For those immersed in the secular world, Easter is long over. The pastel
bunnies, the chocolate eggs, the color-splashed jelly beans which
appeared in the marketplace so temptingly just as Christians were
beginning the fasting of Lent, have long been swept from the store
shelves to be replaced in anticipation of the next marketable holiday.
For the Christian steward, how backward this all seems. Yes, we
believe that the Paschal mystery and the life-changing events of Easter
are not over. They are not an end but a triumphal beginning, and they
have altered us in a quite radical way.
The mystery and miracle of Easter challenge us to live as different
people, as people of the Resurrection. What does this mean? For those
new Catholics who participated in the Rite of Christian Initiation of
Adults (RCIA), a period of mystagogy helps to understand this mystery.
Indeed, this ancient Greek word actually means “to lead through the
mysteries.” During mystagogia, many parishes introduce their new
members to service in a quite practical way. Here are the ministries of the parish; here are the charities we
support; here are the needs of our
community and our congregation.
How do you choose to live out your
faith in the Resurrection in a quite
tangible and real way? How do your
gifts fit into our needs? Essentially,
however, this is a question that
the Easter season calls forth in all
Christian stewards not just our
newest members.
We have lived through Lent and
the Paschal mysteries, all the while
trying to deepen a relationship with
the person of Christ. It’s as simple,
yet as amazing and complex as that.
The deeper the relationship grows,
the more we become rooted in it,
the more this relationship with Christ
comes to dominate our lives. We
no longer compartmentalize Jesus,
we hold him at our center. And the
mysteries lead us to the fundamental
question at the heart of all Christian
stewardship, the question that Easter
compels us to ask: How do I steward
my resources – my time, my money,
my abilities and gifts, my very life
– so that they are in service to the
Kingdom of God? It’s not a part-time
question. It’s not a seasonal question
that’s swept off the shelf periodically.
It’s the basic question which the
Easter season demands of us: Jesus,
how do you want me to serve you?