Weekly Reflection 4/28/19
REFLECTION
Second Sunday of Easter
April 27-28, 2019
When my younger siblings were in 8th grade (2 years apart), they had to ask my mom for her favorite Bible verse in order to complete a project that involved making plaques as a Mother’s Day gift. The first Bible verse my mom chose was “Peace be with you.” When my brother came along to get the second Bible verse two years later, my mom chose “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” Those two plaques still hang in the family room of my parent’s home.
We lost my mom last September. Then, seven months later, I was assigned to write the reflection for the Second Sunday of Easter. And I read the words, “Peace be with you” and “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” All these years, and I never realized that my mom’s favorite Bible verses were part of the same story – a Resurrection story.
My mom passed her deep faith on to her four children. During the six months of her fatal illness, we prayed with and for her. When she couldn’t attend Mass because she was too sick or weak, we had prayer services with her at home and sang her favorite hymns which turned out to be a practice of sorts for her funeral. We stood by her and our father and each other as we witnessed our mom’s slow decline. And through it all, we had peace.
And because of the Resurrection of Jesus, we continue to have peace. We know that our mom lives on in Paradise. Now she can see Jesus face to face and rejoice every day in the glory of his presence. Now she enjoys the true blessing of one who believed without seeing – the blessing of eternal life.
As we rejoice in the Resurrection of Jesus throughout this Easter Season, may we grow in faith and experience the peace that surpasses all understanding. The Peace of Christ.
-Kathleen Foehrkolb