Lent, Easter & Beyond…

Dear Beloved Community,

Lent lasts 40 days. Easter lasts 50. The church, in its quiet wisdom, gives more time to resurrection than to repentance.

Even in the middle of Lent, on Laetare Sunday (March 15 this year), the tone softens. The word Laetare means “Rejoice.” Historically, the strictness of Lent was eased that day — rose-colored vestments replaced purple, and the congregation was given a glimpse of joy to come. A breath of Easter in the wilderness.

The resurrection of Christ is not only a promise for the end of our lives. It is the beginning of new life now. We trust that in the world to come, God will raise us fully into glory — but the power of that future has already entered the present. Resurrection does not wait until hearts stop beating and lungs stop breathing. It meets us while we are still living, still struggling, still hoping.

To live in Easter is to practice new life daily:
• to forgive where resentment once ruled
• to trust where despair felt certain
• to begin again where something seemed finished

The risen Christ still bears the wounds — but the wounds no longer define the future. Already, resurrection is available to us. And in the fullness of time, what has begun quietly will be made complete. We are Easter people. And the life of the world to come has already begun.

With hope in the Risen One,
Pastor Beate

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