Editor’s Corner: A New Age Dawns on a Broken World

News from across the world sounds like a litany of sorrow which grows lengthier by the day. We have dramatic evidence of the interdependence that binds all of us together in good times and in bad. Across the planet, there is a great yearning for some “good news.” Some people will find encouragement in spring flowers and blossoming trees which buoy hopes for the arrival of better times.

However, the Easter liturgy of the Catholic Church goes much further, and claims that in Christ “a new age has dawned.” The litany of Good Friday sorrow contained within itself the seed of Easter joy. “Christ is truly risen, Alleluia!” Almost two thousand years have passed since Mary Magdalene and the other women at the tomb brought that wonderful though perplexing message to the disciples, shrouded in darkness as they mourned the death of Jesus.

What dawned on the world in the resurrection of Christ continues to transform individuals, communities of faith, and through them, even history today. Success in human terms may not be so evident because even Christians struggle with the effects of sin in their lives and in society.

In this spring issue, our authors highlight the way in which liturgy, Catholic education, pastoral ministry to the sick, commitment to civil rights, and nature itself all foster something “new” and life-giving for our broken world. The resurrection of Christ so long ago continues to shine in those who reflect that light of Christ in all they say and do. This living faith can help to transform our own litany of sorrow into a hymn of joy.

Paul Zilonka, C.P.