At the end of Good Friday’s crucifixion Jesus is laid to rest in the tomb. Imagine what it must have been like for Mary and His followers who stood at the Cross, and for those, like Peter, who failed and fled.

Although Jesus had told them about the Resurrection, they didn’t get it.  All they saw was the suffering of their Savior – His death, an executed exhibition of rejection.  For Mary, surely she must have pondered Angel Gabriel’s words, the incarnation, the gifts of the three kings, all the miracles of Jesus – maybe each scene mindflashed as she stood at the foot of the Cross.

It’s hard to stand in that place betwixt and between our hopes and dreams when we don’t understand what’s going on around us.  We might ask, ‘where are you, God?’ when the crosses of suffering in our lives are too much for us to bear.  We may lose hope.

We might stumble, fail, and fall as we follow Jesus along the Via Dolorosa.  For Peter, imagine the anguish he must have felt denying Christ, not just once but THREE TIMES.  Not just dashed hopes, but deep doldrums of despairing failure.

Yet in those places betwixt and between, of questioning, between a rock and a hard place when we don’t see a way out and all is dark — there is hope.  Jesus didn’t stay in that grave, He rose.  That’s what Easter is all about: Resurrected Love, Resurrection Joy, Resurrection Hope.

Hope that is a gift of God. Hope packaged with grace to keep us standing like Mary at the foot of the cross.  Hope wrapped with mercy and forgiveness, since on the Cross Jesus atoned for our transgressions, our failures, stumbles and falls. Hope that lifted Peter, who failed Jesus miserably, yet forgiven, became the rock upon which Jesus built the church.

Whenever & wherever we are betwixt and between, Christ is with us.  If we believe & accept the gift of hope God has given us, we can have hope and be hope.

“God gives that we may give.”  Pope Benedict XVI

grace, peace & Easter hope

Virginia : )

Photo:  St. Christopher’s, Seabrook Island, SC