Psalm Reflection: Easter Sunday The Resurrection of the Lord - Cycle C

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.” - Psalm 118

I was recently talking to someone who was on a hiring committee that had to sift through over one hundred applications for a job. They commented that some of the resumés were up to sixteen pages long! I don't even think my life story so far would fit on sixteen pages!

We are proud of our achievements, and rightly so. We write them all up on a resumé to show what makes us exceptional compared to everyone else. We can do it because we put in the work, and we earned what we achieved all on our own, right? Not exactly.

Even in the most glamorous of professions that have televised award shows, there are always thank you speeches. Rarely, if ever, do people thank themselves, and never have I heard a person ONLY thank themself, because we all know that it takes a tribe of people around us to support and encourage us in whatever the endeavor might be. 

There are those that raised us, those that taught us, and those that helped us hone our talents and abilities. There are our mentors, both those we know and those we admire from a distance, who shaped us into better versions of ourselves. There are those who loved us, listened to us when we were hurting or lost, and those who stood by us in times of trial or difficulty. 

We can do nothing on our own (CCC 166).

Most importantly, there is God. The God of the universe who created us, gives us our life breath in each moment, infused in us an immortal soul, and bestowed upon us our unique gifts and talents. We did not earn our talents and abilities. Yes, we put in work, time, effort and dedication, but not before God did everything He did to make it possible for us in the first place.

We have the privilege of being co-creators with God, using all that He has given us to build the kingdom here on earth and make a difference in the lives of others. God, however, is the divine initiator. He is always first: first to create, first to give, first to inspire, and first to cultivate within us all that we have. None of it would be possible without Him.

This Sunday we remember that we are a Resurrection people. Nothing we believe would have any meaning without the Resurrection and all the Lord accomplished for us through it:

“if Christ has not been raised, then empty [too] is our preaching; empty, too, your faith.” - 1 Corinthians 15:14

He rose and proved, once and for all, that He is truly divine and has the authority He claimed to have. All He gives and teaches is true, good and beautiful. All the good things we have in life can be attributed to God and the abundant gifts He pours out upon us as His children. We have not earned any of it and we could not if we tried. We can only hope to use our gifts in ways that prove ourselves worthy of the calling we have each received from God (Ephesians 4:1). 

Easter can often be a day that is lost in focus on the self: indulgent treats, fancy outfits, glamorous pictures for social media, etc. This Sunday, bring yourself back to worship, worship of a God who died and rose from the dead for you. Like the old worship song goes:

I'm coming back to the heart of worship

And it's all about you

It's all about you, Jesus

I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it

When it's all about you

It's all about you, Jesus

-Heart of Worship by Matt Redman

Offer to God prayers of praise and thanksgiving for all He has done for you. Think about what is, or would be, on your resumé and treat it as a list of things to thank God for. Ask yourself how you are using each thing on your resumé for the glory of God or the service of others. I pray it is an exercise that convicts all of us to praise God more fervently, thank Him daily, and serve Him boldly in all that we do.

I am praying for you, please pray for me, and I will see you in the Eucharist.

Matt