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For some, \u201cHappy Easter\u201d first brings to mind a chocolate egg hunt: parents hide the eggs, children search for them eagerly, and treasure the fruits of their quest. But behind these wonderful shared family joys lies a profound question: what are we really looking for? Whom are we seeking?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we reflect on the Gospel reading for the Easter Vigil\u2014this year from Matthew 28:1\u201310\u2014what stands out is that it all begins with an absence: the women come to the tomb to perform the burial rites on Jesus\u2019 body. Jesus is not there. They look for him\u2026 and do not find him right away. All of our married lives go through difficulties, and there may be times when we feel that our marriage is dead; Jesus is no longer there, life has vanished, and we feel a sense of emptiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the beginning of the story, impressive things happen: a great earthquake; guards who tremble and panic; the enormous stone of the tomb rolls away, the angel of the Lord descends from heaven, sits on the stone, and speaks to the women!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Divine intervention can provoke fear and incomprehension. Just as the day before, at the time of Jesus\u2019 death, many did not understand, did not recognize him as God\u2019s messenger, and rejected him. He was then buried in a tomb sealed with a massive stone, as if to block God\u2019s access to humanity. The stone of the tomb represents this rejection, which was carried out with force and violence; even today, it expresses the hardening of the human heart, sin, and everything that imprisons humanity far from God\u2014things that permeate not only current events but also each of us, each of our couples. In our relationships, this stone can take different forms: hurtful words, unspoken words, accumulated fatigue, or other burdens that create this heaviness…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The good news of Easter is that the stone symbolizing all the harshness of evil and our confinement: God rolls it away! He clears it away! He makes it burst open! HE SITs UPON IT… a sign that nothing can prevent God from reaching humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST proclaims that God\u2019s love is stronger than sin and death! So the angel\u2019s words addressed to the women are also for us, for our couple, in that \u201cYOU\u201d repeated three times:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDo not be afraid!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou who are looking for Jesus\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou will see him in Galilee\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three promises that invite us to choose together: – either to be like the guards, petrified and paralyzed by fear, closed off from one another, closed off to God\u2019s presence; as if dead – or, to decide together, like the women of the Gospel who are searching, longing, and on the move, and to become like them, missionaries in the Faith, \u201cfilled with both fear and joy\u201d (Mt 28:8). It is on this path that Jesus allows himself to be found, that the women saw Jesus. It is by walking personally, as a couple, as a family, that we will find Jesus. It is by living and reaching out to one another and to our brothers and sisters, in \u201cour Galilee,\u201d that the Lord will reveal himself. Galilee, where Jesus invites us to meet him, is not an abstract, distant place, but symbolizes the everyday reality of our lives: our homes, our families, our interactions, our communities. It is in everyday life\u2014joys, trials, relationships\u2014that God allows himself to be encountered. Thus, the encounter with the Risen One is not an exceptional experience or one reserved for an elite, but is part of the concrete reality of our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ultimately, the mystery of Easter lies in understanding the Resurrection not merely as an event, but as a dynamic that draws us\u2014both individually and as a couple\u2014into a journey of seeking, inner conversion, and openness to God\u2019s presence in the ordinary moments of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Celebrating Easter as a couple and as a family means believing that Christ\u2019s resurrection can also breathe new life into our relationship. It means seeking out that good wine from Cana that restores joy and fulfillment to our relationships. It means committing to set out on this journey, because the message of Easter is also for couples, even after difficult times:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Love can always be rekindled.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And just as he did with the disciples, the Risen One tells us: \u201cHe is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.\u201d Yes, we must journey toward the Galilee of our lives to see the risen Christ, alive and at work! ALLELUIA!<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For some, \u201cHappy Easter\u201d first brings to mind a chocolate egg hunt: parents hide the eggs, children search for them eagerly, and treasure the fruits of their quest. But b […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":79443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"country":[],"class_list":["post-79445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reflexion-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n