Easter — A time for Promises
A few weeks ago, in this column, at the midway point of Lent, I reflected upon the poem of the 20th-century American poet Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. On the middle of his journey, he reflects, “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.” As we now come to the celebration of Easter, the culmination of our Lenten journey, we realize that we still are on our journey of life and still “have promises to keep.” At the celebration of Mass on Easter, we are reminded of those promises as we renew our Baptismal Promises. Being faithful to these promises is what gives us life through the Resurrection of Christ.
A story is told of a young man who made significant promises to his fiancée. He expressed his love and devotion to his future wife and his desire to want to be with her. One day, he wanted to have dinner with her and so sent her an e-mail in which he said, “I want to have dinner with you this evening, and I want you to know how much I love you and want to be with you. There is nothing that will ever stop me from seeing you. In fact, there is no ocean so deep that I would not swim it to be with you. There is no mountain so high that I would not climb it to see you. There is no fire so raging that I would not go through it to get to you. I want to be with you, and nothing will stop me from doing that. I look forward to seeing you this evening for dinner, and I will meet you at your house at 7 p.m. — unless it rains!” In this humorous story, the young man made daunting promises to his fiancée but did not seem to be willing to follow through in the simpler aspects of life. The message is simple — our promises are lived in the ordinary everyday aspects of life.
This is certainly true of our promises of faith. What we commit ourselves to at Easter and profess each week in the Creed is lived on a daily basis. Our love for God and His Church is lived in our commitment to the celebration of the Eucharist, our daily prayer, our reception of the sacraments, our giving of ourselves to build up our parish communities, and our love and concern for each other, especially the poor and the vulnerable. We may never be called upon to go through fires as did the martyrs of the Church. However, the martyrs would never have been able to sacrifice their lives for Christ in the extraordinary manner that they did unless they lived their faith each and every day in the ordinary aspects of their lives. It is in these aspects that we live our promises made in baptism.
What we profess at the Easter Vigil and on Easter Sunday is a commitment of life. The first Baptismal Promise concerns our rejection of Satan, sin and evil. It is a fundamental choice of a basic way of life which chooses good over evil. This choice is lived out in the ordinary decisions we make each and every day. The devil is real, and we reject him and his empty promise that the choice of selfishness makes us happy. This certainly was the sin of Adam and Eve, who were deceived by Satan’s empty promise and chose to live for themselves rather than God. Through their selfish choice, disruption came into the world.
After committing ourselves to living a life as God has intended, we then profess our faith in God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our profession is also a commitment to live with God in a real relationship that affects every aspect of our lives. God is a Trinity of love. For all eternity, God exists as love in a communion of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When He created us in His image and likeness, He created us to love Him and each other. It is this communion of love which gives meaning and purpose to our lives. That is why family life is essential to our being made in the image and likeness of God.
Our profession that God is the Father, creator of heaven and earth, is far reaching. We profess not only a God who is all-powerful but whose power is in His love. We are not an accident of chance but exist in this world because God made us with a specific dignity and purpose. He made us for Himself in order that we might enter into a loving relationship with Him. It is this relationship that affects all of the aspects of our lives, day in and day out.
Our confession of Jesus Christ as the Son of God is a deep belief that God loves us so much that He gave us His Son. That Son gave His life on a cross and rose from the dead in order that we might have life. To understand how much God loves us is to understand that He gave His Son for each of us and would have done so if we were the only person He ever created. The same is true of Christ giving His life on the cross. The Father sacrificed His Son for us who did not deserve it.
When we profess that we believe in the Holy Spirit, we are professing that God has given Himself to live within us. His Spirit guides us and speaks to us each and every day in the most ordinary aspects of our life. We are open to listening to that Spirit and following Him where He leads.
Our belief in God leads us to our belief in His Church and its sacraments. We do not come to God on our own but through a family, which is His Catholic Church. We especially celebrate that family at Easter as we welcome new members into her. As one family, we profess our faith and commit ourselves to it. The sacraments of the Church lead us to the very person of Christ Himself risen from the dead. We encounter Him most deeply in the Eucharist.
As we make promises to God in our Baptismal Promises, let us never forget that God makes promises to us which He always lives in extraordinary ways. Indeed, there is no mountain so high that He would not climb for us. There is no ocean so deep God would not swim for us. There is no fire so raging God would not go through for us. The cross is the ultimate sign of God’s love for each and every one of us in the most profound way. God will never be outdone in His promises. God took the sin of Adam and Eve and reversed its effect to give us the fullness of life. As we profess our Baptismal Promises, we celebrate God’s promise to us, which is what Easter is all about! We do have promises to keep!
A Blessed Easter to all of you in the sure hope of God’s promise!
