I see resurrection on my kitchen table,
every yellowed daffodil hurrahing in the morning,
stretching outward in the etched-glass vase.
—A Remnant of Resurrection, Joyce Rupp
In the late 1980s, while I was living and ministering in a parish in the South Bronx, one of the boys in our parish youth group was killed by a gang. I was devastated, and I wondered about the effectiveness of my ministry. Where was God in the violence and in the death of this young man? Was I making any difference in the lives of the young people in our neighborhood? It was a spring day, and I remember walking alongside a vacant lot. It was filled with weeds, broken glass, and empty crack vials. I noticed something yellow, and as I stopped and looked closer I could see three beautiful yellow daffodils pushing up against the weeds and broken glass. As they danced in the light wind, these hardy flowers were showing off all their beauty and glory in the midst of the strewn garbage. They were a bit bent and slightly scarred but full of hope and promise.
Like those daffodils, we too are scarred by our Good Friday stories of struggle, stumbling, and suffering. But we also give witness to the many kinds of resurrection experiences that are just as real in our lives. It seems that especially when our hearts are broken and scarred by pain and suffering—as the hearts of Mary Magdalene and Mary and Salome were that morning at Jesus’ tomb (John 20:1-9)—we can become more attuned to resurrection happenings in our lives. Suddenly we can see the daffodils among the garbage—the presence of the living Christ in the midst of impossible pain.
We are an Easter people called to embrace the cross always in the hope of the resurrection. We are a bit bent and slightly scarred, but full of promise and hope because the tomb is empty, Jesus is alive, Jesus is among us.
What are some resurrection happenings that keep your hope alive?
Sr. Terry is the Executive Director of RENEW International and a Dominican Sister from Blauvelt, NY.