Margaret Bereit

 
I love our Church, and that we are an Easter people. Christ is risen! Alleluia!

The last several months have been both wonderful and challenging for our family. Our life is in transition as we prepare for our daughter, Claire, to graduate from high school and head off to college, and for our son, Patrick, to enter high school this fall.

After 18 years of being at home — first with babies, then with small children, then while homeschooling children through middle school — I will no longer have anyone in the house during the day. Facing this changing reality has been hard.

In saying this, I recognize that my upcoming changes are minor challenges compared to the significant struggles of others.

Many people I love have gone through enormous trials and tremendous suffering this past year. In all of this, Christ asks us to trust in Him. Sometimes this is hard. I have moments where I feel overwhelmed, and anxious about what the future holds. Then, through God’s infinite grace, I have an experience which reminds me that Christ is in charge, and that good can emerge out of tragedy and suffering.

A few years ago, David and I traveled to the big island of Hawaii. While visiting Volcanoes National Park, we saw sections of the park where lava had covered everything in its path — roads, hills, trees, and even highway signs. As I walked on thick layers of black rock, I was struck by something incredible: shooting up from cracks in the black lava were small plants. Life had found a way. To me, this represented hope — that even in the midst of destruction and desolation can come beauty, goodness, and new life!

We never know what God is up to. He is a God of surprises. Just like the surprise of green plants bursting through hard, black volcanic rock, He is working out goodness and hope in the midst of blackness and hardness of our lives. Christ is planting His grace, peace, and hope in our souls so that we, too, can burst through and be a witness of His great love to the world.

Pope Benedict XVI said, “The Easter proclamation spreads throughout the world with the joyful song of the Alleluia. Let us sing it with our lips, and let us sing it above all with our hearts and our lives.”

May you all embrace this Easter joy, knowing that Christ has an incredible plan for your lives!

Christ is risen. Alleluia!

With great joy,
Margaret

Since the Feast of St. James is on July 25th, I thought I would share this video.

Last summer, our family walked over 100 kilometers of the Camino de Santiago (“The Way” of St. James) in Spain. We finished our trek in Santiago, at the Cathedral of St. James, where St. James is buried. You can see our arrival at the Cathedral starting at around 25:22.

A highlight of our time there was experiencing the swinging of the massive incense thurible, the botafumeiro. You can see that part of the video starting at around 27:48. Enjoy!