Here we are in another Easter season. Lent is over and now we celebrate the Risen Christ. It is supposed to be a time of great joy especially after the sacrifices of Lent.  This year we had some help in the joy department because outside, the weather this Easter was almost picture perfect. The temperature was pleasant and the sun was shining down on all the fresh new grass of spring that fills the outdoors with green brilliance.

Inside, the flowers and plants that dressed our parish were magnificent and filled the church with the sweet scent of lilies. And in most homes, there was good food, good company and celebration.

Then comes Easter Monday — one of those days, I refer to as “now what” days. Let’s look at, and perhaps even reflect upon, some other “now what” days.

They include, but are not limited to, the day after …

♦ A long-awaited birth.
♦First Communion.
♦Graduation from school, no matter what the grade.
♦Confirmation.
♦Your wedding day.
♦You get the new job.
♦A surgery.
♦Christmas.
♦The death of a loved one.

With few exceptions, most of these days have some kind of build-up. “Now what” days always seem to come with and after some kind of prolonged period of anticipation. Just ask any child how difficult it is to count down the days until Christmas!

These days too, are almost always preceded with work, worry and even some sacrifice — like preparing a child to complete his or her education and for the couple preparing for the birth of child. After all the build-up, there is always a little let down. The journey is over. The anticipation, work, worry and stress are over. I think the let down is because it’s actually the journey we enjoy. It keeps us engaged. The journey keeps our minds and our hearts focused.

Easter is certainly like that. However, it’s not an unknown to us. Unlike the Apostles and the people who walked and witnessed the last days of Christ, we are not fearful of the horrible sentence and death of our Teacher Jesus. We are also not filled with the uncertainty and the nagging doubt Jesus’ followers most assuredly had about whether following Jesus was the way and the truth. They didn’t know the resurrection story. Think of what their journey must have looked or felt like. The disciples didn’t have the luxury of knowing the answer to “now what?”

We do.

We prepare for Easter year after year. We have the benefit and confidence in knowing that there is reward for our Lenten sacrifices. Our anticipation is not one of unease but one of joyful expectation. We know what lies beyond the stone deep inside the tomb. And like the day after a wedding, we know that that is when the real life and work begin. A wedding day is not a destination, it is a beginning. Deep down, we all know that most “now what” days have that in common.

I think the Apostles too must have awakened after the resurrection and wondered “now what” too.
However, Scripture tells us they didn’t just bide their time till the next big thing. They continued the journey Christ began by sharing the Good News.

But will we? The celebration is over, the eggs have been found, the baskets have been put away and we go about our normal routine, right? But the cross remains in our churches, in our faith.  It’s the very cross that reminds us we are an Easter people. And even though it’s a hard charge to keep answering the question, “Now what?” we are called to keep the momentum of our faith front and center.   But it’s hard not to fall into the trap of routine until Lent and Easter roll around on the calendar again.

However, it is now, post celebration, that our real work begins. It is time to continue to reflect on what a blessing it is, and what a cross it is, to know the stories of Christ and to continually follow their promise to arrive at a place where our work is complete and our questions are no more.