“Paths are made by walking.” ~ Franz Kafka
If you were somehow magically transported into the middle of a dense forest, how would you find your way out? Probably the first thing anyone would do would be to look for a path. If you were in luck, you would have been transported into a dense forest that was used by many people. They would have worn paths through the trees so that you would be able to follow the path and get to safety. What if there were no paths to be seen? Would you just stand there or sit there and let your fear or anxiety immobilize you?
I think there are times people treat Easter that way. (Don’t give up on me. Follow me here.) Sometimes, people get to Easter and then become immobile. They act as if Easter Day was their goal. Now that they have arrived, they do not seem to know what to do with it. Actually, there are paths that can lead you through. You have to start walking and follow them.
The paths lead several weeks through the Easter season. Easter is far from over. Each day this week we celebrate the daily Mass exactly as if it were Easter. That is what the Octave of Easter is all about. Even when the Octave of Easter is complete, we continue our Easter celebration through the Easter season until we get to Pentecost. Pentecost officially closes the Easter season.
However, we know that Pentecost does more than close the Easter season. The gifts of the Holy Spirit open up many new paths, paths that lead to the Kingdom and paths that were also made for walking.
In short, we cannot get to the Kingdom by sitting on our hind ends and doing nothing. We have to get moving and live the faith that we so proudly professed on Easter. Jesus is alive. The faith is alive. And as long as we are alive, we need to shout it out for all to hear.
FAITH ACTION: Don’t sit back and let Easter slide by you. Continue to live in the moment and share the joy of the resurrection with all you encounter today.