Easter Sunday | 5 April 2026 #epilogue

Easter Blessings to you!

Some people collect Precious Moments figurines or St. Paul Winter Carnival buttons or even McDonalds Happy Meal toys. Others have a holy card collection or a religious statue menagerie or even crucifixes from all over the world. Me? I collect words. And yes, I have favorites: Grace. Redemption. Epiclesis. Abundance. Oratory. Absolution. These are words that have a width, depth, breadth, and Presence behind and within them. I don’t get to use them often, but when I do, it’s meaningful.

A couple of weeks ago, Fr. Mike Schmitz gave a lovely homily on the Rising of Lazarus, and it contained a word I am adding to my list of favorites: Epilogue. From the Greek, epi (in addition) and logos (word). It’s the what-happens-after-drama in your life story. Fr. Mike wondered what happened after Lazarus rises from the dead, and asks the question, “What happens to us after we encounter Jesus?” It’s a question I’ve been pondering a lot lately… what will my post-Easter chapter look like?

I mean, after these last 40 days of ridding vice and forgiving-others-as-I’ve-been-forgiven in the sacrament of reconciliation (#abundantgrace), will friends and family see that I’ve wrestled with the Devil and came out victorious? Did Lent change me in some way? Or was Lent just another 40-days of the liturgical calendar and my external habits and inward dispositions will just go back to the way they were in February?

That’s the Easter pondering question, is it not?

What is your post-Easter epilogue going to look like? What do you do after Mass, where you meet the Lord intimately in Eucharist? What happens in your home life after you encounter the Word in the readings and absorbed the homily? What happens in your circles of influence life after you’ve spent 40 days cultivating the abundant and joy-filled Christian life that Jesus wants for you?

What does the next stage of your faith journey look like? As the hero(ine) of your story, will your themes be something along the lines of virtuous-action, humility-in-motion, and meekness-of-heart? Will you use words like forgiving, generous, joyful, and gentleness? Or will you just go back to the same-old-same-old grey-scale routine of a boring life devoid of Goodness, Truth, and Beauty?

Does Jesus’ rising from the dead for the forgiveness of your sins mean anything to your day-to-day life? Will his exhortation to love others and He has loved you convict you to action? Hearing about the acts of the first Apostles… does that motivate you to make Jesus a priority in your life - as it did them?

How will you see the world and manage your interactions with friends and frenemies? As St. Paul asks, will you seek what is above? Will you chase after the Risen Lord like James and John? Will you be surprised by joy… as was Mary? What will you do next? #Godwritesstraightwithcrookedlines #epilogue