50 Days of Hope

Today started like any other Thursday. I woke up late, and was rushing around trying to get the munchkin ready for school, when I stepped into a huge puddle by our bathroom sink. I was afraid to look inside, and my fears where not in vain. The dry wall was saggy and dripping, and there was water every where! After dropping the kid of at school, I spent the rest of the morning on the phone talking to insurance, plumbing, and restoration companies. It’s days like these when it’s hard to remember that Easter is not over yet. (The liturgical Easter season is the 50 days after Easter Sunday until Pentecost.)

Trying to dry out the bathroom.

Easter is great. Children love it, adults love it, and it seems to be the one day of the year people actually take the time to go to Church. I mean come on, there is so much candy and chocolate, what’s not to like? However, once Easter Sunday is over and you’ve hidden all the left over candy from the children, everything tends to go back to normal. The daily demands of life simply take over just like before. And then something happens, like a pipe leaking all over your bathroom, that forces you to slow down and you suddenly find yourself alone, in a silent house waiting for the plumber to arrive.

Life can get so frustrating sometimes. We find ourselves surrounded by violence, death, hunger, suffering, and misery. This can be discouraging, and it’s easy to forget that Christ conquered death, that there is only life. It’s easy to forget that we are strangers in this land, and that our home is heaven. That’s what hope is, to know that no matter what the circumstance we aspire to an eternal life with Christ. It is hope that pulls us together against all odds, and it is a hope that does not disappoint because God is faithful.

St. Teresa of Avila said it better than I ever could:

” Hope, O my soul. You know neither the day or the hour. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience makes doubtful what is certain, and turns a very short time into a long one. Dream that the more you struggle, the more you prove the love that you bear your God, and the more you will rejoice one day with your beloved in a happiness and rapture that will never end. ”

Let’s live this Easter season with our eyes and our hearts set on heaven. Unfortunately, this does not mean our problems will magically be solved. But we can strive to live our life with joy and hope, especially hope.