He is Risen!

From Safari….

Happy Easter!

We are an Easter People and Alleluia is

our song! Easter is our annual 50-day

celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus

Christ. As we begin this festive season I share thefollowing story.

A mouse and a wren sat there together, huddledbeneath the lowest branches of a pine tree, watchingthe snow falling and enjoying a little conversation.

"How much do you think a snowflake weighs?" themouse asked the wren suddenly.

"A snowflake weighs almost nothing," the wren replied.

"A snowflake is so insignificant; it carries almost no

weight at all. How could you possibly weigh asnowflake?"

"Oh, I disagree," said the mouse. "In fact, I can tell you

that last winter, around this time, I woke up from my

winter dreaming and came out here for a breath of

fresh air, and because I had no companions and

nothing better to do, I sat here counting the snowflakes

as they fell. I watched them settling on these branches,

and covering the pine needles with a blanket of

whiteness. I got as far as two million, four hundred and

ninety-two thousand, three hundred and fifty-nine. And

then—when the very next snowflake fell and settled on

the branch—the branch dropped right down to the

ground and all the snow slid off it. So you see, just that

one last snowflake weighed enough to make the

branch sink down and all the snow slide off. So a

snowflake does weigh something. It does make a

difference!"

Today we celebrate Christ’s resurrection. Jesus’ selfless

love did make a difference. Through many miracles he

gave hope to the sick, sinner, and stranger. Most

significantly through his passion, death, and

resurrection, we are freed from sin and death. This is

the day to rejoice and be glad. As Gregory Wiest

writes, “The risen Jesus will not measure his grace

based on what we deserve or even what we can handle.

He will measure his love only according to

his infinite generosity and goodness. He will always

show us a better, larger reality than the sad, smaller

one to which we cling. He will always show us how to

define ourselves by a restorative, renewing power in

which there is always copious goodness and

abundant salvation for all. (From “Easter Redemption:

Celebrating the Power of the Resurrection”, Gregory

Wiest CSSR, 2019 Liguori Publications)

As grace-filled people, may we continue to

contribute to the world around us (family, coworkers,

neighborhood, friends…) through our words and

deeds. Knowing that no matter how small we think

our contribution may be, it does make a

DIFFERENCE!

Christ is Risen! Indeed he is Risen!

Fr. Ron