Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

—1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (TNIV)

As a young man, and when my parents were alive, we would go to church every Easter and then gather as an extended family to have dinner. I also made it my custom to visit my grandparents’ graves after we ate our Easter meal. They were always poignant, joyous visits because while I missed (and miss) their physical presence, the Easter story was always fresh in my mind and that gave me great hope. Yes, death has separated us but our separation is only for a season, not forever. That made all the difference in the world for me.

Now that I am older, my parents are also dead. And because I am a priest, I am not able to get to Van Wert on Easter to visit their graves. But I remembered them yesterday and like those visits to my grandparents’ graves, it was a poignant and joyous memory. Even though I miss them dearly, my folks are reunited with their folks and are alive and well with the Lord who loved them and claimed them forever. And like my grandparents, the Easter Story reminds me I am only separated from my folks for a season, not forever. That too makes all the difference in the world for me, especially now that I am nearing the last season of my life.

Do you have a resurrection hope and faith? If you do, are you letting it sustain and empower you as you live your days?