1, we cut the ribbon to open Comunidad de Luz, our migrant shelter for women and children in Tijuana. Working with other partners including Via International, Vida Joven, the Anglican Church in Tijuana, and the ELCA Pacifica Synod, we created a project that will provide security and the hope of a new life for up to 150 women and children at a time while they work to rebuild a new life, probably right there in Tijuana. Our two new church plants, Resurrection Ocean Beach and St. Brigid’s Oceanside, are growing and reaching new people. Truly, the Holy Spirit is at work in our diocese, bringing hope and new life to our world.

This Easter, let us remember all those who need to hear the good news of Christ. Let us pray for those who suffer, whom God has entrusted to our care. Let us act in bold faith that God’s church has a mission to proclaim the good news of Christ in good times and hard times alike, to a world that needs to hear that good news at all times. Let us experience the life of Christ among us, this Easter Day and every day.

Jesus is risen, and the world is made anew. Alleluia! Christ is Risen Indeed.

In Christ,

Bishop Susan Brown Snook