<p><em>It is so tempting to pin our hopes on someday: an unspecified day in the future when our current troubles will be over. Nowhere is this temptation more acute than the resurrection. As in Someday in heaven we will move beyond this valley of tears. But todays reflection reminds us that resurrection is not simply a future event nor one wholly in the past but instead a gift and a challenge in which we are called to live right now.</em></p><div class=oldwebkit>&nbsp;</div><div class=oldwebkit><p><strong>April 9 2023: Solemnity of Easter</strong></p><p>Acts 10:34q 37-43</p><p>Psalm 118:1-2 16-17 22-23</p><p>1 Corinthians 5:6b-8</p><p>John 20:1-9</p><p></p><h3>Resurrection in the Now!</h3><p><strong>A reflection by delfan bautista</strong></p><p>Easter Sunday. Stone moved. Empty tomb. Mary Magdalenes fears. Simon Peter out of breath. Confusion. No body. Yet belief and hope.</p><p>What did happen that day? We know depending on which gospel narrative is being read that different configurations of folks went to the tomb. In Johns gospel we know that Mary Magdalene Peter and and the disciple Jesus loved went to the tomb.</p><p>My mind goes to who was not there. And no not just Jesus body. Where was Mary mother of Jesus? Jesuit spirituality reflects that the reason none of the resurrection narratives mention Mary is that she was the first person to whom Jesus appeared (be it out of love obligation or fear of what Mary would do to him if he didnt). Whether we believe Mary had an actual visit or just her motherly instinct she knew that the tomb was not the end of the story but would be a space of birth and rebirth. My mother would have been the first person at the tomb and moved the stone herself to make sure all was well with my body (and probably take out some soldiers if needed). Like Mary she would also expect me to visit her before anyone else. Whether Jewish or Cuban Mary knew in her heart that the story had not ended but was and is continuing.</p><p>I struggle with the passion narratives and the hyperfocus on the cross. It was and is a symbol of violence punishment and fear used to coerce subjugated people. Yes through the eyes and experience of faith the cross became a symbol of sacrificial redemptive love yet the narrative is still violent. Why do we continue to lift it up as the symbol of our faith and put so much focus on sin blood pain and trauma? The cross and tomb were not and are not the end of the story. A lot happened afterward: &nbsp;the resurrection ascension Pentecost and the birth of a whole movement of people carrying on Jesus ministry to widening circles. We are not a crucified church but a church of resurrection that wholizes people through love justice compassion and hope.</p><p>The writers of Acts the letter to the Corinthians the psalm and even the Victimae Paschali Laudes (the Easter Sequence read or sung in many churches after the second reading; hear it chanted here) share sacrifice but ultimately call us to witness joyfully and to give witness through our rejoicing. Why is this so hard for us to do today (and throughout the history of the church)? Why do we privilege hardship and suffering over liberation and wholeness? I am not advocating that we dismiss challenges trials and tribulations. In our ministries we need to name and recognize the pain that LGBTQIA2S+ individuals and communities continue to experience the spreading of anti-us legislation and policies increasing acts of violence and other attacks on our dignity and humanity. We need to name and actively counter the hate at the same time we must recognize that resistance is also grounded in our ongoing existence and embodiments of wholizing rejoicing. We recognize the harm while also recognizing affirming and celebrating resilience transilience and liberation. The Easter narrative is a both/and experience that invites nudges and challenges us to live into and live out both/and ministries and witness. Like Jesus resurrected body the scars are still present but have been redefined by hope-filled wholeness.</p><p>As we honor the passion may we remember and re-member the whole narrative. Not just as an experience that was or will be but also an experience that is happening in this moment. Resurrection is not just our future; it is also our now. The future is queer feminist intersectional black brown indigenous and so on but so is this moment because we are here now. As difficult as it may be for we know the story has not ended but continues may we rejoice and be glad in the Easter liberation that is happening in us right now. Amen!</p></div><div class=oldwebkit>&nbsp;</div><div class=mobile-full><img class=mobile-full src=https://www.dignityusa.org/sites/default/files/civicrm/persist/contribute/images/uploads/static/delfin_ba65b38e2e2662c7664ce66b99357d54.png alt= width=166 vspace=0 hspace=0></div><p><em><strong>mx. delfin w. bautista MSW MDiv.</strong> (they/elle/delfin) is a native of Miami FL is of Cuban and Salvadoran heritage and currently serves as the Director for the Lionel Cantu Queer Resource Center at UC-Santa Cruz. A social worker and activist theologian delfin is passionate about intersectional justice and resilience especially around the experiences of queer people of color. delfin serves on the board of directors for both Soulforce and enfleshed.</em></p><p style=text-align: center;><a class=btn btn-primary href=https://www.dignityusa.org/civicrm/mailing/subscribe>Subscribe to Breath of the Spirit</a></p>